By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Effervescent Kennedy Catholic shined behind the brilliant running of rushers like senior Junior Ngauamo, sophomore Keannu Royster and freshman Treshaun Harrison in bettering the Lindbergh Eagles by a 48-21 score at Highline Memorial Field Friday.

The Lancers improved to 3-0 in the Seamount and 5-0 overall while Lindbergh experienced its first loss in league, dropping to 2-1.
Kennedy is good, but its 20-year coaching veteran Bob Bourgette says, in so many words, that's not good enough.

"We are a good football team," said Bourgette. "But we can be a much better football team. The effort is there, the athletes are there, but it's up to me, and, my staff, to work on things in practice to help them get better."

The Lancers won this game fairly easily, so says the final score, but until the Lancers scored their fifth touchdown of the game with 10:45 left in the fourth quarter, making it 35-14, any tilt of momentum could have seen this game go in an entirely different direction.

"Lindbergh is a good team," said Bourgette. "They have some explosive players. Their quarterback showed he could play, has a nice arm."

So defensively it was up to the likes of defensive backs like sophomore Jared Thurber, sophomore Keannu Royster, sophomore Trevor Hoffman and Harrison, marking wide receivers, stopping the passing game of Lindbergh. And although they did not stop it at first in the game, as the Eagles scored with 1:15 left in the first quarter on a 28-yard passing play to tie the score at 7-7, the secondary did stop it after that.

"We have three sophomores and a freshman in the secondary when Jacob (Thurber) is out," said Bourgette.

But, speaking of running and the backs that carried the ball well for the Lancers, they start with Ngauamo, who carried the ball 27 times in this game for 147 yards and a 5.4 average per carry.

"He's a tough back," said Bourgette. "Very pleased."

Ngauamo glowed in this one, not just carrying the ball for a nice total number of yards rushing, but he, also scored five rushing touchdowns -- including the Lancers' first score of the game that came before Lindbergh's first score, to note.

On their first possession of the first quarter, the Lancers went to Ngauamo almost exclusively. Harrison burst 24 yards one play on the seven-play drive that took 2:56 and finished out at 61 yards after Ngauamo's two-yard run and Marco Calderon's PAT made it Lancers on top, 7-0, with 9:04 to go in the first quarter.

Lindbergh got the ball and went six plays before punting on fourth down and seven. And, on the punt, Lancer returner Royster took the ball 30 yards to the 45-yard line into Eagles territory just a bit. And, also, on the return, Royster's shoulder pad popped out of his football jersey from a tackle helping him go out of bounds. And, in a flash, AJ McGrew, a senior wide receiver, ran over after the play and he tucked Royster's pad back into place under the jersey.

So the definition of "I got your back," extends to the shoulders with the Lancers and that helps to explain, too, perhaps, why this team that plays with teamwork all over the field, gang-tackles runners, takes care of its business on one-on-one plays and blocks for each other unselfishly, is on the rise heading in a good direction toward, perhaps, making a deep run in the state playoffs which start in late October/early November and conclude with the championship game inside the Tacoma Dome in December.

With the football starting its second possession of the game with 5:30 left in the first quarter, the Lancers went six yards on second and 10 before senior quarterback Jacob Thurber hit Harrison for a four-yard pass, making it a first down. Then Ngauamo ran for two yards and on third down Thurber missed on a pass to an open McGrew streaking down the left side of the field with only daylight until he got to the end zone if the pass would have been floated in with a little more air under it.
So, after the Lancers' punt, the Eagles were with the ball at their 20-yard line and after a no-gain run play, on second and 10, the Eagles received a 45-yard pass play to their liking that wound the ball up on the 35-yard line of the Lancers. Then came a run of eight yards to get the ball to the 28. On second and two yards to go, the above spoken of pass came from the Eagles' QB and that knotted the score at 7-7 with 1:15 left in the first quarter.

The Lancers scored on their next possession. After Harrison returned the kickoff 10 yards, the Lancers started at their 39-yard line and Royster carried the ball nine yards to set up second and one. Ngauamo went four yards to make for a Lancers first down at the 49-yard line of the Eagles. Then Harrison went five yards as the first quarter clock expired. After more good runs from Ngauamo and Royster and good blocking from Sebastian Ferraro, Lele Savelio, Manase Kamoto, Ben Josie, Marvin Maale and more big guys of the offensive line for the Lancers doing their thing up front, Ngauamo ran the ball in on second down and 16.

Calderon's PAT made it 14-7 with 10:00 left in the second quarter.
"Lack of effort," said Ngauamo. "I am just looking forward to getting better."

On the ensuing kickoff for the Lancers by Calderon, special teams player Ben Gaoteote, a sophomore, made a nice play going low and upending the Eagles' kick returner. That stuffed the Eagles deep in their own side of the field on the nine yard line. The Eagles went three and out, punting on fourth down, and a consortium of Lancers came through to block the punt and get the ball at the Eagles' nine yard line in excellent field position.

