By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Kennedy Catholic has got a good beat on this season so far.
The Lancers proved that last week by beating Metro League tough team Seattle Prep, 18-3, on the road at Seattle Memorial Stadium -- the team that beat the Lancers in the state playoffs last season.

So this week the previously undefeated Renton Indians came to town and the Lancers were not welcome hosts, taking the Indians to the house, 49-6, in its homecoming game at Highline Memorial Field Saturday.

The Lancers improved to 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the 2A/3A.

The Indians lost its first game of the season against the Lancers, dropping to 2-1, after having won two non-league games to open their season.

Now where do the Lancers go after a nice win like this and 3-0 start to the season?

"We go back to work," said JFK head coach Bob Bourgette. "We will enjoy this win today, but we will go back and review the game and see where we broke down. It's Highline next and we start preparing for them now."
Highline versus Kennedy is under the lights at Highline Memorial Stadium at 8 p.m. Friday.

Renton took the ball first this past Saturday, and a Lancers short, bouncy kickoff resulted in the Indians starting at their 40-yard line in pretty good field position. After the Indians completed an eight-yard pass play to get to midfield, the Indians went three and out.

The Lancers got the ball in their first possession of the game on offense and they moved the ball 65 yards on eight plays in 4 minutes, 48 seconds before scoring.

JFK senior running back Liam Dahlke started the possession with two three-yard runs, to get the ball to the Lancers' 41 yard line. Then, faced with a third down and four situation, Lancers' senior quarterback Jacob Thurber used his 6-4, 180 frame to find Dahlke, hitting him in the numbers for an eight yard pass to midfield. That made for a Lancers first down with 8:22 left in the first quarter.

This first-possession drive for the Lancers continued with a 17 yard Dahlke run and an eight yard Dahlke run, followed by a loss of a few yards on a running play. But the Lancers continued this drive forward with senior running back Junior Ngaumau's nine yard run. That set up a TD run from senior running back Dartanian Henry from the 10-yard line, making it 6-0 Lancers and 7-0 after senior kicker Marco Calderon's PAT, with five minutes left in the first quarter.

Renton's second possession was short-lived. They held the ball for three plays before needing to punt, and the center's snap on fourth and six went over the punter's head and into the end zone. And the Lancers fell on the football for a safety to make it 9-0 with 3:50 left in the first quarter.

Then, on the Renton kickoff to the Lancers, senior kick returner Ramsey Bauer took the ball from the Lancers' own 37-yard line and went 50 yards with the football to the Indians' 13. And Ngaumu did the rest, running the ball for 11 yards and then two yards and it was 16-0 Lancers with 3:16 in the first quarter.

"I just want to get better, and learn from now," said Ngauamo, who led all rushers with 145 yards on 14 carries for a 10-6 yard average per carry. "I wouldn't get the yards I get without my offensive line."
And, though it was a lopsided final score on the scoreboard, this game's feel was, definitely, closer than that.

The Indians got the ball back and, on their next possession, they did something good with it.

The Indians held the football from the 3:00 mark of the first quarter through the end of it and then held the pigskin for a half minute more into the second quarter before scoring a touchdown. All told, Renton's possession on this drive was 11 plays for 87 yards, holding the football for a 3:30 time of possession. The Indians finished the scoring drive with a touchdown pass from Elijah Clayton to Ijaaz Rashid for 10 yards, cutting the Lancers' lead to 16-6 with 11:30 left on the second quarter clock.

An Indians two-point conversion was scored and that two-point play further cut the Lancers' lead, making it a 16-8 score. But, hold everything. Thankfully for the Lancers, and their fans, there was a holding penalty called against the Indians on the conversion play that resulted in the Indians having to move the ball back five yards and redo the play. This time they opted for a PAT kick and it was blocked by a bevy of Lancers penetrating through the middle.

To this point it was a close game in coach Bourgette's eyes.

"We started off a little behind, and looked for how do we rebuild," said Bourgette.

Next the Lancers scored in four plays, capped by a Ngaumau 10-yard run and Royster 32-yard score, upping the Lancers' lead to 23-6 after Calderon's PAT with 2:14 left in the second quarter.

Bourgette mentioned many names on the offensive line, led by 5-10, 235 sophomore Marvin Maaele, 6-0, 210 senior Ben Josie, 6-0, 295 senior Manase Kamoto and 5-10, 335 junior Lele Savelio.

The Lancers' really came out firing in the third and fourth quarters with 26 unanswered points.

"In locker room at halftime, we talked, we came out strong in the third quarter and gave it to them," said Royster.

JFK struck quickly in the third when Thurber hit Royster on the run 20 yards down field and Royster got into the end zone for an 82-yard touchdown, making this one 30-6 Lancers with 10:45 left in the third quarter.

Then the Indians got the ball and, on first and 10, it was another safety on a bad Indians snap that made it 32-6 with 10:15 left in the third.

Then more scores, as Harrison ran the kickoff return 85 yards, snatching the ball nicely out the air above his head and quickly moving straight up the field and by all the Indians special teams players, so it was now 39-6.

One more Lancers touchdown came, with 7:13 left in the third, when Harrison made it 46-6 on a 48-yard run. Calderon made his PAT a 6-for-6 day with this final point-after-attempt success following Harrison's TD. Then the Lancers got their final score as Calderon tacked on a 23-yard field goal to the point total with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter.