Football: Kentwood outlasts Auburn in shootout 46-44

If there were doubts that Antoine Lee and the Kentwood High School Conquerors weren’t legit, the Conks looked to prove those doubters wrong with a 46-44 win over Auburn on Oct. 18.

Kentwood’s season has been a bit of a roller coaster. With a record of 2-4, the Conquerors were coming in looking up in the standings, and were just in the playoff picture. But after a big win over Auburn in a historic matchup between the two sides, Kentwood is in the driver’s seat.

“They are a good football team. When they get rolling offensively they are tough to stop… For us it was the mantra of ‘next play, next play,’” Head Coach Matt Roth said.

Just based off the outlook for the season, Auburn, Auburn Riverside, Kentwood and even Stadium are all within a game of each other. Having a head-to-head tiebreaker could be massive for all three of those teams down the stretch.

“Our defense got them to stall out twice late in the fourth and our offense did just enough to win. There are no style points at this point in the year,” Roth said.

Stadium is the lone tiebreaker that Kentwood doesn’t have, but the Tigers have a tough remaining schedule with Auburn Riverside and Tahoma to close out the season.

In the game against Auburn, running back Antoine Lee left little unknown. In his 2024 campaign against schools from the city of Auburn, he has 518 yards on the ground and 10 total touchdowns.

Against the Trojans, Lee ran for 308 yards and just showed the dominance that he possesses.

“I took pride in this game all week and they say I’m overrated and I can’t do nothing. I wanted to show ‘em,” Lee said. “We knew all the odds were against us. Even our fans at the school told us we might lose. We just took that and it motivated us. We practiced hard like a game every day.”

Kentwood got out to as fast of a start as you could get. Freshman Trayvon Mayfield used his speed and ran the kickoff back going 78 yards for the first score of the game.

The Conks’ defense forced a three and out and the offense got going from the jump. Lee rattled off his first touchdown run of the game from 47 yards to give Kentwood a 12-0 lead over Auburn.

With 20 seconds left in the opening half, Lee found the end zone for a second time in the quarter from four yards out.

After Auburn scored on a 44-yard pass inside of two minutes before halftime, the Conks got within scoring range on a screen pass to Zach Hernandez, and set up Kentwood with 1:30 left in the half. Lee recorded his third touchdown in the half on a jet sweep from the Auburn 15 yard line to take a 26-22 advantage.

The Trojans came out like gangbusters in the second half, scoring on their first play from scrimmage. This was the first of back-to-back-to-back scores for the Trojans, and in the fourth quarter, the Trojans led 38-26.

Despite the deficit, the Conks never flinched, much due in part to the week of practice that Coach Roth’s guys had coming into the game against Auburn. It was some of their best work on the practice field all year.

“I’m super proud of our kids for just fighting and battling,” he said.

With 10:10 left in the game, Kentwood battled their way back, and quarterback Brandon Tagle found Hernandez in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, which cut the lead to just two points.

“He is one of the best teammates I’ve had. He is a charismatic person. He charms the locker room when we are feeling down … He knows how to get us locked in,” Lee said on his teammate.

On the very next Auburn possession, the Kentwood defense rose to the occasion. Ethan Heidal knocked the ball out of Auburn quarterback Baylen Erdmann’s hands and fall on top of it for a massive turnover for the Conks, which might have been the turning point in the game.

“It was everything. It was a culmination of our program. All those young guys believed and you could see that belief,” Roth said. “It was the spark that we needed. For too long the last couple years we have been waiting for bad things to happen, but we took advantage of the ball bouncing our way.”

After the strip sack, Lee took the ball 43 yards for the score and draw level with the Trojans at 38-38.

“I said yeah we won for sure. I told my line I am taking this to the crib,” Lee said.

Convert he did.

But a popular theme in the second half was the Trojan offense having its way with the Kentwood defense under the leadership of quarterback Baylen Erdmann. With 5:24 in the game, Auburn took a 44-38 lead.

When the Conks got the ball back, Kentwood looked to be dead in the water. It was fourth and three from the Auburn 38 yard line and Kentwood needed a touchdown. Lee got the handoff and bounced off one tackle and beat the rest of the Trojan defense to the end zone for the score.

“There was no hesitation…We had scored on that play earlier. It was either get me three or a touchdown,” Roth said.

“We told coach, give me the ball … I told him I’m getting you in the end zone, I promise you,” Lee said.

The game was tied 44-44 and Tagle ran a quarterback run to the right and found the end zone for the go-ahead conversion. This was one of Tagle’s best games and it starts with his ability to lead.

“He’s starting to command the offense. He’s a natural leader… I’m super proud of him and his leadership. He’s getting better every day,” Roth said.

Lee said he saw Tagle use his basketball leadership and experience in the clutch to get Kentwood in the right mindset before their final drive and on the two-point conversion.

“We told him we have his back,” Lee said.

On Auburn’s final possession, the Conk defense was flying around and making plays. The Trojans’ final play came on 4th and 11, which resulted in an incompletion, and Kentwood went on to win.

Kentwood takes on Tahoma and Kentridge to close out their 2024 season. The Bears host the Conks on Oct. 25 at Maxwell Stadium.

Senior running back Antoine Lee avoids a Trojan defender early in the game against Auburn. Ben Ray / The Reporter

Kentwood quarterback Brandon Tagle outruns an Auburn defender for a first down in the second half. Ben Ray / The Reporter

Photo taken and provided by Robby Mullikin.