Football Recap: Kennedy's Rushing Dominance Continues

By Team Reports Oct 18, 2024, 8:32am

Football Recap: Kennedy Thunderbirds vs. Wasco Tigers

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Kennedy had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They blew past the Wasco Tigers 35-14. Given the Thunderbirds' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 247th, while the Tigers are ranked 528th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Jace Demacabalin was his usual excellent self, rushing for 194 yards and a touchdown while picking up 10.8 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his tenth straight game with at least 119 rushing yards dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Javier Valdez, who rushed for 43 yards.

He was just one part of a punishing run game: Kennedy was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 288 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 167 rushing yards in 19 consecutive games dating back to last season.

When it comes to explaining why Wasco lost, don't look at Hammie Lopez. Despite the final result, he rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.7 yards per carry. Lopez's longest rush was for an incredible 75 yards.

Kennedy now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Wasco, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-4 record this season.

Kennedy didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next match, a 34-28 defeat against Shafter on the 17th. As for Wasco, a feisty cat fight will be fought when Tigers challenges Taft at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. They are coming into the matchup with three straight wins at home, so Wasco will have to stop a team with plenty of momentum.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps