By Jeremy McDonald
jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
MOUNT ANGEL, Ore.– Regis came out with a pep in their step when the second half started Friday night against Kennedy.
Down 28-8, the Rams had their opportunities in the first half in the Trojans 34-14 win, but couldn’t execute as they would have hoped.
Kennedy jumped out to a 14-0 lead eight minutes into the game, scoring on their first drive and capitalizing on a squib kick for points. Regis answered with a Cole Vogel strike from four-yards out, but back-to-back stalled drives allowed the Trojans to build the lead that was entering the third quarter.
“We just had to get onto the ball, read their formation and get to the ball. Don’t let them get to the outside, keep them inside,” Kennedy’s William Schaecher said. “We wanted to score a lot. We ran the ball hard.”
Elijah Traeger paced the running game early on before Schaecher took over, rushing for 102 yards to Traeger’s 52. Schaecher, Riley Cantu, Traeger and a Luke Beyer six-yard reception was the scoring for the Trojans in the first half.
But the triple-option, no-huddle offense of the Rams showed glimpses of how great this offense could be with Andre Pelayo and Noah Koenig being their workhorses. Putting Regis in favorable positions in the game to try to capitalize the Trojans output.
Pelayo pounded the middle of the line while Koenig worked the edges off the fly-sweep motion. And on their first possession of the second half, Koenig punched it in from four-yards out to pull the Rams within 14 with 6:47 left in the third quarter. Feeding off of the halftime talk they received from first-year Head Coach Brynie Robinson.
“That talk was big for us and we needed it,” Pelayo said. “We were putting our heads down and the coaches picked us right up. They reminded us that we’re a good team and that we can play with them. That second half, it gathered us together and we took it to them in the second half.”
Defense picked up for Regis, but so did Kennedy’s as they held the Rams scoreless for the remainder of the contest. Schaecher struck again midway through the fourth, ultimately icing the 20-point victory with 5:13 left for the Trojans on Homecoming.
Beyer finished with three receptions for 28 yards as the Trojans travels down the road to play Gervais on Thursday night at 6pm. Pelayo finished with 102 yards on 25 carries. Koenig contributed 67 more on nine carries with Regis traveling to Mill City to play Santiam.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
