<\/a>LT Coe with a stiff arm in the win over the Lions. Ben Ray \/ The Reporter<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Even in past games they’re maturing as a collective for the better. In the 48-28 defeat to Auburn Riverside a week prior, a Raven got in the face of a Royal player. And to AD Lisa Kelley, that is the first time she can recall there was no retaliation back.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“It’s easier to fight back, rather than show discipline. That’s exactly what we’re trying to build here,” said Robbins.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Another thing is the talent on the roster has been given the ability to show itself.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“KM has always had the talent, but no one wanted to show out because of our history. But this year, Coach Rob did a great job of recruiting everybody that he knew would be good,” Brown said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Quarterback Jayden Saelee has stuck with the blue and red through the thick and thin. Along with his 4X100 partner and wide receiver Kyle Brown, he has given everything to Kent-Meridian. These seniors and players who have been through so much are ready to be the foundation for this program.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“It sets the tone for everybody else because now they want to be like us. They don’t want to get blown out, they want to keep going. As a team, as a unit, no matter the record, it sets a tone for those sports,” said Saelee.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The defense created six turnovers against the Lions and scored 14 points directly off of those turnovers. Davontae Redding scooped up a fumble and ran it 85 yards, and Ashton Amari ran an interception back for the two defensive scores.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We kept our composure. Last couple of weeks, we let our emotions get the best of us. We had to deal with adversity…We came out this week ready to keep our composure, put up a battle and stay calm,” Brown said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
It’s been a while since the Royals have been able to get valuable reps for backup players in a winning scenario. Having fun is such a big part in sport, and for the Royals, they are starting to get that joy back in playing the game.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I was out here just having fun. Being with my guys, my brothers, felt amazing. It was great, it was a great game. I loved it,” said senior Theo Carter.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Coach Robbins, however, was still in business mode after the game.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I didn’t get to have any fun. I had to tell people to be quiet,” he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
For fans and students, they can enjoy the win more than the players and coaches because in eight days, they are right back to it against a tough Auburn team.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We just have to stay focused on our week. We can’t worry about future weeks, just focus on that day. Win the day,” said Brown.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Our coaches challenge us to grenade. Next play. Throw it out, as soon as it happens throw it out. The longer you hold on to it the more it will explode right next to you,” said Saelee.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The last time Kent-Meridian had a record at .500 was that 2015 season. The upcoming match up against Auburn will be the 114th meeting between the two schools as Kent-Meridian tries to get back to the even benchmark this season.<\/p>\n\t\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the first time in over eight years, KM scores over 60 points in a game. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1142,"featured_media":64851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-64850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64850"}],"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\/1142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64850"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=64850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}