It was a literal war during the opening minutes of the game with both sides trading shots such as on this play when Mitch McGrath delivered a big hit on Preston Smith after a pass was thrown just out of Smith’s reach. But Kenton Ridge would find its range, using a balanced land and air attack to deal the Pioneers their third loss in as many weeks. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
With a 35-7 win over the Pioneers, the Cougars have won eight in a row and are on a collision course next Friday to battle London for the league championship.
Plain City, OH – For weeks now, Kenton Ridge has heard whispers from outside the program downplaying what has turned into the program’s longest winning streak in more than a decade.
Granted, the Cougars have beaten six opponents who are destined to finish with losing records.
What they’ve done the past two weeks, however, particularly on Friday when they easily handled Jonathan Alder 35-7 in a Central Buckeye Conference-Kenton Trail Division road game, shows what they’ve accomplished can no longer be overlooked.
The Cougars are 8-1 and haven’t lost since their opener, putting them in position to play five-time defending league champion London on Oct. 23 at home in a winner-take-all matchup for this year’s CBC-Kenton Trail title.
Veteran central Ohio columnist Jarrod Ulrey writes the Central Buckeye Conference and sports at large for Press Pros
“Our guys were pretty fired up, and our guys were tired of everybody saying it’s the same old Kenton Ridge,” coach Jon Daniels said. “They should be quite frankly. Our guys have worked their absolute tails off in practice, and they had one of the best offseasons you’ll see from 15-18-year-olds. We hit the go button in practice and we freaking go. They’re at a spot where they demand respect, and I respect the heck out of them.”
A 16-member senior class featuring standouts like quarterback Bryndyn Parsons, running back Brody Runkle, and tight end/defensive lineman Brennan Shaffer has Kenton Ridge on the precipice of what would be its first league title since 2014.
London is 7-2 overall and tied with the Cougars at 4-0 in the league after beating Tecumseh 45-0 on Friday.
Since the programs began matching up in league action in 2019, the Red Raiders have gone 7-0 and outscored the Cougars by a combined 284-21.
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“London is the big bad wolf, and we’re going to try to go 1-0, go to practice and put together a plan, and take some chops at the big red oak,” Daniels said.
“All they do (Kenton Ridge) is win, win, win no matter what…and everybody hands go up” after big plays like this TD pass from Bryndyn Parsons to Brennan Shaffer.
Shaffer, who is committed to play college baseball for Carson-Newman University and also is a standout basketball player, is the kind of athlete helping to push the Cougars into a new run of success this fall.
They’ve already clinched a playoff berth in Division IV, Region 16, but it marks just the second time in 10 years that they’re postseason bound.
“We’re eight months into this thing, and we’ve got a big group of seniors that really want it,” Shaffer said. “I don’t think we’ve accomplished what we wanted to throughout the first three years of our career, so we’re going out as hard as we can and want to go into week 10 and get it done.
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“It’s a confidence thing, but the confidence comes from the process. It’s been way too long since we’ve been in this position. I’m absolutely doing everything I can for my guys stepping up. I want it real bad.”
Christian Amman tries to evade the tackle attempt by Joe North. Amman would score the only Pioneer TD of the game on a 1-yard run to put Alder up 7-0 in the opening minutes.
The contributions of Shaffer, which included having four catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns on offense and a quarterback sack on the other side of the ball, went a long way toward helping the Cougars beat Jonathan Alder (6-3, 1-3) for the second time in three years.
The Pioneers lost a fumble on the game’s opening play from scrimmage, but sophomore Parker Bates intercepted a pass from Parsons with 8 minutes, 1 second to go in the opening quarter to keep the Cougars from taking advantage of the miscue.
Jonathan Alder then took a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard scoring run from junior Christian Amman with 4:34 to go in the first period.
The Cougars responded with a score on the ensuing drive, with Parsons hitting senior wide receiver Preston Smith for a 3-yard touchdown on the final play from scrimmage in the first quarter.
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“We 100 percent needed that,” Smith said. “(Jonathan Alder was) definitely a good team and has got players that match up with ours. I was thinking I’ve just got to do what I can to make plays.”
Brody Runkle shoots the gap in the Alder defense and rumbles 11 yards into the end zone for his second TD of the night.
Another fumble by the Pioneers gave Kenton Ridge the ball at its own 47 with 9 minutes to go before halftime, and the good field position helped set up an 11-play drive that was capped by a 2-yard scoring run by Runkle.
The Cougars made it 21-7 with 41 seconds to go before halftime when Parsons scrambled and found Shaffer for a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Kenton Ridge built on that momentum on the opening drive of the second half after taking over at the 50 as Parsons completed passes of 14 yards to junior Bryce Gruber and 11 to Smith to move the team deep into Jonathan Alder territory. With 7:34 to go in the third, Runkle ran in from 8 yards for a 28-7 lead.
“They’re a good football team, well-coached, but we didn’t do ourselves any favors in the first half,” Jonathan Alder coach Brett Glass said. “We moved the ball a couple different times, but we were unable to finish drives or had penalties. We couldn’t really stop them. I would say the biggest thing was that we played them fairly evenly, and they just made a couple big plays while we made a couple big mistakes.”
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The Pioneers struggled to slow down the Cougars’ balanced attack led by Parsons, who completed 21 of 25 passes for 235 yards with three touchdowns, and Runkle, who rushed 23 times for 93 yards and two scores.
Preston Smith hauls in a TD pass just over the fingertips of Alder defender Mitch McGrath.
Seven receivers caught at least one pass for Kenton Ridge.
While Jonathan Alder likely will end up with a playoff spot in Division III, Region 11, and could wind up with a home game if it wins Oct. 23 at Bellefontaine, the Cougars will need a win over London to have hopes of earning a playoff home game.
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“(Our passing game has) been efficient all year,” Parsons said. “It helps that we have a running back who can get a first down when we need him to. It opens up everything else. Our receivers are great and can go and make plays when we need them to.
Bryndyn Parsons engineered five Cougar scoring drives, completing 21 of 25 passes (84%) for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He and his teammates will face the ultimate challenge next week as they host defending champion London at home.
“We’re going to come into the (London) game thinking we’re going to win the game. That’s what we’re going to prepare to do.”
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