When you think of Kennedy football under Chris Sarlo, you think of the running game.
Whether it’s the single-wing, wishbone, I-formation or any other formation, the Eagles like to pound away at their opponents.
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| Jacob Colon (20) was able to find some good running lanes for Kennedy on Saturday. He was also tough to bring down. |
Led by a strong offensive line, Kennedy did just that in a 36-21 win over Holy Cross at Alumni Field on the campus of Holy Cross High School Saturday.
The Eagles did score their first touchdown of the day on a pass from Joey Schaff to Jacob Colon, but it was all on the ground for trips to the end zone after that.
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| Marc-Anthony Telusma (4) celebrates with his Kennedy teammates after his touchdown. |
Marc-Anthony Telusma ran one in for a 12-0 lead with 5:04 left in the second quarter. Colon made sure Kennedy stayed ahead by that margin when he intercepted a pass to end a Holy Cross drive late in the half.
Corey Fappiano and Adam Razza connected for a long touchdown for the first Crusader score in Alumni Field history just 58 seconds into the third quarter.
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| Adam Razza (14) celebrates with teammates after scoring the first Holy Cross touchdown in the history of Alumni Field. |
The score stayed at 12-6 until 3:44 was on the third quarter clock. Rhakeem Henry scored the first of his two second half touchdowns on a short burst, then Schaff ran in the conversion to put the Eagles ahead 20-6.
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| Rhakeem Henry (28) gets congratulations from a Kennedy teammate after scoring a third quarter touchdown. |
DeAndre Wallace hauled in a fade pass from Cliff Hodak in the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter to pull the Crusaders to within a score. That was as close as Holy Cross got in its first game at Alumni Field.
Kennedy used a solid defense to shut Holy Cross down, then gave the ball to the Eagle running game, which sealed the win. Joey Shaff’s touchdown and Colon’s conversion run put Kennedy ahead 28-13 with 6:57 left in the fourth quarter.
After a turnover on downs, Kennedy pounded away until Henry scored his second touchdown. The conversion run, also by Henry, put the lead up to 36-13.
Holy Cross got a late touchdown, but the onside kick failed and Kennedy was able to walk away with a road win in the season opener for both teams.
Notes: Kennedy used its larger offensive line to run the ball effectively. The Eagles employed a bevy of different running backs and fullbacks, and there was plenty of success to be had. Kennedy’s defense, outside of a couple big plays, got the stops it needed to prevail. The Eagles host Wolcott next Friday at 7 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.
For Holy Cross, a big breakdown on defense allowed Colon to be wide open for his touchdown reception. The Crusaders had trouble getting off of the field against the bigger Eagles. On offense, Fappiano left the game with an injury and was replaced by Hodak. Hodak did pretty well in his time at quarterback. Razza is a playmaker who can break tackles and wreak havoc on an opposing defense. The tall DeAndre Wallace will be a difficult matchup for NVL corners this season. Holy Cross travels to Bristol next Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. game against St. Paul.
