More photos. (Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
LAKEWOOD — Two undefeated teams faced off Friday afternoon, but only one left that way.
Kent Denver, No. 2 in Class 2A, beat No. 5 Alameda 43-6 in a conference game.
“We knew this was a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs for a long time,” said senior running back Wyllis McKissick. “We played them last year and they had a lot of kids back. The fact that they were undefeated and we were undefeated made the game that much more exciting for us.”
Sun Devils controlled the game on the ground led by McKissick, who finished the game with two rushing touchdowns.
The two teams couldn’t have had more opposite starts.
Kent Denver had a great start with a 90-yard kick off return setting up McKissick to punch the ball in. Alameda fumbled possession away on their first play of the game, and it was recovered by Kent Denver on the 10-yard line.
The Sun Devils were able to add to their lead early with a pass from senior quarterback Rob Casey to junior tight end William Sadler, making it 13-0.
“We played well enough to beat a good football team,” said Kent Denver coach Scott Yates. “We got off to a great start. Running the first kick off back right away and scoring, then getting the fumble and scoring again. That early start really helped us, that was the first momentum-builder.”
Alameda tried to get its offense going after a rough started but wasn’t capable of stringing any plays together for first downs.
More photos. (Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
McKissick broke out for a 50-yard run. That put Casey in great possession for a 10-yard rushing touchdown to make it 20-0 lead in the first quarter. McKissick added another score in the second quarter after Alameda turned the ball over in their own territory.
“Our line of course just dominated and that’s what it really comes down to for us,” McKissick said. “Just dominating the line of scrimmage and I think we did that today and that’s why we’re successful.”
Casey got hurt with seven minutes left in the half and did not return for the remainder of the game. Freshmen quarterback Joe Licht played the rest of game.
Alameda was finally able to get a drive going with help from senior Hunter Roberts, who took a reception down to the 10-yard-line.
The Pirates needed to scored before half if they were going to make a comeback, and went for it on 4th-and-5, giving the ball right back to Roberts who got them there. Roberts scored to make the halftime score 27-6.
The second half was much of the same for the Pirates. Alameda started the half with an interception, giving Sun Devils another opportunity to capitalize off a turnover.
Kent Denver’s run game continued to pile up yards with 25-yard rush from McKissick and fullback Luke Wilson punching the ball in for a 34-6 lead.
Alameda tried to gain some type of momentum but Kent Denver’s defense forced turnovers and prevented first downs for the remainder of the game.
Alameda coach Danion Baca said his team this year has improved drastically from last year and thinks they let mistakes get the best of them on Friday.
“We knew they were good but too many mistakes,” said Baca. “Kent Denver is a great team and you can’t give them opportunities. Sometimes you just don’t get the breaks and tonight we did not get the breaks and we just let them get ahead of us.
“With a great team like Kent and a great coach like coach Yates you can’t give them opportunities because they know how to take advantage of them.”