Cedar Rapids Prairie impressive in 38-13 win over Cedar Rapids Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Prairie has a good football team. Perhaps a really good football team.

You know it’s true when the Hawks’ head coach agrees.

“It is,” Kyle Knock said Friday night after Class 5A No. 9 Prairie beat Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 38-13, at Kingston Stadium. “When we clean things up, it’s going to be even better.”

Prairie got two touchdown passes and a TD run from junior quarterback Cael Kongshaug, and the Hawks defense limited Kennedy to 142 yards to win their second game in a row to start what appears to be a promising season. And to think 36 of the 142 allowed came on the very first play of the game.

“I think we’re going to be really good,” said Kongshaug. “Only two games, we’ve still got a lot of stuff to work on, but I’m really proud of the way we’ve responded to the coaching we’ve gotten. We’ve got a great staff, and I think if we can keep working, we can be a really good team.”

Kongshaug has the look of a college QB with his size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds), arm and Trevor Lawrence-styled haircut. He completed 12 of 15 passes here for 254 yards.

That included a perfect throw over the middle on a deep post pattern to Drew Bennis early in the fourth quarter for a 64-yard touchdown pass that quelled a Kennedy rally. He also had a 17-yard TD throw on a slant pattern to Tae Alexander with 6:28 to put things completely out of reach.

Kongshaug reclassified his eighth-grade year at Clear Creek Amana, was at Iowa City High as a freshman and was a backup last season for Prairie. The kid can play.

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“I was definitely proud of the way we bounced back in the second half and got things rolling,” he said. “But I think in the future if we can just start out super strong, obviously we had a couple of turnovers there in the first half. Once we get those fixed, I’m really excited about what we can do.”

Prairie built a 21-0 lead on first-quarter TD runs from Colt Hobson and Dane Mai, those two subbing for starting running back Dawson Kahl, who was held out after suffering a concussion in last week’s opener against Linn-Mar. Kennedy (1-1) got a bolt of lightning in an 81-yard touchdown pass from Will Woodring to Brayden Peck late in the third, then another in the closing seconds with a 95-yard kickoff return for score by Keegan Mastin.

That made it a 24-13 game going to the fourth. But the Cougars never could get much of anything going offensively, thanks in large part to defensive tackle David Fason and his mates. Fason had three sacks in the game, one forcing a fumble.

Prairie gave up some things defensively last season, but this is a much improved unit. Former Cedar Rapids Washington head coach Mo Blue is in his second season as Hawks defensive coordinator.

“Absolutely,” Fason said. “We had some sophomores now being juniors, it’s our second year in the defense. Coach Blue keeps trusting us, and we’ve got to keep our trust in him. Trust goes a long way in our program, and if we all stick together, good things will happen.”

“I will say this: their D-line is outstanding. That’s the bottom line,” said Kennedy Coach Brian White. “Their D-line dictated the game tonight. I thought we played pretty good defense for the most part, but we couldn’t get anything going (offensively) because their D-line is that good. That D-line is a special D-line. You and I both know that in the game of football, if you have a really good D-line, you’re going to be good. And they’re good. They’re going to beat a lot of teams and going to be really tough in November.”

Woodring gave a very solid effort for Kennedy, running for his life most of the night. He had that aforementioned 36-yard run on the game’s first play.

White said Kennedy was missing 15 players because of injuries and ineligibility issues but hopes the vast majority of them will practice Monday.

“We had a great (postgame) talk with the kids,” he said. “There wasn’t any ranting and raving, because you’ve just got to say what it is. That was something in the toilet, and you flush it.”

“We still made a lot of mistakes: three turnovers in the first half, some penalties, but the kids just kept answering the bell,” Knock said. “Every time they got one, we went down and answered it. It’s a mature group, and they’re a fun group. They work their tails off. It was an unbelievable week of preparation, the kids were locked in.”

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Cedar Rapids Prairie 38, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 13

(At Kingston Stadium)

Cedar Rapids Prairie 14 0 10 14-38

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 0 0 13 0-13

Team Statistics

First Downs - Prairie 15, Kennedy 7. Rushes-Yards - Prairie 29-83, Kennedy 29-46. Completions-Attempts-Interceptions-Passing Yards - Prairie 12-16-1-254, Kennedy 7-11-1-96. Total Yards - Prairie 337, Kennedy 142. Punts-Average - Prairie 4-44.3, Kennedy 6-28.5. Penalties-Yards - Prairie 8-55, Kennedy 8-69. Fumbles-Lost - Prairie 3-2, Kennedy 4-1.

Individual Statistics

Cedar Rapids Prairie - Rushing: Colt Hobson 13-51, Dane Mai 8-35, Trey Reynolds 3-6, David Fason 1-5, Cael Kongshaug 4-(minus) 14. Passing: Cael Kongshaug 12-15-1-254. Receptions: Drew Bennis 2-94, Tae Alexander 4-89, Bennett Koch 3-43, David Fason 2-29, Keshawn Walker 1-(minus) 1.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy - Rushing: Will Woodring 12-21, Louis Smith 7-17, Keegan Mastin 2-14, Deacon Kucera 1-5, Lawson Neighbor 2-2, Jack Hayes 1-(minus) 3, Carter Poppe 4-(minus) 10. Passing: Will Woodring 7-11-1-96. Receptions: Brayden Peck 1-81, Lawson Neighbor 1-15, Deacon Kucera 1-6, Dawson Dougherty 1-4, Thierry Boyd 2-(minus) 4, Louis Smith 1-(minus) 6.

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