Kentwood Football

Future Conks: The Junior Varsity (7-0) has had another outstanding year so far, with outstanding effort from all facists of the game. They are currently on a 16 game winning streak and look to continue that this next Monday. Here is the Tahoma write up as well as the scores from the season so far.

Kentwood 25-24 South Kitsap
Kentwood 28-7 Puyallup
Kentwood 35-6 Decatur
Kentwood 21-12 Kentridge
Kentwood 28-0 Thomas Jefferson
Kentwood 48-6 Federal Way
Kentwood 26-14 Kent Meridian
Kentwood 34-26 Tahoma
Kentwood ??-?? Kentlake

The JV beat a spirited Tahoma team 34-26 on Monday evening to push their record to 7-0. Ronnie Flowers started the scoring with a long TD run on the first play from scrimmage. The Conks then scored a few plays later on A.C. Songco’s 65 yard TD pass to WR Mike Roy, their 2nd connection of the year. Ronnie Flowers added another TD later in the half to push KW to a 20-12 lead with 22 seconds remaining in the half. On KW’s first two plays of the drive, QB Tristan Askew ran for 40 yards to set the Conks up at the Tahoma 30 yard line with 1 second left in the half. Askew then threw a jump ball up for Robbie Morris who out-leaped the Bears for an end of the half touchdown, and a 27-12 lead at half. Tahoma controlled the second half until KW’s final drive where FB Zack Corpuz plunged in from 4 yards out. The defense then stopped the Bears on a 4th and 4 play from the KW 20 yard line to cement the win. Kentwood will play Monday at 6 pm against cross-town rival Kentlake for the opportunity to finish the year undefeated.

Future Conks: KW Freshmen (4-3) come up just short in a 20 - 21 loss to Kentridge. KR cam out strong with a long opening drive (assisted by 3 KW off-sides penalties) the resulted in the first score of the game. KW responded right away, showing off their improving passing game, with a 30 yd completion from Shane Green to Morgan Hasegawa. That was followed by a 20 yd run by John Schmidt that set up is own 1 yd plunge into the endzone. Kr had one more score to end the first half 14-6. The second half was a different story. After some halftime defensive adjustments the KW defense came out strong. Led by big hits by Justin Sapwell causing a fumble that was recovered by Casey Quinn. That was followed by Jared Fuller making the hit the knocked the ball loose again and it was scooped up by Mikel Everett. Not to be out done, John Schimdt joined the hit parade, setting up Hayden Peterson for one more fumble recovery. Shane green had a monster hit on a KR receiver that broke up a 3rd and long pass play. The offense was also working in the 2nd half. Shane Green and Morgan Hasegawa hooked up again for another touchdown followed by Mikel Everett scoring around the right side for a 2 pt conversion to tie things up at 14-14. Then after having bottled up the KR offense for all of the 2nd half they scored on a trick play to go ahead 21-14, leaving KW less than 4 minutes to respond. And respond they did. Keyed by a long Jared Fuller run and another Morgan Hasegawa reception KW was set up for a Shane Green QB sneak from the 1 yd line. KW went for 2 points to end the game in regulation and came up short. Despite the loss the KW coaches feel this was their teams best all-around performance of the season and look forward to closing out the season next week against cross town rival Kentlake.

Future Conks: The Freshman Program currently stands at 4-2 with wins over Beamer, Thomas Jefferson, Tahoma, and Federal Way. The losses were to a tough Orting team and a very large Kent Meridian team. This week they play Kentridge witch has been marked on our calendar for some time. The Freshman team coached by Bill Ogle, Justin Buckner, Jason Wisor, Eric Nelsen, and Christian Lee has shown steady improvement and is excited to take on the challenge of playing a undefeated Kentridge team. Here is the past games in review.

Game 6: KW Freshmen (4-2) win again! KW beat Federal Way 28-6. Starting out with a strong 80 yd drive capped of by a nice touch down run by Jarred Fuller. The KW defense played well all day led by players like Komo Thiarra who recovered a blocked FW punt and another interception by Mikel Everett. This led to a Morgan Hasegawa Touchdown. The next score was a 35 yd strike from Shane Green to Anthony Hagstrom. The final score was was by Brennan Allen sneaking through the line. The team continues to improve each week. The passing game is getting stronger and the running game is only getting better. We have played well with out several of our top players through out this season. This is a testament to our team depth. The good news is that we should be back to full strength just in time for our big game with Kentridge next week.

