Kettle Run overcomes James Wood's hot start

And in the end on Friday, there was just too much Kettle Run.

“Tonight was kind of the way the year has gone,” said James Wood coach Ryan Morgan, whose team dropped its seventh straight after opening the season 2-1. “We had some good plays, some really good plays and then some mistakes that really hurt us. We came out really well, then they came back. They kept coming and we kept coming they just had a little bit more than us but I’m proud of the way the kids played tonight and played throughout the year.”

Before the game the Colonels honored 19 seniors and that celebration carried over to the field.

Wood came right out of the gate and punched the playoff-bound Cougars in the mouth.

James Wood forced a pair of punts on the first two series for Kettle Run (8-2, 4-2 Northwestern District).

Taking over at midfield after the second punt, it took Wood all of one play, a 50-yard sprint by running back William Crowder to give the Colonels a 6-0 lead.

The Cougars drove to the Colonels’ 20, but once again the Wood defense came up big with an interception. Three plays later, Samuel Adkins got loose and he torched the Cougars with a 73-yard scoring run to give the Colonels a 13-0 lead which they held through the end of the first quarter. The Colonels ran just 10 plays on offense in the period and had three backs with more than 30 yards each.

But from that point, the James Wood offense went stone cold. Of their next seven possessions, six went three plays and out, and the other lasted only two plays because the half ended.

Meanwhile, Kettle Run’s offense found its groove. The Cougars’ next two drives changed the momentum completely.

Following the second Wood touchdown, the Cougars proceeded to put together a seven-play, 87-yard drive that used only 2:32 off the clock.

Quarterback Casen Chumley capped it by hitting Max Delsignore with a 15-yard pass to pull the Cougars within 13-7. A little more than three minutes later, Chumley hit a wide-open Levi Carter in stride and Carter did the rest going 55 yards to tie the game at 13-13 with 8:02 left in the half.

Chumley struck again with less than a minute left in the half, this time a 25-yarder to David Haiss for a 20-13 halftime lead.

Chumley would finish the night completing 13-of-20 passes for 233 yards and five scores. He also had plenty of help from running back Cade Campbell, who carried 16 times for 202 yards and two scores.

Wood scratched and clawed until the final horn.

After a great kick return by Treyven Mandel set them up at the Cougars’ 35, the Colonels gave the ball four straight times to Jackson Turner, the final carry going six yards for a score to pull Wood back to within 34-19 with 9:44 left.

Kettle Run quickly answered right back on a 45-yard drive that Chumley capped with an 18-yard pass to Delsignore.

With just over seven minutes left, the Colonels got in one more scoring drive, a four-play, 68-yarder. Tyler McBride broke free and scored on a 37-yard run with 5:06 left.

On the next play from scrimmage, Campbell broke free and scored on a 50-yarder to account for the final margin.

“We definitely got better throughout the year and tonight we were able to put some more points on the board,” Morgan said. “Offensively I saw a lot of things I liked, we didn’t have to make as many adjustments at halftime. They’re a good team and they were able to take advantage of some things that we practiced against but we were worried they would take advantage of.”

Wood rushed for 248 yards on 40 carries. Adkins led the way with 72 yards, followed by Mark Cisler’s 56 and Crowder’s 45.

“I knew from the beginning there would be some growing pains but they definitely got better throughout the year,” Morgan said. “We didn’t have spring practices so we tried to do what we could over the summer but there’s only so much time you have to practice. We had fewer missed assignments tonight. I envisioned us reaching this point earlier in the season, like after three or four weeks so it took longer than I expected.”