Big 2nd half helps Cedar Rapids Washington down Kennedy, 24-14

CEDAR RAPIDS — On his preseason questionnaire to The Gazette, Mo Blue wrote down his career record as being 1-0. Weird considering this is his first season as a head varsity football coach.

Explanation needed here. Blue was interim coach for one game a few seasons back, running the show for Tony Lombardi, who was suspended. Technically, that win goes on Lombardi's official record. But, whatever.

Blue doesn't care, his boys' certainly don't care after a 24-14 win Friday night over Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Kingston Stadium. This one was special any way you slice it.

'I don't care what the score was, Kennedy is a good football team,' said Blue, the school's longtime defensive coordinator. 'We just made a couple more plays than they did. It usually comes down to one or two plays as the difference in the game. You've got to make them, and that's what we did. We were able to make plays when we had to.'

Washington turned around a 7-3 halftime deficit with three consecutive touchdowns and a stout defensive effort. Kennedy was limited to 67 second-half yards and a late, consolation touchdown from Cairron Hendred.

The speedster sophomore running back had both Cougars touchdowns but was bottled up the final two quarters, unable to get to the perimeter, where he excels.

'No adjustments in the second half,' said Wash defensive back Tyonchi Johnson, who played a very strong game. 'We just played simple football. Everybody did their jobs, and that was it. I was just trying to do my job, keeping the edge. They kept trying to bounce it outside, and I was always there. They bounced it out to me, and I was just lucky to make those plays.'

Running back Haven Henningsen rushed for 124 yards on 28 carries for Washington and threw the go-ahead TD pass in the third quarter, taking a pitch from quarterback Bryan Kunde and hitting receiver Brayden Wright for a stunning 52-yard score. On the final play of the quarter, Kunde dropped back and threw a beauty of a bomb to Lincoln Riley for another stunning 57-yard touchdown and a 17-7 Wash lead.

An interception by lineman Parks McBride set up a Henningsen 2-yard TD run with 4:25 left to put it completely out of reach. This was quite the rebound victory for the Warriors, who lost in the final seconds last week to Cedar Rapids Prairie, 21-20.

'You've just got to keep your head up,' said Kunde, who threw for 129 yards. 'We came out tonight and were still pretty down about that game. But we knew we didn't want that to happen again to us.'

Kennedy took a 7-3 lead at halftime thanks to a Hendred 14-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. He searched for room inside, then darted outside quickly to the open field and the end zone.

That capped a 10-play, 78-yard drive. The longest plays in the drive were a 19-yard screen pass from quarterback B.J. White to Hendred and a 23-yard halfback pass from Michael Watkins to Ki Jenkins.

Washington scored first on an Andrew Hammer 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter. It was an impressive three points, all things considered, since the Warriors took possession after a Kennedy punt inside their own 1-yard line.

Henningsen ran for 23 yards on a third-down play to get Washington out of the shadow of its goal line. Quarterback Bryan Kunde completed a 17-yard pass to Brayden Wright to give the Warriors a 1st-and-10 at the Kennedy 13.

Kennedy had a very good opportunity to take a two-score lead later in the second quarter, taking over at the Wash 39 after a nice Jenkins punt return. The Cougars surged to the Warriors 11, but White was intercepted at the goal line by Washington defensive back Riley.

Washington actually held a yardage edge in the first half, though only by a 172-168 margin.

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