Cedar Rapids Kennedy football team falls to Waukee, 23-15

CEDAR RAPIDS - Too many penalties. Again.

Too many missed tackles. Ditto.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s football team lost to another good opponent Friday night at Kingston Stadium, this time to Waukee, 23-15. The reason for the defeat was the same as it was last week against Cedar Rapids Prairie.

See the above two things.

“It just comes down to mental discipline,” said Kennedy Coach Brian White. “It’s not ranting-and-raving-at-the-kids discipline. It’s making them understand that every little thing matters ... We’re just not there, and we’ve got to get there.”

Kennedy (1-2) was flagged 10 times in the game at a cost of 72 yards. It was a variety of calls, too.

For instance, a 12-yard first-down Cougars run was negated by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when an offensive lineman slammed an opponent to the turf. Later on, Kennedy was given a personal foul after stopping Waukee for a short gain on a 2nd-and-goal play at the 6.

You can’t win that way.

“To be honest with you, it’s the second week in a row,” White said. “And it’s the second week against an elite team. We have got to figure out a way to be more disciplined. We are not disciplined enough to play at that level.”

Ben Case Haub rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns for Waukee (1-2), which won for the first time this season. His 11-yard scoring run in the first quarter put the Warriors up 7-0.

Kennedy responded with a TD drive of its own, with quarterback Will Woodring and receiver Brayden Peck connecting on a short crossing pattern that turned into a 29-yard score. Waukee got a 37-yard field goal from Wyatt Robinson to take a 10-7 halftime lead.

Waukee owned the third quarter behind its rushing game. The Warriors ran all but four plays in the quarter, getting a 3-yard Case Haub touchdown run.

Quarterback Beckett Bakker’s 8-yard scoring rush made it a 23-7 game with 8:23 left, which looked like ballgame. But Woodring hit Lawson Neighbor on a 61-yard bomb that set up his own 1-yard TD sneak, a two-point pass to Luke McIllece making it 23-15 with 6:20 to go.

Kennedy then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff at the Waukee 22. But the Cougars came up a yard short on a 4th-and-4 pass play at the 13 with 4:40, and another possession that began near midfield with 3:27 left ended on a 0-yard pass and three incompletions.

Waukee (specifically Case Haub and Bakker) rushed for 227 yards in the game, including 164 in the second half. A significant amount of those yards came via YAC (Yards After Contact).

“The indicators of wins and losses: the turnover battle, explosive plays and how many yards after a missed tackle (for the other team) or how how many yards do you gain breaking a tackle,” White said. “That was a big part tonight.”

Woodring completed 14 of 21 passes for 151 yards for Kennedy, seemingly having to scramble on half of those attempts. The Cougars seek to get back on track next week at Linn-Mar (0-3).

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Waukee 23, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 15

(At Kingston Stadium)

Waukee 7 3 7 6-23

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 7 0 0 8-15

Team Statistics

First Downs - Waukee 19, Kennedy 10. Rushes-Yards - Waukee 40-228, Kennedy 30-77. Passing Completions-Attempts-Interceptions-Yards - Waukee 10-25-1-92, Kennedy 14-21-1-151. Total Yards - Waukee 320, Kennedy 228. Punts-Average - Waukee 3-31.0, Kennedy 3-35.3. Penalties-Yards - Waukee 3-25, Kennedy 10-72. Fumbles-Lost - Waukee 1-1, Kennedy 1-0.

Individual Statistics

Waukee - Rushing: Ben Case Haub 23-170, Beckett Bakker 15-60, Team 2-(minus) 2. Passing: Beckett Bakker 10-25-1-92. Receiving: Jai White 3-40, Jayden Jeter 4-22, Ben Case Haub 1-16, Evan Jacobson 1-9, Xavyer Gutierrez 1-5.

Kennedy - Rushing: Damarian Orr 16-71, Deacon Kucera 1-5, Louis Smith 1-3, Will Woodring 12-(minus) 2. Passing: Will Woodring 14-21-1-151. Receiving: Lawson Neighbor 1-61, Brayden Peck 2-39, Jack Hayes 2-21, Deacon Kucera 3-14, Thierry Boyd 3-13, Damarian Orr 2-3.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com