Kennedy Advances to Playoffs

What a crappy day to be a hawk fan. I’m not even going to blog about the game, the score speaks for itself and if you don’t know the score, look it up…enough said. On the other hand Kennedy is in the Playoffs! With a final regular season record of 4-5 the Cougars advance to post season play Wednesday vs. Muscatine.

                If the Cougar defense holds its own as it has the second half of the season, they should have a good chance to go deep into the playoffs. Kennedy has had a pretty solid defense this season, especially prominent against the Iowa City Little Hawks, where they had just over 40 yards of offense…impressive. The offense on the other hand has also undergone major improvement! Senior quarterback, Riley Fergus, is showing more athleticism since game one where the Cougars had an AWFUL day completing 3 of 27 passes. His right hand man, Alex Hillyer, has also pulled more than his weight this season. Hillyer broke Kennedy’s single season rushing yards record, and is always a dominant force on the field. This last game against the Little Hawks was a great representation of what he can do, rushing for over 200 yards.

                Overall I would say the Cougars didn’t live up to their expectations, or their potential for that matter. They came in to the season expecting to run their division; they did anything but. Starting out 0-4 with little to brag about, the Cougs then real in their first win against, you guessed it, Jefferson. Since then the cougars have gone undefeated. It seems as though the sleeping giant has awoken and the cougars are back!

                It is hard to tell how far Kennedy will make it in the playoffs this year. With a possibly 5 more games, that is if they go to the championship game, players, and the coaching staff begin to fatigue. A team that just snuck into the playoffs has a lot of work to do to become state champions. I have a feeling the Cougar football team has some things in their playbook we have yet to see, and that could be the little spark we need to keep this streak alive. As I was once told, “It’s not about who has the better team, but who has the greater determination.” If Kennedy has the drive and determination to make it to the UNI Dome, I wouldn’t expect anything less. Go Cougars! (WC 407)