Defense causes 5 turnovers, Alexander scores 4 TDs to send Kennedy Catholic to 4A semifinals
Mason Hayes gave the No. 4 Kennedy Catholic High School Lancers a needed spark on the first play of the second quarter Friday night at Highline Memorial Stadium.
Trailing visiting No. 5 Skyline, 10-0, after one quarter in the Class 4A state quarterfinals, Hayes was quick to disrupt what could have been a third consecutive scoring drive for the Spartans.
Playing safety, Hayes patiently watched as Skyline’s quarterback dropped back, then jumped in front of a Spartans receiver to haul in a long pass over the middle for his second interception of the half.
The Kennedy Catholic senior proceeded to sprint into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown to give the Lancers all the momentum they needed.
“Coach (Sheldon) Cross always preaches big plays,” Hayes said. “Big plays to keep us in the game — keep us going. I saw the QB stare down his receiver’s eyes, I took advantage of it and I took it to the house.”
The Lancers never looked back after that.
Kennedy Catholic’s defense didn’t allow a point the rest of the way, while Arizona State commit Xe’ree Alexander paced the Lancers’ offense with four rushing touchdowns.
The end result was a 38-10 rout that sends Kennedy Catholic to the state semifinals for the first time since 2006.
“It’s very exciting,” Alexander said. “We just bought ourselves another seven days, and it’s time to have perfect practices next week and keep bringing it.”
Skyline scored the game’s first points on a 34-yard field goal midway through the first quarter after forcing a quick three-and-out on Kennedy Catholic’s second drive.
The Spartans scored their only touchdown less than two minutes later when Nahmier Robinson hauled in the second of his three interceptions in the first half to set up a quick opportunity. Michael Grimmer connected with Trey Crandall on a 26-yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive.
Skyline’s shutout held until Hayes’ interception return for a touchdown, but Kennedy Catholic took over from there.
“We just needed something good to happen, and then once something good happened, you could just feel that it was like, OK, we’re going to win,” Cross said.
The Spartans reached the red zone only once more following the lone touchdown on their third drive, and were limited to 159 yards of total offense — including finishing with negative rushing yards.
Kennedy Catholic’s defense stopped Skyline in the backfield on 13 total plays and caused five turnovers, including three interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries.
“We took their punches, and we started throwing punches, and then it was like, OK, now we’re playing football,” Cross said. “And then you could see that we settled down and started playing really good, and it became the blueprint for how we win a game.
“We talked about it. We’re going to play good defense, we’re going to be opportunistic on defense and create some turnovers.”
The lockdown defense gave the Lancers’ offense opportunities to find some rhythm despite a few miscues, including four interceptions.
Alexander accounted for nearly half of Kennedy Catholic’s 366 total yards of offense, piling up 140 yards and the four rushing touchdowns on 18 carries.
“I’ve got to wait for the blocks to set up, and when that happens I just go,” Alexander said. “And just execute the plays, and just help the team out.”
Alexander gave the Lancers a lead they never lost with a 4-yard rushing touchdown midway through the second quarter, added another of 25 yards not long after and Kennedy Catholic took a 22-10 lead into the break.
He had two more rushing touchdowns of 12 and 9 yards in the third and fourth quarters to close out the win.
After Skyline built the early 10-point lead, the Lancers scored 38 unanswered points to secure their trip to the semifinals.
“When adversity hits, we just bring even more effort,” Alexander said. “We’ve just got to keep going. It powers us to keep going.”
Hayes led the Lancers in receiving with five catches for 83 yards, and added the two interceptions on defense, including the one touchdown.
Crandall had seven catches for a game-high 89 yards and the one score to pace Skyline’s offense.
The Lancers (11-1) meet the winner of Saturday’s contest between No. 8 Emerald Ridge and undefeated No. 1 Chiawana in the next round.
