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Scoreless streak ends but Kendrick in 1A DII title game again

randy isbelle, moscow-pullman daily news, moscow, idaho
·5 min read

Nov. 13—Like Scott Hall using a cattle prod to shockingly aid in ending wrestler Bill Goldberg's stretch of 173 consecutive wins, Jayme Ramos connected with Santi Alvarado for a 36-yard touchdown pass on the opening Castleford drive Saturday to end the Kendrick defense's long scoreless streak.

But that didn't derail the Tigers' hopes for a second consecutive Idaho Class 1A Division II championship. The bigger story at Lewiston's Bengal Field was the duo of Ty Koepp and Jagger Hewett.

The pair connected on four scoring passes as Kendrick dropped Castleford 38-8.

With the win, the Tigers (11-0) advance to the state championship for the second straight season where they will attempt to defend their title against Dietrich (11-0), which defeated Garden Valley 72-20 in the other semifinal Friday. The two teams will play at 5 p.m. Pacific on Friday at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

"It is hard to go down to southern Idaho. First dome game, it is always hot, tough to adjust to that," Kendrick coach Zane Hobart said. "High elevation is difficult (and) it is hard for northern Idaho teams to win in Pocatello, but we are going to go down and play a good Dietrich team."

Here's what we learned in the Tigers' win:

Haymaker opening drives

On the opening play from scrimmage, Koepp found Hewett open in the middle of the field. After a leaping catch, Hewett scampered 56 yards to put the first points on the board.

Castleford (9-2) answered right back with a quick moving six-play drive that culminated in Alvarado's scoring catch, ending Kendrick's stellar defensive run, which saw it outscore its opponents 426-0.

The Wolves lulled the Tigers in, running the ball five straight times before the deep shot to the senior receiver.

"They caught us on that one," Hobart said. "It was something we didn't see on film. We didn't roll a safety over the tight end. If we cover that correctly, we might of held the goose egg up, but they did a good job on that play."

All that seemed to do was light a fire under Kendrick, which needed just four offensive plays on its next two drives to score two more touchdowns. Koepp ran the first in from two yards out. Then, Hewett broke multiple tackles down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown catch.

"Last week, coming into the playoffs, I don't think we were ready for it," Koepp said. "This week, we came a little more prepared and everyone was all there mentally."

Three touchdowns on the first five offensive plays gave Kendrick a 20-8 lead. From there, Hobart's team transformed into a slow methodical offense.

Wearing down the defense

While the Wolves couldn't manage to get a first down for a second straight drive, Koepp was finding Hewett for another touchdown, from 14 yards out, to make it 26-8. The difference was the length of the drive.

The Tigers worked the clock and got Sawyer Hewett more involved in the 11-play, 55 yard scoring drive.

"(We were) just trying to attack their zone," Koepp said. "Just the dedication at practice and getting 'er done."

Castleford finally got a little spark on offense behind 5-foot-11, 215-pound running back Gus Wiggins and worked the ball inside the Kendrick 15-yard line before eventually turning the ball over on downs.

Facing a third-and-17 on their own 7, Kendrick got out of the shadow of its own end zone as Koepp found Sawyer Hewett for a 43-yard connection to get Kendrick to midfield.

"We just tried to take what the defense gave us," Jagger Hewett said. "They were stopping the run heavy in the box, so we went to throwing and it was open and it was working."

Koepp then capped off the 10-play 86-yard drive with less than 10 seconds in the half with a 5-yard touchdown to, you guessed it, Jagger Hewett, that made it 32-6 at intermission.

Kendrick with the Jagger

Jagger Hewett had three interceptions in the 46-0 quarterfinal victory Nov. 5 against Camas County, but it was his receiving ability that was key in this one.

Hewett finished with eight receptions for 172 yards and four touchdowns.

"(Jagger) runs good routes, (and) at the same time he is not selfish," Hobart said. "At one point they started doubling him ... Jagger (was) saying (to) give the other guys the ball (and) use me as a decoy."

It could have been five, but he was ruled down just short of the goal line on a quick cut in the third quarter. Koepp would run it in the next play.

Out of Koepp's 15 completions and 297 yards passing, more than half of them went to the senior.

"He is one of my best friends. I am always looking for him on the field, he is my main target that is for sure," Koepp said.

Castleford 8 0 0 0— 8

Kendrick 20 12 6 0—38

Kendrick — Jagger Hewett 56 pass from Ty Koepp (Koepp run).

Castleford — Santi Alvarado 36 pass form Jayme Ramos (Ramos run).

Kendrick — Koepp 2 run (pass failed).

Kendrick — J. Hewett 55 pass from Koepp (pass failed).

Kendrick — J. Hewett 14 pass from Koepp (pass failed).

Kendrick — J. Hewett 5 pass from Koepp (pass failed).

Kendrick — Koepp 1 run (run failed).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Castleford: Gus Wiggins 8-45, Ethan Roland 2-19, Ramos 16-10, Gabe Mahannah 5-8. Kendrick: Koepp 7-52, Sawyer Hewett 6-34, Nate Tweit 1-16, Wyatt Fitzmorris 2-7, Lane Clemenhagen 1-4, Xavier Carpenter 1-4, Tanner Clemenhagen 1-(-2).

PASSING — Castleford: Ramos 13-16-0—148. Kendrick: Koepp 15-22-1—297.

RECEIVING — Castleford: Ethan Roland 6-74, Alvarado 2-58, Luis Cortez 1-6, Crash Taylor 1-6, Gabe Mahannah 3-4. Kendrick: J. Hewett 8-172, Sawyer Hewett 3-71, Hunter Taylor 3-49, Wyatt Fitzmorris 1-5.

Isbelle can be reached at sports@lmtribune.com, (208) 848-2268 or on Twitter @RandyIsbelle.