Game 5 : It was a much needed big win for the Freshmen Conk's (3-2) yesterday against Thomas Jefferson 22-2. The game started out with a bang with KW (does anyone remember the name of who got the fumble) recovering an onside kick. Not much later, Sam Logar recovered a fumble in the TJ end zone for KW's first score. KW had more trickery up their sleeve, with Morgan Hasegawa completing a pass to Sam Logar on a fake extra point play. The KW defense kept up the pressure with Dalton Blackmore recovering a TJ fumble after a QB sack by Will Christopher and Michael Christian. The offense then took over and scored quickly with Jarred Fuller taking a pitch around the left side to score from 20 yds out. Hayden Peterson kicked the extra pointAfter the KW defense held TJ to a quick 4 and out, Morgan Hasegawa took the ball on a Jetback reverse 30 yds down to the 4 yd line where Michael Christian finished it off with a powerful run up the middle behind a strong push from the offensive line. Hayden Peterson kicked the extra point. The defense was the story the rest of the game with 2 more fumble recoveries by Mickel Everett and Austin Torres, and two goal line stands late in the game to keep the TJ offense from finding the end zone.Overall it was a great team win, with all players seeing significant time and making big plays.

Game 4: KW Freshmen (2-2) lost a hard fought overtime game to KM 18 -12. KW started out strong with a 70 yd drive ending in another Shane Green touchdown run. KW defense also came out and stopped KM with a Taylor Kempf fumble recovery on KM's first play. KM went on to score twice in the first half, leaving Kw in the hole 12-6.Despite the loss of 2 starting linemen in the first half the KW team battled their way to a 12 -12 tie at the end of regulation.The defense keyed the the second half with Kyler Martin picking off a KM pass, and Jared Fuller converting it into KW's second score. The rest of the game was a defensive battle. Highlights of the second half were interceptions by Casey Quinn and Shane Green. There was also some hard hitting led by Hayden Peterson, who had many explosive tackles with one causing a fumble that was recovered by Craig Perry. Overtime started with KM on offense. The KW defense continued their hard play ending KM's drive with another Casey Quinn interception. The KW offense also struggled, failing to score, leading to a second round of overtime. KM started the second overtime again on offense. KM scored on a 3rd down pass, but KW defense held and they failed to convert on the extra point giving KW a chance for the win. KW hurt themselves with some costly penalties and and KM ended the game with an interception. Despite the loss, the team continues to improve in all aspects of the game. Playing without 3 of their starting offensive and defensive linemen, they played well against a very large and physical KM team.

Game 3: KW Freshmen squad (2-1) defeats Todd Beamer 12-6. Keyed by great blocking up front (Taylor Kempf, Daniel Park, Jake Jones, Quijann Lawson, Zach Zorbist, and Avery Kain) the freshmen Conks finally got their passing game going, with a 20 yd touch down strike from Shane Green to Kyler Martin in the first quarter. Later, they tacked on another score after an 80 yd drive ending in Shane Green taking it in on the option play. The defense again played strong anchored by the inside 3, Quijann Lawson, Avery Kain, and Will Christopher. All had QB sacks and were key in the 4th quarter goal line stand that sealed the game away.

Game 2: Kentwood Freshmen (1-1) rallied in the 2nd half to pull away from a tough Tahoma team 36-24. Lead by quarterback Shane Green with 5 touch downs on the day. There were also strong running performances by Mikell Everett and Jabarrie McMeekan. The defense was anchored by Quijaan Lawson, who recovered 2 fumbles and Jabarrie McMeekan who caused 2 fumbles and recovered one. The Varsity boys were able to come over at half time. The score was 22-18 Kentwood at the time, but having the upper classman cheer for the boys really excited them and helped them take control with spirited effort. It was wonderful to see and it is true that when you play one of us you play all of us.

Game 1: KW Freshmen (0-1) vs. Orting JV Game Recap KW freshmen lost a tough one to the Orting JV team on Monday 30-12. They did a good job of shutting down the Orting running game, but couldn't stop the big plays in their passing game. Some hi-lights from the first half were 2 intercepted passes; One by Kyler Martin on the KW 25 and another by Steel Warner on the KW 5 yd line to stop a potential Orting scoring drive. The second half the Conquerors played better with fewer mistakes. Tailback Jared Fuller had a 60 yard touchdown run for KW's first score. Later in the 4th quarter Mikel Everett had a 70 yard kick off return and followed that up by receiving a Shane Green pass and taking 25 yards for KW's second score. The Captains for the Orting game were Shane Green, Morgan Hasegawa, Daniel Park, Jake Jones, Casey Quinn, and Jared Fuller Despite some first game mistakes, the KW freshmen made improvements that showed a lot of promise for the rest of the season.

