FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Wildkats take down No. 9 Lions; Tigers hammer Indians; and more

Aug. 20—Correction: This story has been changed from its original form to include a Northwestern stat correction.

Kokomo's football team overcame a slow start to beat Class 4A No. 9-ranked Leo 33-13 Friday night at Leo.

The Wildkats' first three possessions ended in turnovers and the Lions took advantage to build a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Kokomo steadied the ship with a 10-play, 58-yard scoring drive. Reis Beard set up the drive with a nice kickoff return and QB Evan Barker capped it with a two-yard TD sneak at 4:07 of the second quarter.

The Kats then dominated the second half. Dre Kirby broke off a 61-yard TD sprint on the opening possession to put the Kats ahead 14-10. Leo countered with a field goal to draw within 14-13, but Tracy Dowling's eight-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter put the Kats ahead 20-13.

Keegan Name set up Dowling's score with a recovery of a Lion fumble. Name immediately struck again with an interception — and a few plays later, Name capped his big sequence with an 18-yard TD run to put the Kats up 26-13 with 9:19 left.

After Kokomo recovered an onside kick, Junior Story's five-yard TD run broke the game open.

"I told our guys, [the Lions] have a brand-new football coach. They're going to come out and play as hard as they possibly can at the beginning of the game," Kokomo coach Austin Colby said on the WIOU-1350 postgame show. " ... We ride the wave of emotion, we get through the first quarter, then we dominated in the fourth quarter."

Kokomo finished with 300 yards with 289 coming 51 rushing attempts. The Kats had a balanced attack — Kirby had 10 carries for 91 yards, Barker had 15 for 72, Name had 13 for 68 and Story had eight for 41.

Defensively, Kokomo held Leo to 177 yards. The Kats stuffed the Lions on the ground, holding them to 37 yards on 27 carries.

Barker led the Kats with nine tackles (eight solos) and Shayne Spear and Name had seven tackles apiece.

Kokomo hosts Plymouth next week.

NW 33, TWIN LAKES 7

Northwestern whipped Twin Lakes 33-7 for its first Week 1 win since 2017.

The Tigers scored in the final minute of the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead into halftime, then scored on the opening possession of the third quarter for a 20-7 lead. From there, the Tigers added two more touchdowns to win going away.

Cole Cardwell scored three touchdowns for the Tigers, who snapped a 10-game losing streak that included a winless 2021 season. Two of Cardwell's scores covered more than 50 yards each. Quarterback Brock Shank had two TD passes, one each to Gabe Felix-Craig and Joe Ventura.

Defensively, linebackers Sam Craig and Lincoln Cardwell and defensive back Ventura led a swarming attack that forced several turnovers.

"Our defense was phenomenal," second-year Tigers coach Rob Patchett said. "The only touchdown Twin Lakes got came when they scooped up a [Tiger] fumble and scored. So the defense shut them out the whole night. Coach Craig Barr and the other coaches did a great job getting those guys ready this week."

Patchett saw plenty of things he liked over the course of the game.

"We had a lot of kids do a lot of great things," he said, "but the big difference between this year and last year, these kids believed."

The 33 points marked the Tigers' biggest scoring game since 2017. It also carried special meaning for Patchett.

"That has been my family's number since 1952," he said, noting his father wore No. 33 as a Kokomo basketball player, Patchett wore the number when he played and his sons now wear it.

Northwestern visits Eastern next week.

TRI-WEST 20, WESTERN 14

The host Panthers lost a tight game to Class 3A No. 5 Tri-West.

Western struck first when Kyler Norman scored a rushing touchdown for a 7-0 Panther advantage, and Western held its lead 7-6 at halftime. Tri-West scored on the first possession of the second half to take the lead, then got another TD to go up 20-7.

"Almost all their offensive yardages was passing," Western coach Alex Stewart said. "Their quarterback [Ty Owens] was on fire. He didn't throw very many incompletions and I'd bet he was in the 30s in complete passes, I'd imagine."

Down two scores in the fourth quarter, Western got a TD run from quarterback Mitchell Knepley to cut its deficit to 20-14 with roughly 7:00 left. Tri-West got the ball back and drove the field to run out the clock.

"We played really well," Stewart said. "I'm not disappointed with our kids at all. They played their tails off. We had a couple plays here or there, one turnover was costly, but other than that, we played really, really well, it's just that Tri-West's a really good team.

"A really good football game against a really good football team. I think our kids battled the entire game and I'm really proud of the way they played."

Western visits Western Boone next week.

FRANKTON 14, TIPTON 13

Frankton's defensive line won the battle in the trenches igniting the Eagles to a 14-13 victory at Tipton.

Blue Devil coach Aaron Tolle was straight to the point following the game, saying: "Very, very few positives to take out of our performance [Friday]. We got behind, which was probably the worst thing that could happen. Playing a lot of young kids, we needed something positive to build some confidence, and we got the exact opposite and were battling upfield all night. To be honest, we got physically whipped the majority of the game. Didn't deserve to win that ball game."

Junior Bubba Nunley set the tone for the Eagles in the first quarter with a 32-yard pick six. Colson Falink's PAT put the Eagles up 7-0 at the 6:32 mark. The Blue Devils answered as Eli Carter returned the kickoff 30 yards and then capped off a three-play, 60-yard drive with a 51-yard run up the middle. Dakota Foerg's PAT evened the score at 7-all with 4:50 remaining in the opening quarter.

Carter played an instrumental role in a 64-yard drive that gave Tipton a 13-7 lead. He lined up in the wildcat, took the snap, rolled right, and threw the ball down the field to an open Landon Spidel, who hauled in the pass for a 39-yard gain. Carter later scored on an eight-yard run at the 10:25 mark of the second quarter. The drive came after senior Sam Cline recovered an Eagle fumble.

The Eagles put together a drive at the end of the first half with Brady Carmack hauling in Gage Rastetter's pass along the Tipton sideline and running the final 10 yards into the end zone for a 42-yard scoring strike. Falink, who had missed a 41-yard field goal attempt earlier in the second quarter, converted the PAT and the Eagles took a 14-13 lead into halftime.

The second half turned into a defensive battle. The Eagles shut down Carter, holding him to a negative 8 yards rushing on six carries in the second half. Nunley came up with a red zone interception and returned it to the Tipton 44 to end a Blue Devil scoring threat in the third quarter.

Carter finished his night with 16 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 30 yards and had the 39-yard completion. Vince Hoover was 9 of 16 for 44 yards and also threw two interceptions.

The Blue Devils travel to Elwood next Friday.

— Michelle Garmon, Tipton Tribune

AROUND THE AREA

Carroll hammered Tri-County 51-0. The Cougars put it away early, leading 31-0 after the first quarter and 51-0 at halftime. ... Lewis Cass blanked Pioneer 16-0. ... Maconaquah topped Wabash 31-20 in a Three Rivers Conference matchup. ... Logansport blitzed Peru 44-0. .. Madison-Grant beat Tri-Central 48-7.