Kentwood Football

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.