Cougars complete perfect regular-season run

WATERLOO - Cedar Rapids Kennedy finished off an unbeaten regular season Friday night as the third-ranked Cougars beat Waterloo West, 39-13, in Class 4A District 5 prep football action at Memorial Stadium.

Shaun Beyer rushed for 155 yards, a total that included an 86-yard touchdown run out of a wildcat formation. That second-half score, building the Kennedy lead to 29-7 in the third quarter, essentially put the game out of West's reach.

Quarterback Nicholas Buehr passed for a pair of TDs in the opening half, leading Kennedy to a 19-0 lead at the break. Tyler Dralle, the workhorse back, also found the end zone in the first half en route to 99 yards rushing.

West got second-half rushing scores from Harrison Eighmy and John Draine, but it was not enough as the Wahawks fell to 3-6 overall and 1-4 in District 5. Playoff-bound and District 5 champion Kennedy is 9-0, 5-0.

The Cougars mixed long drives with short fields and big plays to build a 19-0 halftime lead.

Kennedy marched 60 yards in a dozen plays to take a 6-0 edge on their second offensive series. Dralle plunged the final yard to put his team on the scoreboard.

Matthew Lewis recovered a muff by West on a punt at the Wahawk 22. That led to the first of two Nicholas Duehr touchdown passes. On a fourth-down play at the West 20, Duehr threw to the end zone, where a Wahawk defender tipped into the air. Austin Coates pulled in the ball, and Kennedy had a 12-0 lead when the 2-point try failed.

Finally, Duehr found Chase Baker wide open over the middle, and Baker finished off the 45-yard touchdown pass play. That score came with 2:07 to go in the half.

West, like Kennedy, had its chances. Unlike the Cougars, the Wahawks couldn't cash them in. A 55-yard run by Draine moved West to the Kennedy 33, but a bad snap two plays later sent the Wahawks backward and the drive died on downs at the Cougar 40.

An interception derailed another West threat at the Kennedy 10.