No apologies necessary for Kennedy

MUSCATINE — Teams that finish the regular season with a 2-7 record have no business being anywhere near the state football playoffs.

A lot of people have said that, Brian White heard it. He doesn't care.

'I'll be honest with you,' the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Coach said Wednesday night, after a 24-yard field goal by Mark Schulz on the final play gave the Cougars a 20-17 Class 4A first-round win over Muscatine. 'If you are a 2-7 team that just gets worked every week, you're probably not going to get in. I've heard that a ton. But I got a Tweet today from (Actvities Director) Aaron Stecker that said 'Iron sharpens iron.'

'I'll tell you what, the schedule we played this year, we have now played seven of the number one and number two (playoff) seeds on this side of the state. We played a tough schedule, (and) it pays off. These kids have been through it, and they've been hardened because of it.'

It took Kennedy seven weeks to win its first game under the first-year coach. But how you do in your five district games determines whether you get into the playoffs or not, and the Cougars won two of their final three.

They got in, and they want to remain in. No apologies coming from this group.

A second-round game is Monday against an undetermined opponent.

'They never quit. All season long, they've fought,' White said. 'They could have quit after the fourth week, after the fifth week, after that overtime loss to Jefferson ... These kids don't quit. I'm just glad the state gives us an opporunity. This is a good football team that has just had some bad luck. We're going to make some noise. I tell you what, these kids can't wait until Monday.'

Schulz missed a field goal on the final play of regulation that would have beaten Jefferson back in late September but was money here. Kennedy moved the ball from its 39 to the Muscatine 9 in the final two minutes, calling a timeout with one second left.

Muscatine tried to ice the left-footer with a TO of its own, but his kick was right down the middle.

'What a big, big, big difference,' Schulz said. 'Luckily against Jeff, it was to win the game, not lose the game. I was able to come back in overtime and make one ... Coach told me that if we ever got into that same situation again, he was going to put me right back in. A game-winning situation just like that, man, it feels great.'

Kennedy dominated this game, outgaining Muscatine (7-3) by a 467-179 margin. Junior running back Tyler Dralle was the poster by for the Cougars' ground-and-pound attack with 228 yards rushing on a whopping 46 carries.

'I don't feel tired because I didn't have to play defense tonight,' Dralle said. 'That was our game plan, to just pound the ball. I just followed my blocking, and we got the job done.'

Dralle scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter for a 7-0 Kennedy lead. Muscatine tied it early in the second, but Jay Blank's 25-yard TD run gave the Cougars a 14-7 halftime edge.

Schulz kicked a 26-yard field goal late in the third to make it a 17-7 game, but Muscatine tied it on a late third-quarter TD and 21-yard field goal with 6:12 left. Kennedy continually shot itself in the foot with penalties (nine for 95 yards) that helped keep an outplayed Muscatine team around.

But in the end, it didn't matter. Neither a poor record or a bus breakdown on the way to the game could prevent Kennedy from winning.

'I told our kids all week that this is the kind of script Hollywood writes,' White said.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com