Kell and Riverwood turned the ball over five times each in their important Region 7-AAAAA Division B game at Kell on Friday.
Kell was able to limit the damage from its mistakes, holding Riverwood to a field goal despite losing four fumbles and throwing an interception in the first half.
Riverwood was not as fortunate. Kell turned three of the Raiders’ mistakes into touchdowns in a 14-minute span midway through the game and went on to a 31-3 victory.
“It’s very, very uncharacteristic of a Kell football team to have five turnovers in a season, sometimes, much less in a first half, so for us to be able to overcome that says a lot about the character of players,” Kell coach Derek Cook said. “And our defense, I can’t say enough about them. They forced enough turnovers of their own to kind of balance it out as it went back and forth, and they were able to keep us in the ballgame.”
Kell (5-2, 3-1) and Riverwood (6-2, 4-1) have one loss each in subregion play and trail first-place Cambridge, which is unbeaten in the subregion and plays Riverwood next week. Cambridge beat Kell 21-7 earlier this season. The subregion winner will play in the 7-AAAAA championship game on the final weekend of the regular season, most likely against Dalton.
The game was tied 3-3 midway through the second quarter when Noah Wighiren intercepted a Riverwood pass near midfield and returned it to the 9-yard line. Kell scored three plays later on a 10-yard pass from John Lampley to Michael Luckie for a 10-3 lead.
The Longhorns began pulling away quickly in the third quarter. Kell punted after its first possession, but Riverwood muffed the kick and Kell recovered at the 4-yard line. After a penalty, Bryson Armstrong scored from the 2 on the next play to make it 17-3.
Riverwood fumbled again on its next possession, and Kell’s Evan Carnes recovered at the Raiders’ 40. Dre Houston capped the following nine-play drive with a 2-yard run for a 24-3 lead with 2:16 to play in the third quarter.
Houston led all rushers with 17 carries for 97 yards. The bulk of his yardage came on Kell’s final scoring drive, when he carried the ball on all 11 plays and gained 71 yards, including the final 5 for the score.
“In the second half, when we actually did not put the ball on the ground, you were able to see what we’re able to do, running the ball and things like that,” Cook said.
Kell finished with a 232-167 advantage in total offense. The Longhorns got 45 yards rushing from Josiah Futral, 43 from quarterback Michael Lampley and 40 from Bryson Armstrong, who spent much of the first half in the Wildcat formation.
Riverwood – 3-0-0-0 – 3
Kell – 0-10-14-7 – 31
R – Daniel Rocha 33 field goal
K – Connor Mendelson 26 field goal
K – Michael Luckie 10 pass from John Lampley (Mendelson kick)
K – Bryson Armstrong 2 run (Mendelson kick)
K – Dre Houston 2 run (Mendelson kick)
K – Houston 5 run (Mendelson kick)
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