Kewanee’s Alex Duarte finds running room against Monmouth-Roseville during last week’s game. Friday night’s weather conditions made photography impossible in the game against Sterling Newman.

At the beginning of the season there were two marquee games duly noted on the Boilermakers’ football schedule. One was the Princeton Tigers and the other, Sterling Newman Central Catholic. 

The Comets had been a thorn in Kewanee’s side for nearly a decade, but last season the Boilers notched their first win over the seemingly elusive Comets. Friday night, on the rain-soaked turf of Kewanee Stadium, the Boilers made it two in a row over Sterling Newman, winning 34-8. 

The Boilers are now 7-1 on the season and 4-1 in TRAC-Mississippi play, while the Comets fall to 6-2 and 2-2 in the conference. 

On their first possession of the game, Newman started at their 24 yard line. On just the second play of the series, the Comets’ center snapped the ball over the head of sophomore quarterback Evan Bushman and it was recovered by Kewanee at the Comets’ 7 yard line. 

The Boilers took advantage and scored in just two plays. Alex Duarte ran for five and then punched it in from the two on the following play. Braden Clark’s PAT kick was good for the 7-0 lead.

Clark then booted the ball down to the Newman 5-yard line and the Comets’ kick receiver carried it up to the 25, but the ball was coughed up and recovered by Kewanee. 

Another short field awaited the Boilers, this time a first and 10 at the Comets’ 28. After being pushed back to the 32, Clark ran the keeper for 16 yards and a first down. 

After a Draven Peterson carry for six and a five-yard penalty on Newman, the Boilers only needed five yards to the end zone and Clark, behind his center Brayden Conley, forged his way in for another Kewanee score. After the PAT kick the lead was 14-0.

Kewanee’s defense held on Newman’s third possession, forcing them to punt. 

What followed was a thing of beauty. On a second and 10 from his 18-yard line, Kewanee’s seasoned quarterback, Braden Clark, followed the huge hole made by his offensive line and ran up the middle the entire remaining length of the field, 82 yards. 

The last 30 yards were made possible, in part, by a huge block from teammate Ben Taylor. Clark’s third PAT kick was good and the KHS lead was 21-0 with just under five minutes left in the first quarter. 

Kewanee defensive end Blake Johnston made life miserable for the Comets throughout their fourth possession. The end result was Johnston sacking Bushman for a loss of seven yards and forcing another Newman punt. 

During the second quarter (and at the Comets’ 34-yard line), the Boilers mounted a drive with runs by Clark (15 yards), Cruz Paredes and Duarte. From Newman’s 20-yard line, Duarte churned upfield for his second score of the game. 

Newman was offsides on the PAT kick, so the Boilers opted to go for a two-point conversion. The run failed, but Kewanee’s lead was now 27-0. 

Newman drove to midfield on their next possession, but a QB sack by Jackson Hawkins and two Comet penalties halted their momentum.

The score remained 27-0 at halftime. 

Newman senior Brady Grennan started to rattle the Kewanee defense a bit on Newman’s next possession. He had runs of 29, 15, six and five. His final run of 12 would be Newman’s only score of the game. The two-point run by Daniel Kelly was good for the 27-8 score. 

Duarte had a couple more big runs on Kewanee’s next possession (23 and seven), but after making it to the 13-yard line the Boilers settled for a Clark field goal attempt. The kick failed so the score remained 27-8.

With 3:49 left in the game, the Boilers had one final push left, after being gifted with another short field (at the Comets’ 19 yard line). A few short runs by Duarte culminated in second and goal for the Boilers. Clark then scored his third touchdown of the night and his PAT kick was good the 34-8 final score. 

The Boilermaker defense held the Comets to just 124 yards on offense (87 on the ground and 37 through the air). Kewanee tallied 298 on the night, a majority of which were on the ground (285). 

Clark had 13 carries for 130 yards and Duarte carried the ball 20 bruising times for 120 yards. Clark was 1 for 4 and Draven Peterson caught that lone pass for 14 yards. 

Brady Grennan was the the Comets’ leading rusher. He had 15 carries for 81 yards. Bushman completed 5 of 11 passes for 37 yards 

The Boilers will host Aurora Central Catholic (3-5) for their final regular season game. The Kewanee senior team members will be honored.