The Kenston football team got off to a good start, but ended up making too many mistakes and not taking advantage of opportunities in a 16-7 loss to Maple Heights in a Division III regional quarterfinal Nov. 1 at Bomber Stadium at Kenston High School.
The Kenston football team got off to a good start, but ended up making too many mistakes and not taking advantage of opportunities in a 16-7 loss to Maple Heights in a Division III regional quarterfinal Nov. 1 at Bomber Stadium at Kenston High School.
Kenston, which was the seventh seed, sees its season end at 7-4, but includes a second straight Western Reserve Conference title. Maple Heights (8-3), the 10th seed, advances to play Gilmour Academy (10-1) in a regional semifinal.
Kenston coach Jeff Grubich saw his Bombers uncharacteristically make many mistakes including 10 penalties.
“I don’t know what to say about the penalties, I don’t understand it,” Grubich said. “If you would have told me we would have held them to 16 points, I would have said we won the game. They have great players, no doubt about it.”
But Grubich wanted to make sure the seniors recognize how successful their career has been at Kenston.
“We had back to back conference championships,” Grubich said. “That’s never been done at Kenston before. No one can ever take that away from them. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The Bombers opened the game with the ball and swiftly moved down field as Cohen Clark ran the ball several times. He capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:30 remaining in the first quarter as the Bombers led, 7-0. Clark had a strong game as he rushed 17 times for 122 yards and caught five passes for 15 yards.
Both teams continued to move the ball, but couldn’t score. The Mustangs’ first possession saw an 11-yard touchdown pass called back for offensive pass interference. Eventually the Mustangs lost the ball on downs.
The first big play to really turn the game around happened late in the second quarter. The Mustangs faced fourth-and-1 from their own 29 and elected to go for it. Quarterback Luke Anzlovar looked to be stopped short on the quarterback sneak, but the ball was marked at the 30 for a first down.
After a penalty, Anzlovar hit Taylen Cannon for a 50-yard pass play. That set up a 25-yard touchdown pass from Anzlovar to Curtis Marks with just 38 seconds left in the first half. Anzlovar then connected with Nacari Gay for a two-point conversion that gave the Mustangs an 8-7 lead.
Anzlovar completed 15-of-27 passes for 195 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed seven times for 38 yards.
The Bombers responded and quickly got into field goal range, but missed again from 40 yards as they trailed 8-7 at halftime.
The Mustangs were moving again to start the third quarter when Dylan Krupp intercepted Anzlovar. Krupp had an outstanding game as he not only did is best to keep up with the speedy Mustang receivers, but also caught four passes for 69 yards.
On the ensuing possession the Bombers looked like they were primed to take the lead back as they faced a fourth-and-1 from the Mustang 8, but a bad snap left Kenston with no points.
Maybe even a bigger loss was quarterback Lucas Kaltenbach, who had to leave the field in the middle of the drive after a 7-yard run. It appeared Kaltenbach pulled up and slid, but was still hit with no penalty to follow. Sophomore Adam Barr took over.
Grubich confirmed after the game that Kaltenbach should be OK. Kaltenbach finished 6-of-10 passing for 91 yards plus seven rushes for 40 yards.
The Mustangs answered on special teams as a converted fake punt led to a 20-yard touchdown pass from Anzlovar to Marks again. Maples Heights used more trickery on the two-point conversion as Kindall Brown threw a pass to Anzlovar for a 16-7 lead with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
The Bombers had three more possessions and all three times they reached Mustang territory, but came away with no points. The drive following the second Maple Heights touchdown reached the Mustang 24, but another bad snap cost them any points.
“We couldn’t finish,” Grubich said. “You can’t do that. Not with a playoff football team. We got nothing.”
Barr, a sophomore, played admirably against a tough Mustang defense as he completed 8-of-15 passes for 82 yards.
“He did a great job,” Grubich said. “The young buck came in and drove the ball. He put us in position to score points.”
With 6:21 left in the game Kenston drove to the Mustang 1, but Clark was smothered on fourth-and-goal.
Kenston’s last possession reached the Mustang 16 where a third missed field goal iced the victory for Maple Heights.
