Federal Way routs Kentridge in pivotal 4A NPSL contest
The anticipated showdown between future teammates never really materialized at French Field in Kent on Friday night.
That’s because one half of the expected dual, Kentridge quarterback and safety Dorian Thomas, found himself harassed all night by an angry flock of Federal Way Eagles – a defensive unit desperately trying to put a 63-point thrashing from Lake Stevens in the rearview mirror.
The Eagles held Thomas and the previously unbeaten Chargers without a point and virtually without a yard of offense after the 10:44 mark of the second quarter on their way to a 42-7 victory in a 4A North Puget Sound League game.
“The defense just kind of stepped up and started making some plays,” Federal Way coach Marcus Yzaguirre said. “No. 7 over there, he’s a good player. He can run and throw the ball, so we just wanted to limit as much of that as we could.”
No. 7 is Thomas, who has committed to play receiver/tight end at Oregon State next fall. He’ll join the Beavers alongside Friday night foe Andre Jordan of Federal Way.
Jordan enjoyed his night much more than Thomas, especially offensively. Jordan caught his first pass of the evening late in the first quarter, a 65-yard touchdown reception from Jay O’Neil that gave Federal Way (3-1 overall, 1-0 NPSL) a 6-0 lead with 1:31 to go in the quarter.
Thomas and the Chargers (3-1, 1-1) immediately responded, putting together their only sustained drive of the game to go 56 yards capped by an eight-yard pass from Thomas to Kendrick Turner. With the extra point, Kentridge led it 7-6 with 10:44 to go in the half.
Kentridge amassed 51 yards of offense on the drive (they got helped by a couple of penalties), two-thirds of the Chargers total for the entire half (76 yards). After the break, Kentridge had the ball six times and gained only an additional 15 yards of offense, completing the game with 91 total.
“We felt like our containment was the best thing we had tonight,” Jordan said. “We worked on that all week.”
NO REAL TRASH TALK GOING ON
As things wore on, and Federal Way extended its advantage throughout the second half, Jordan said he and Thomas didn’t really get into talking to each other during the proceedings, at least not with any good-natured ribbing.
“It was just fun,” Jordan said. “He’s a competitor.”
Federal Way did amass numerous 15-yard penalties that kept drives moving for Kentridge, though the Chargers still could get nothing on the scoreboard. During one late third-quarter drive, the Eagles were assessed three 15-yarders, two on one play. And still, Kentridge failed on a fourth down at the Federal Way 17, already trailing 35-7.
Meanwhile, Federal Way had little difficulty moving the ball up and down the field. Jordan caught his seventh and final ball of the night on the last play of the third quarter, giving him 136 total receiving yards and that touchdown.
His quarterback, O’Neil, completed nine of 13 passes overall for 147 yards and two touchdowns to go with 69 yards and a TD rushing on 15 carries. O’Neil was part of an offensive anomaly in the first half, accounting for all 149 yards of total offense for Federal Way – 99 passing and 50 rushing.
The Eagles finished with a 364-91 advantage in total offense overall.
PLAY OF THE GAME
From a purely spectacular point of view, Jordan’s 65-yard touchdown catch down the left side would qualify. It also got the Eagles offense going.
“He was playing off and looked timid in the coverage,” Jordan said. “I knew if I made a move, I could get by.”
But maybe even better was Austin May’s 60-yard run for the Eagles final score with 2:07 left. The run began to the left side of the line, but May stopped and found an alley to go straight back to the right. A wall of blockers formed, May turned up field and got to the sideline, sprinting past three Kentridge defenders and into the end zone.
UP NEXT
The Chargers go on the road to face Beamer, while Federal Way continues its tough stretch of games against Kennedy Catholic at home. Both games begin at 7 p.m. on Friday night.
