Kennedy falls short, 30-27 to Dubuque Hempstead

DUBUQUE ---- It didn't take long for Cedar Rapids Kennedy to put Hempstead in a hole. Just two plays, in fact.

But from them on the Cougars were in a dogfight.

Trailing by 3 with just less than 5 minutes to play, Kennedy drove to the Dubuque Hempstead 11-yard line before Blake Thurston picked off Derek Jacobus' pass in the end zone, giving the Mustangs a 30-27 victory on Friday night at Dalzell Field.

'Credit to (Thurston). He made a great play,' Kennedy coach Tim Lewis said. 'I feel bad for Derek. He had a great game. He's the kind of kid who's totally going to blame himself for that, and he shouldn't. There's a lot of plays in a game, and unfortunately it had to end like that.'

After a 7-yard run from Miles Moa on the first offensive snap of the game, Jacobus scooted 73 yards on the next play for a 7-0 lead.

Hempstead's opening drive wasn't as quick, nor did it cover as much distance, but it ended with the same result. Jacob Hodge caught two passes for 49 yards on the Mustangs' nine-play, 62-yard drive, and on third-and-goal at the 4 took a pitch right, outrun three defenders to the corner and dove for the pylon to knot the game at 7.

The Cougars (5-2, 3-2 Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division) were much more methodical the next time they touched the ball, but again it was Jacobus finishing the drive in the end zone. Kennedy marched 80 yards for the second consecutive possession, but snapped the ball 17 times before Jacobus snuck in for the score from the 1. Kennedy converted 3 of 4 third downs on the drive, and kept possession with a 5-yard completion on fourth-and-1 at its own 41 early in the drive.

Hempstead blocked the extra-point attempt.

But Hempstead (4-4, 3-3) kept pace, and behind the fleet feet of quarterback Bailey Paulsen, the Mustangs drove back downfield to take a 14-13 lead on Hodge's 11-yard TD. Paulsen ran for 50 yards on the drive, including a 38-yard burst.

Then disaster nearly struck for Kennedy.

Jacobus completed an 18-yard screen pass to Moa on third-and-15, but Moa fumbled at the end of the run and Hempstead took over at the Cougars' 33. However, a Hempstead false start and Prince Kollie's sack allowed Kennedy to escape unscathed when Chris Francis' 32-yard field goal try missed wide left.

The Cougars then made it 3-for-3, taking their third possession of the first half 80 yards, capping the nine-play drive with Jacobus' 8-yard run, his third TD of the game.

Miles Moa added a 2-yard TD run in the third quarter, but Hempstead swarmed the holder and denied the point after try.

But the penalties began adding up and Hempstead began asserting control. The Mustangs got within five points on Carter Daack's 3-yard TD. After forcing a Kennedy punt, Matt Zenner put Hempstead over the top with a 14-yard score.

The Cougars helped Hempstead out, committing three personal foul penalties on the drive. Kennedy committed 12 penalties for 137 yards, including a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag when Jacobus hurdled a Hempstead defender that wiped out a 32-yard gain.

'I've never heard of that (rule),' Lewis said. 'I'm going to look it up, because I need to know for my own peace of mind because that was huge. We were driving down the field and we had a ton of momentum because of that run, and then they call it back on a penalty I've never heard of."

"What's frustrating is they didn't know how to mark it. They put their minds together real quick and said, 'Let's do this.' We had to accept it and we didn't accept it very well. We let it get into our heads.' Jacobus finished with 191 rushing yards on 13 carries. He was 8-for-17 passing with one interception for 99 yards. Miles Moa carried the ball 28 times for 146 yards for Kennedy.

Hempstead had lost three straight games in heartbreaking fashion, dropping decisions to Iowa City High and Iowa City West in the closing minutes before falling to city rival Senior last week.

As Hempstead coach Bob McIntyre watched the final pass sail into the end zone, he knew the Mustangs would be going to the playoffs after going winless a year ago.

'We lost two in the last minute, so maybe we deserve to win one in the last minute,' McIntyre said. These kids, this time last year they were 0-8 and they're 4-4 now. That says a lot to the kids' work ethic.'