The Kentridge High football team needed an offensive spark Friday night at Maxwell Stadium.<\/p>\n
The Chargers received that spark, though it came from an unexpected source \u2013 the defense. Behind Sean Ringor\u2019s 32-yard interception return for a touchdown and a monster defensive performance from linebacker Dylan Zylstra, Kentridge found a way to knock off Tahoma 17-14 in a pivotal South Puget Sound League North Division game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe offense has been struggling and we\u2019ve been working on that in practice,\u201d said Zylstra, who record 15 tackles in the game, including four for a loss. \u201cOur defense just knew it needed to hold \u2019em and that\u2019s exactly what we did. We came in fired up, gave up hardly any yards, were shooting gaps \u2026 we just brought it to \u2019em.\u201d<\/p>\n
Had it not been for Ringor\u2019s big interception return in the second quarter, the final result very well could have been different. With Kentridge leading 10-7, Ringor picked off an errant pass from Tahoma quarterback Travis Montoya, found the lead block of Alex Tyson, then skirted down the left sideline 32 yards for the score.<\/p>\n
It was the last time the Chargers (4-1 in league, 4-2 overall) would see the end zone all night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in the right place at the right time,\u201d Ringor said. \u201cAs soon as I caught the ball and saw Tyson out there for a lead block, I knew I could score.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kentridge\u2019s defense helped the Chargers overcome a lackluster offensive performance. Offensively, the Chargers did little against a staunch Tahoma (3-3, 3-3) defensive performance. The Chargers managed just two first downs and 96 yards of total offense in the entire game. More staggering is the fact that 65 of Kentridge\u2019s total yards on offense came on its first play from scrimmage, a 65-yard touchdown run around the left side by running back Cameron McKernan that gave the Chargers an immediate 7-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Tahoma coach Tony Davis was speechless after the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m kind of at a loss,\u201d he said. \u201c(Our defense) was unbelievable. We just couldn\u2019t get anything going on our side of the ball, which is a credit to their defense as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Kentridge defense held Tahoma to 141 yards of offense, including 94 on the ground on 44 carries. The Bears mustered just two first downs in the second half. In addition, 29 of Tahoma\u2019s 44 rushing attempts went for 3 yards or fewer.<\/p>\n
Kentridge was playing its third straight game without standout running back\/linebacker Devin Topps, who has a sprained knee. Adding to the bumps and bruises, McKernan, who rushed 3 times for 78 yards, left the game early in the first half with a knee injury. Meanwhile, Kentridge quarterback Caleb Smith, who connected on just 2 of 11 passes for 8 yards, left the game late in the second half with a knee injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerseverance and grit,\u201d said Kentridge coach Marty Osborn when asked to explain how his team won despite collecting just two first downs. \u201cNeither offense was sterling, so it really was an old-school defensive game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early on, Tahoma took advantage of a Kentridge fumble to tie the game 7-7. Tahoma\u2019s Riley Owens recovered the Kentridge miscue at the Chargers\u2019 45-yard line. Ten plays later, Montoya connected with Jake Akins for a 5-yard touchdown.<\/p>\n
Kentridge regained the lead with 7:12 remaining in the second quarter on a 37-yard field goal from Wes Concepcion, a boot that cleared the goalposts by a solid 10 yards. Three plays later, Ringor supplied the heroics with his touchdown-scoring interception, pushing KR\u2019s lead to 17-7.<\/p>\n
Tahoma didn\u2019t back down as Cody Gilje blocked a Concepcion punt with two minutes remaining in the half. Tahoma\u2019s Konner Knudtsen recovered the blocked punt at Kentridge\u2019s 5-yard line, leading to Montoya\u2019s 4-yard touchdown run.<\/p>\n
Kentridge\u2019s defense then took the game on its shoulders, keeping Tahoma from breaking past midfield the rest of the night. Much of that is credit to Zylstra, who wouldn\u2019t let the Chargers be denied.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy motor is about as high as it can go,\u201d Zylstra said. \u201cPeople know me for being kind of crazy (on the field). Off the field, I kind of mellow out a little bit. But I get kind of crazy when it comes to football. I turn it to a whole new level.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOut here, I got to be a playmaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Friday night, Zylstra and the rest of the Kentridge \u2018D\u2019 was just that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Kentridge 17, Tahoma 14<\/p>\n
Kentridge\t7\t10\t0\t0\t—\t17<\/p>\n
Tahoma\t7\t7\t0\t0\t—\t14<\/p>\n
KR: Cameron McKernan 65 run (Wes Concepcion kick).<\/p>\n
T: Jake Akins 5 pass from Travis Montoya (David Stoecker kick)<\/p>\n
KR: Concepcion 37 FG.<\/p>\n
KR: Sean Ringor 32 interception return (Concepcion kick).<\/p>\n
T: Montoya 4 run (Stoecker kick).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Kentridge High football team needed an offensive spark Friday night at Maxwell Stadium. The Chargers received that spark, though it came from an unexpected source \u2013 the defense. Behind Sean Ringor\u2019s 32-yard interception return for a touchdown and a monster defensive performance from linebacker Dylan Zylstra, Kentridge found a way to knock off Tahoma […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-4414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4414"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}