Kennesaw Mountain scored three touchdowns in the game’s first six minutes and coasted to a 49-0 victory over Osborne in the teams’ Region 5-7A opener Friday night in Marietta.
Playing in front of a large and vocal Osborne crowd that had been energized by the Cardinals’ first 5-0 start since 1994, the Mustangs quickly put a damper on the fans’ enthusiasm, scoring on the first play from scrimmage on an 80-yard pass from Cayman Prangley to Jailen Taylor.
After partially blocking a punt on Osborne’s ensuing possession, the Mustangs drove 55 yards in five plays and got a 1-yard touchdown run from Prangley. Just over a minute later, defensive lineman David Attaochu intercepted a screen pass and returned it 26 yards for a score, giving Kennesaw Mountain a 21-0 lead with 6:29 remaining in the first quarter.
The game matched two of the eight remaining unbeaten teams in Class 7A entering Friday night’s games.
“We talked about it all week that confidence is key, on both sides,” Kennesaw Mountain coach Caleb Carmean said. “We knew that they were going to be a confident bunch. They’ve done some good stuff all year, so we wanted to come out and jump on them fast and play to our brand and not let anything else affect that.”
Osborne (5-1, 0-1) had no answer for Prangley. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior threw for four touchdowns and completed 15 of 22 passes for 281 yards, 266 of which came in the first half as Kennesaw Mountain (6-0, 1-0) built a 35-0 lead. He also ran for 47 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
“He’s a four-year starter, so anytime you’ve got a guy that’s a four-year starter running the offense, it puts you in a really good place offensively,” Carmean said. “On top of that, he’s a phenomenal player. He makes plays with his feet and with his arm all across the field. He did a great job tonight and he’s done a great job all season.”
Prangley threw short touchdown passes to Early Kyle (12 yards) and Nalin Scott (3 yards) on the Mustangs’ first two possessions of the second half to complete the scoring.
Cayden Lee, a three-star recruit with a reported 29 offers, had eight receptions for 140 yards and caught a 25-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.
Osborne came into the game as the highest-scoring team in Class 7A, averaging 50.2 points in victories over Woodstock, Chattahoochee, Lakeside-DeKalb, Clarkston and Woodland-Cartersville. But the Cardinals had yet to run into a team anywhere close to as good as Kennesaw Mountain, and the Mustangs stymied them at every turn.
The Mustangs intercepted six passes, including three on consecutive second-quarter drives that had the Cardinals inside the Kennesaw Mountain 35-yard line. Osborne completed just 10 of 28 passes for 93 yards, and Khalif Walters, who was averaging 135 yards per game rushing, was limited to 35 yards on nine carries.
“I thought our defense played fast,” Carmean said. “That was the biggest thing we emphasized all week, that we wanted our guys to fly around and attack the ball, and they did a great job of doing that tonight for sure.”
Kennesaw Mountain - 21-14-14-0 - 49
Osborne - 0-0-0-0 - 0
First quarter
K - Jailen Taylor 80 pass from Cayman Prangley (Ty Roldan kick), 11:44
K - Prangley 1 run (Roldan kick), 7:43
K - David Attaochu 26 interception return (Roldan kick), 629
Second quarter
K - TJ Jenkins 3 run (Roldan kick), 11:52
K - Cayden Lee 25 pass from Prangley (Roldan kick), 6:32
Third quarter
K - Earl Kyle 12 pass from Prangley (Roldan kick), 8:18
K - Nalin Scott 3 pass from Prangley (Roldan kick), 4:01
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