Mastin big plays seal victory for Kennedy

MARION — Trailing 13-10 at halftime, Cedar Rapids Kennedy turned things up in the second half of Friday night's game with Linn-Mar.

And it was senior Keegan Mastin's two big plays that made the difference.

Mastin had a 60-yard interception return for a score late in the third quarter, then sealed it away with an improbable 99-yard kickoff return with 2:39 remaining to give Kennedy a 28-16 win in front of a large crowd at Linn-Mar Stadium.

The Cougars (2-2) turned up the physical play in the second half against a young Linn-Mar team that competed hard, but in the end was done in by some key mistakes.

A pair of lightning delays in the freshman preliminary game pushed the start time for the varsity contest back by almost 90 minutes. Once the game finally got started, both teams took some time to find their footing.

Kennedy got on the board first with 3:52 remaining in the first quarter as junior tailback Damarian Orr scored on a tough 5-yard run. Andrew Richey's extra point made it 7-0.

Coach Duane Orr's Lions had their best stretch in the final eight minutes of the first half. With sophomore quarterback Derek Roling leading the way, Linn-Mar put together a long drive that stalled out at the Cougar 12. Bradley Duncan-Porter came on and booted through a 29-yard field goal, cutting the gap to 7-3.

Kennedy missed a chance to go up 14-3 later in the quarter. Duncan-Porter bobbled a snap on a punt attempt in his own end zone and was only able to get it out to the 2-yard line. The Cougars then had a penalty and took a loss on another play which forced a 22-yard field goal attempt from Richey. Linn-Mar's Brendan Corbett blasted through and blocked the kick, picked it up and returned it to the Linn-Mar 34.

That started a drive that ended with Tate McEowen taking a swing pass from Roling on the Cougar 36. He broke away from four tacklers and got all the way to the end zone with 3:58 left in the half. Duncan-Porter converted, giving the Lions a 10-7 lead.

The Cougars got the ball to start the second half and drove 80 yards to regain the lead. A 16-yard strike from William Woodring to Dawson Dougherty put Kennedy up 13-10.

Then it was Mastin's time to shine. Linn-Mar had a drive going near midfield when Roling tried to get another swing pass out to Chase Bradley. Mastin jumped the route, juggled the ball for a moment, then sprinted untouched into the end zone with 1:06 left in the third quarter to make it 21-10.

Linn-Mar was not finished. Roling led another march down the field and connected with Roman Nielsen on a 19-yard slant pass with 2:56 left. Roling's two-point run failed and the Lions were down 21-16.

On the ensuing kickoff, Kennedy was up expecting an onside kick. Duncan-Porter blasted it deep and Mastin had every intention of letting it go into the end zone. However the ball checked up and never made it over the goal line, forcing Mastin to field it. He broke a pair of tackles, then broke free and ran across the field to complete a 99-yard return.

Linn-Mar (0-4) will look for its first win on Thursday night in a road game at Davenport Central. The Cougars remain on the road to play Marshalltown.