Trailing 28-0 midway through the third quarter, Cougars junior quarterback Julian Daniels threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to junior Caleb Hall, but Kenton Ridge couldn’t get any closer. Senior Jackson Patton rushed 13 times for 60 yards as the Cougars fell to 7-2 and 2-2 in the division.
The 35-point margin of victory was the closest game the Red Raiders had played all season.
“Our guys continued to fight,” said Kenton Ridge coach Jon Daniels. “I couldn’t be more happy with this group. My message to them is that I wouldn’t trade our guys for their guys. We’ve got a bunch of resilient dudes in our room. We’re proud of our dudes for being resilient. That’s the kind of guys I want in my foxhole — gritty guys.”
Senior Noah Sollars rushed for three touchdowns as London clinched at least a share of its fourth straight CBC Kenton Trail Division title. The Red Raiders can earn the outright title with a win against Urbana next Friday night.
London drove the ball for nearly eight minutes on its first possession, but Kenton Ridge recovered a fumble on its own 1-yard line.
On its next possession, London scored on a 5-yard run by Sollars. With less than a minute remaining, Sollars scored on a 1-yard run to give the Red Raiders a 14-0 halftime lead.
“(London coach Kyle Cutler) knows what he’s got over there,” Jon Daniels said. “He’s got a lot of kids that are bigger in our conference and they lean on you. At the end of the day, I’m just proud of our guys for coming out swinging. We just came out swinging and we didn’t get caught up in this is big, bad London. We came to town.”
The Red Raiders scored back-to-back TDs — a 32-yard run by senior June Turner and a 1-yard run by sophomore Daquanne Parks — to make it 28-0 midway through the third quarter.
After KR cut the lead to 28-7, junior Steven Gravely returned the kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-7.
The Red Raiders scored on a 17-yard run by Sollars to make it 42-7, triggering the running clock for the ninth straight game this season.
“It’s like I told our guys they probably felt that was a different Cougars team,” Daniels said. “That’s ultimately what we want on our side of the conference. We’ve got to play with the big boys. We’ve got to show them that we’re not going to be intimidated. The old KR — if you just lean on us and we’ll give up — is dead and gone. We killed it off and we’re going to come out swinging. I think our guys did that tonight.”
While disappointed with the loss, Jon Daniels was pleased with this team’s effort against one of the best teams they’ll play this season — especially as they prepare for the Division IV, Region 16 playoffs. The Cougars have already clinched a playoff spot, according to unofficial playoff rankings compiled by JoeEitel.com.
Next week, the Cougars host Bellefontaine (7-2, 3-1), which beat Jonathan Alder 49-7 on Friday. The Chieftains are led by senior QB Tavien St. Clair, an Ohio State University recruit.
“We’re climbing the mountain right now,” Daniels said. “We’re looking forward to playing another really good team next week in Bellefontaine. Our guys know those are going to be some of the best teams we’re going to play, even in the playoffs. Those are some of the best teams we’ll see.”
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