October 22, 2010
The fear of death is the most powerful motivator, followed very closely by the fear of elimination from playoff contention. Kenowa Hills came into Friday night’s game against Forest Hills Central at 5-3, playing for a share of the O-K Black championship, and ultimately the rights to play in week-10. The Knights used every bit of that extra adrenaline to hold off the Rangers and come away with a 25-21 victory to earn their share of the conference championship, and their game in week-10.
It wasn’t easy. If you saw only the first half you would have put your money on the Rangers, as they dominated on both sides of the ball early on the strength of quarterback Jack Shull’s arm. Shull picked apart the Kenowa Hills secondary, going 12/25 for 139 yards on the night.
It looked as if Kenowa was overmatched. Going into the half though, Kenowa got a big play that changed everything. Quarterback Brenden Carey darted up the middle for 42-yards down to the FHC 1-yard line, and tailback Tito Wingfield banged in the touchdown to close the half down only two, instead of eight. That play was critical not only for the score, but for what the score meant. It changed the entire dynamics in the locker room at halftime. Despite playing a less-than-stellar first half, Kenowa Hills was very much in it.
Marques Mondy skies for the catch | Murray Sports Photography
That realization was what they needed, as Kenowa ripped the Rangers immediately upon the start of the second half. The combination of Wingfield and Kitwana Clark was just too much for the Rangers to contain. Wingfield ran for 210-yards and two scores on 25-carries, while Clark put up 66-yards and a pair of scores on 17-carries.
Even so, the Rangers had a shot late in the game. After driving 65-yards in under a minute, the game came down to a 30-yard bomb to wideout Marques Mondy. You take that position if you’re Forest Hills Central, especially because the lanky receiver had already caught two touchdowns on the night. Still, on this night the third bounced off his outstretched fingers and fell harmlessly to the turf.
- Wingfield’s strength is his quickness to and through the hole. Typically running backs wait for a hole to materialize in the line of scrimmage before committing, but Wingfield gets to the second line of defense in about two steps without missing a beat, so he‘s already at the line of scrimmage before anyone touches him. Moving forward in the playoffs, Wingfield is a guy who can go the distance at any moment. One missed tackle is all it takes.
- Can we officially call Forest Hills Central sophomore linebacker Collin Schlosser “The Missile?” Like the former Bronco and current Lion safety Louis Delmas, Schlosser has a natural instinct for the ball and the aggressiveness to stick his nose in where it doesn’t belong. Plus he hits like a heavy bag dropped from the top of the bleachers.
- Forest Hills Central’s Mondy caught a pair of touchdowns. On one he beat his man deep, and the other he simply out-jumped his defender. Let’s get that out of the way, because that’s what you’ll hear everywhere. What was really impressive about Mondy’s performance was his blocking. On multiple occasions, Mondy was responsible for tacking on a big chunk of yardage to a Spencer Nehls run by sustaining his blocks 20+ yards downfield.
- Forest Hills Central kicker Jason Stacy, taking over for injured Caleb Postlewait, showed a huge boot. He’s a smaller kid, but stores probably half his weight in his left foot.
- If you haven’t seen it yet, check out FHC’s new sports website FHCRangers.com. Pretty cool stuff.
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