Big plays propel Kennett past Greene County Tech 33-21
KENNETT, Mo. - The Kennett Indians football team displayed its ability to execute big plays from the opening play Friday night when Azeon Nelson returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.
Less than three minutes later Kennett quarterback Patrick Maddox put together a 64-yard rush for a touchdown to give the Indians a 14-0 lead against Greene County Tech with less 9:42 left in the first period.
Greene County Tech survived the first surge of big plays by Kennett and rallied to tie things up at 14-14 by the 9:23 mark of the second quarter.
But the big plays never stopped coming for the Indians. The Indians’ defense provided the Kennett offense with good field position on two straight drives when it forced Greene County Tech to fumble the ball away at its own 22 in a tie game midway into the third quarter and deflected a Eagles’ punt near its own 20 less than three minutes later.
Kennett got the ball near the red zone after both big defensive plays and capitalized with touchdowns on both drives to open up a 26-14 lead by the 2:50 mark of the third quarter.
The lead swelled as large as 33-14 when Maddox ran for his third touchdown of the game with 3:37 left in regulation and Kennett held on for a 33-21 win against the Greene County Tech Eagles on Homecoming Night at Metz Cherry Stadium.
“I thought the fumble and the punt reflection were both big plays,” Kennett coach Aaron Pixley said of his team’s third quarter surge. “We really needed this plays. We had noticed on film they were getting a lot of their punts almost blocked so we put a defensive scheme in place and finally got a hand on one. Those were big plays for us and this game was a game of big plays.”
“The offensive plays in the first quarter were big also,” Pixley added. “We got some big blocking off the opening kickoff. Elijah Lemons had a big block on the kickoff return that helped Azeon score. Then we had a big run by Patrick on the quarterback counter. Our line executed very well on both plays. It just seemed like at different moments of the game when we had to have something we were able to come up with it.”
Greene County Tech did its best to make things interesting after falling behind.
Koby Brown, who finished with a team-high 16 carries for 39 yards, ran four yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 2:23 left in the first quarter.
Cade Word, who finished with three carries for 39 yards, ran seven yards for a touchdown to tie things up at 14-14 with 9:33 left in the third quarter.
But the Kennett defense took control after as it limited Greene County Tech to only one touchdown in its final five offensive possessions.
“Whenever their quarterback has time he’s a very good passer and their kids run good routs,” Pixley said. “I thought we came up with some big sacks at critical points in the game. Our pass rush wasn’t consistent, but when we had it we got some big plays with it.”
Kennett full-back Jaylean Kinnon finished with a team-high nine carries for 58 yards.
“He’s a big, strong kid that is hard to bring down when he gets going,” Pixley said. “The key is to get him going. If he can get to a hole untouched he’s probably going to gain some positive yards.”
Maddox threw for a touchdown and ran for three more. He was 14 of 23 in the air for 136 yards.
Six Kennett receivers had at least one reception.
“I thought Patrick had some big runs as well,” Pixley said. “And our receivers came up with some great catches tonight.”
Greene County Tech (0-3) had eight players catch at least one pass and six players complete at least one rush.
Greene County quarterback Garrett Stovall completed 13 of 23 passes for 136 yards. He threw one interception.
Kennett (2-3) will look to move back to the .500 mark with a win at New Madrid County Central (0-5) Friday. Hayti (5-0) beat New Madrid County Central 70-15 Friday night.
“We are going to expect a tough game,” Pixley said. “They are a team that is up-and-coming and trying to get back to where they used to be. When we played them in the jamboree we both scored twice on each other. They’ve got speed, spread you out and play with some tempo. They can throw the ball and threw a couple touchdown passes against us in the jamboree. They will be tough because of their speed and athleticism. Coach Fullhert is a good football coach and he’s going to get them going.”
Scoring Summary
Kennett 33, Paragould 21
PHS 7 0 7 7 - 21
KHS 14 0 12 7 - 33
First Quarter
K - Azeon Nelson 88 return (Andrew Spence kick failed, 11:43
K - Patrick Maddox 64 run (conversion good), 9:42
P - Koby Brown 4 run (Nathan Bustamante kick), 2:23
Third Quarter
P - Cade Word 7 run (Bustamante kick), 9:23
K - Maddox 1 run (Spence kick failed), 5:21
K - Tyreik Thomas 11 pass from Maddox (conversion failed), 2:50
Fourth Quarter
K - Maddox 10 run (Spence kick), 3:37
P - Devin Smith 16 pass from Garrett Stovall (Bustamante kick), 1:15
888Individual Stats
Passing - (GCT) Garrett Stovall 15-22-1 = 163; (Kennett) Patrick Maddox 14-23-0 = 136.
Rushing - (GCT) Carson Adams 2-(-7), Koby Brown 16-39, Cameron Harrison 2-(-3), Cade Word 13-90, Garrett Stovall 4-(-4), Eli Mason 1-(-2); (Kennett) Patrick Maddox 8-113, Cameron West 3-18, Azeon Nelson 3-(-4), Jaylean Kinnon 9-58.
Receiving - (GCT) - Devin Smith 2-26, Jacob Andrew 1-35, Justyn Craig 1-13, Koby Brown 3-9, Luke Williams 3-36, Carson Adams 1-1, Cade Word 3-39, Cameron Harrison 1-27. (Kennett) Heath McHaney 1-5, Azeon Nelson 2-17, Jaylean Kinnon 2-17, Tyriek Thomas 3-37, Cameron West 5-46, X’Zavier Whitfield 1-16.
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