The Blog is up and running and I will be posting comments regarding all of our games so far this season. The write ups will include all three programs and a coaching spotlight. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for supporting all of our young athletes.

Post Game Thoughts (1-0) The South Kitsap game was a big win for the start of our Season. It would be opening night throughout the state and the Wolves from Kitsap were coming in with a massive line averaging 267 pounds across the line, and were anchored by a 6’7 300 pound right tackle. The game would start our well with Junior Steven Warner bursting from 65 yards out for the first score. South Kitsap would have their way between the 20’s but once they got inside scoring territory the defense would stiffen. South Kitsap would finally get a field goal. A touchdown saving tackle by Darius Coleman would force South Kitsap to try a field goal that would fail and the first half ended with a 7-3 Kentwood lead.

The second half would be go back and forth with both tailbacks having their way. Demetrius Bronson, who just had 43 yards in the first half would finish with 163 yards on 10 carries, thanks largely to his 68 yard touchdown burst with 3:06 left in the fourth quarter putting up Kentwood 21-12. That would come after Danny Kondikoff’s defensive heroics after a South Kitsap touchdown that would pull the Wolves within 2pts. The senior safety would make a clutch tackle on SK’s two point conversion that preserved a 14-12 lead. South Kitsap quarterback Chad Tester faked a handoff to workhorse Stephen Tucker, who finished with 199 yards on 33 carries, then tried to cut around the left side. Kondikoff hit him hard at the knees around the 6-yard line and Tester wound up 2 yards shy of the goal line. Quarterback Luke Angevine added a 28-yard touchdown burst in the third quarter on a fourth-and-four play from the 28 yard line of South Kitsap. That came after Jordan Bredengard's 34-yard TD pass to Kondikoff on a trick play was called back on a penalty.

The coaching staff was proud of the way the boys held on to win. The defense had three key fourth down stops. It was a tough opening game and even though South Kitsap had over 400 yards on 63 plays we were pleased that we were able to win with just 31 plays covering just over 300 yards. We had more penalties, more turnovers, less plays, and less total yards yet we still won. Sometimes you have to throw the stats out of the window. Our team is still trying to find itself and what we are capable of and this was a good start to finding that out.

Players of the Game Offense: Demetrius Bronson / Hunter Blackmore
Defense: Nick Zografos, Josh Loveland
Special Teams: Matt Bell

Future Conks: The Junior Varsity (1-0) game with the South Kitsap Junior Varsity was a mirror image to the Varsity game. It was a hard hitting affair even though Kentwood did not have the size of their opponents. Sophomore Matt Bell would hit a 38 yard field goal in the 3rd quarter that would prove to be the difference in the game. The defense would also play well in keeping the Kitsap wolves out of the end zone late. There were good efforts put in by running back Jacob Dela-Cruz and quarterback Justin Brendegard who ran and through the ball really well. The Junior Varsity extended their 9 game winning streak with a hard fought win.

The Freshman Team was able to get a preseason scrimmage game with Kentridge. It was the first competition together and there were some hard lessons learned. However there were some bright spots as the defense signed causing several turnovers and big hits. Coach Ogle and his staff are looking forward to the season as the team is starting to gel.

Assistant Spotlight: Coach Bill Ogle is now the new head coach for the Kentwood Freshman team. Coach Ogle works at Boeing and is a Kent native. He played football in high school for the Kentridge Chargers when they were one of two high schools in Kent. We would graduate from Washington State University. Bill has wife Diane and two children. His son Ryan graduated from Kentlake High School in 2006. He currently has a daughter Amanda who is a senior. She plays for the Kentlake Volleyball Team and the Kent Crusader Rugby Team. He previously coached at Cedar Heights taken them to an undefeated season. We feel very fortunate to have coach Ogle working with our program this year. Did you know that Coach Ogle is an avid fisherman when he is not coaching at Kentwood? He fishes all over the state and has even gone fishing in New Zealand.