The Kewanee Boilermakers will take the field tonight for their homecoming game, hoping for a win and to accomplish what only a handful of KHS football teams have accomplished — and that’s an unblemished 5-0 record midway through the season.
The 4-0 Boilers are coming off a 42-20 road win over Bureau Valley, while the 2-1 (2-1) Red Devils are fresh off a 34-7 win over Mendota.
Kewanee and Hall/Putnam County have two common opponents. The Red Devils suffered an 18-8 loss to BV and the Boilers also defeated Mendota by a large margin of victory, 41-0.
“They ran well against Mendota, but they were forced to throw against BV,” said KHS Coach Matt Taylor. “I expect they’ll have to throw against us to get anything going,” he added.
Kewanee’s stingy defensive line will be working hard to ensure the Red Devils’ running game is neutralized.
Leading that effort will be Blake Johnston and Draven Peterson. The duo had a combined 16 tackles last week against BV. Each player had four solo tackles and four assists in the win.
Also coming up big was Alex Duarte, who had 4 solo tackles and two assists
Not far behind were Cruz Paredes and Dan Boswell, who had three solo tackles each and three assists apiece. Wayland Lambert had three solo tackles and one assist, while Davontae Jordan had one solo and four assists.
“Hall has size up front,” noted Coach Taylor. “They play hard and have an experienced head coach (Randy Tieman) who could pull anything out to get the win.”
On offense, Kewanee’s veteran quarterback, Braden Clark will be looking to build on his team’s impressive showing throughout its first four games.
“Brady Clark has worked hard to understand this year’s scheme as we have really emphasized our running game,” said Taylor. “Fortunately, running is a great part of his game, which has produced great results ”
Clark’s throwing game, however, has been just as impressive. Last week Clark connected on 12 of 14 pass attempts totaling 185 yards and resulting in four TD’s.
“His play has been crisp and efficient,” said Taylor. “He’s an exceptional athlete, versatile, smart and competitive. We’re fortunate to have an athlete of his caliber.”
Added Taylor, “His first four weeks have been All-state level efforts.”
Aiding in that effort has been junior center Brayden Conley. “He’s been very consistent,” noted Taylor. “He’s very efficient with snaps and redirecting our interior linemen ”
One of Clark’s main targets has been Ben Taylor. In last week’s win, Clark found Taylor five times for 105 yards (one 17 yard TD).
Colson Welgat caught three passes for 22 yards (two TD’s) and Brady Schiltz hauled in three for 15 yards (and an 11-yard TD). Davontae Jordan caught one Clark pass for 33 yards.
Alex Duarte rushed for 64 yards on seven carries (and a 3-yard TD run) and Clark rounded out the scoring with an 11-yard TD run.
Clark was also a perfect 6 for 6 on PAT kicks against BV. On kickoffs, Clark has kicked 17 times for a total of 756 yards on the season at an average of 44.5 yards/kick.
KHS is averaging 34.8 points a game, while only surrendering 10.3 points a contest.