However, a Lancers fumble on the very next play of first and 10 from the nine resulted in the Eagles getting the ball again.

This is where Bourgette's words speaking about his team being a good football team but one that can become better play into view a little more clearly.

"We had spots of brilliance out there today," said Bourgette. "But we had penalties, and, gave up a double pass, and fumbles. We really just shoot ourselves in the foot sometimes. But we did play really well, too."

Some of that playing really well came on the very next series for the Lancers, playing defense well as the Eagles started at their 10-yard line on first and 10 with 7:58 left in the second quarter and the Eagle QB made what looked like a pinpoint pass 40 yards downfield to his receiver. But Jared Thurber, a defensive back of many spoken of earlier, made a nice play, swatting the ball away from the high-flying wide receiver jumping for the ball, too.

"He's a sophomore, and, he's getting better and better and better," said Bourgette.

Then, on second and 10, the Lancers' defense made a stop with linebacker Dartanian Henry getting the Eagles rusher for a two-yard loss.

Next, on third and 12 from the eight yard line, the Eagles' QB who proved to this point his arm was accurate, threw a pass 40 yards down the field for the wide receiver on defensive back Royster's left side of the field and the player watched the ball go into his hands. But Royster also intertwined his left hand between the receivers' and the ball and ripped away the hands, having the ball for a moment.

"Made a great play," said Bourgette.

That play by Royster though became moot when a roughing the passer penalty on the Lancers gave the Eagles a first and 10 from the 24 yard line. But the defense, led by senior linebacker James Merrill, making a tackle for no gain, forced the Eagles three and out. Then, on their next possession, the Lancers, with 4:55 left in the second quarter, scored. After an assortment of plays, 11 total, with quarterback Thurber making a nice throw to Ngauamo for 19 yards, to the 1-yard line, with the Lancers chewing up 4:47 off the clock, Ngauamo scored. He ran the football in from the 1-yard line, capping a 75 yard drive that made it 21-7. That scoring play there that was the second to last play of the second quarter, ending the half nicely for the Lancers, was junior linebacker Peter Hildebrandt, who made a nice tackle on special teams, thwarting any run back to give the Eagles some momentum heading into their locker room at halftime.

In the third quarter, Calderon's typical strong leg landed the kickoff into the endzone for a touchback, starting the Eagles at their own 20-yard line. After three downs, with the defense strong like Kamoto applying pressure to the Eagles' QB on one play, forcing an incomplete pass, it was the Lancers' ball with 11:20 to go in the third quarter and the ball on the 42-yard line. Royster sprung free into the end zone off a great block from McGrew, showing he is more than a good wide receiver for the Lancers. That made it 28-7.

Lindbergh went five plays, with one first down conversion, and, one play was a 33 yard run so the Eagles were with a first and 10 at the 13-yard line with still 8:25 to go in the third quarter. But Royster came up with an interception of a pass into the end zone by the Eagles' QB.
Then the Lancers, with the ball at their own 20-yard line, fumbled on second and six. Lindbergh, in good field position, at the Lancers' 24-yard line, scored two plays later, on a seven-yard rushing TD, cutting the Lancers' lead to 28-14 with 6:53 left in the third quarter.

Still a close game, the Lancers fumbled again on their next possession. Then a play by Kamoto, who tackled the runner well in the backfield but threw him to the ground post-play, was flagged for a 15-yard penalty. That sat Kamoto out by Bourgette.

"He shouldn't have done that and he knows it," said Bourgette. "He got excited. He made a great tackle and should have stopped after that. I took him out half the quarter. But he knows what he did and he's fine."
So maybe a frustration penalty by Kamoto there, as the Eagles got the ball back with a lot of time left, still, 5:22 left in the third quarter and only two touchdowns down.

So the Eagles then had the ball at their 45-yard line, but after Henry stopped their rusher for no gain, Merrill made a huge play, getting a sack of the Eagle QB for a six-yard loss, making it third and 16. After a one-yard gain on the next play, the Eagles went for it and it was an incomplete pass.

The Lancers got the ball back with 2:55 left in the third quarter and nine plays later, with 10:45 left in the fourth quarter, Ngauamo scored his fourth touchdown of the game, from six yards out, on a drive that went eight plays, covering 50 yards in 4:20 elapsed time.

Then the Lancers' defense forced the Eagles to punt after three downs and they themselves scored immediately, when on the punt Harrison returned it 75 yards for the touchdown, blowing this game wide open now at 42-14.

And then the Eagles went three and punt, and the Lancers scored again one last time, with Ngauamo getting a touchdown from 21 yards out, making it 48-14 with a minute left in the game.

Also rushing strongly with carries was Harrison, who touched the ball seven times in the backfield and picked up 86 yards.
"Kid plays hard," said Bourgette.

Royster also ran well, spelling Ngauamo some, like Harrison, in this game, with 77 yards on six carries.

And 6-0, 225 running back Ngauamo said things of more than his running in this game.

"We're looking forward to improvements," he said. "Every day is a day to get better."