Eagles fly past Cleveland JFK
Eagles fly past Cleveland JFK
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BROOKFIELD -- The Warren John F. Kennedy football team entered Thursday's regular season finale needing to take care of business to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Mission accomplished for the Eagles, which easily dispatched Cleveland John F. Kennedy 66-0 to keep its hopes alive for a playoff spot in Division VI, Region 21.
"The kids came out -- we put together a simple game plan, and the coaches did a great job," Warren JFK head coach Damon Buente said. "We've navigated six playoff teams on our schedule, and we've battled that with two seniors. The kids have done well."
Warren JFK scored early and often against the overmatched Fighting Eagles (1-8), putting up 45 points in the first quarter alone.
Of Warren JFK's six first-quarter touchdowns, two were pick sixes, returned by Gio Valentino and Christian Dixie.
Valentino and Dixie each also added rushing touchdowns during the opening period, while Nick Branca had two two touchdown runs, as well.
From the start of the second quarter, the game was played with a running clock after an agreement between the officials and both head coaches.
Jacoby Langston and Adain Moore each got in on the scoring with rushing touchdowns in the second quarter.
By halftime, Warren JFK led 59-0 and Moore added his second rushing touchdown in the second half to give the Eagles their final margin.
"[We were] playing to our standard," Buente said. "They had two assignments tonight, and that was to run and to hit. Nothing more, nothing less. That's all we asked of them, and they did that."
The win lifts Warren JFK to 6-4 overall, but now the Eagles have to play the waiting game to find out their fate.
Before the game, Warren JFK sat right on the cusp at No. 12 in the Division VI, Region 21, computer rankings. The win moved them up to No. 11, according to Joe Eitel. But the results of Friday and Saturday's games could affect whether or not the Eagles remain in the mix for one of the region's 12 playoff spots.
Given the Eagles' schedule, Buente felt confident that his squad had done enough to earn a bid.
"I think we've navigated a very hard schedule," Buente said. "When we have won, we have deserved to win, and when we have lost, we have deserved to lose. But in saying that, I think we've beaten enough good teams on our schedule to get in and have a shot in the bracket."
According to Joe Eitel's seeding projections, Warren JFK could end up anywhere from the No. 9 seed to missing the playoffs entirely.
Other teams in the mix around the Eagles include Columbiana (7-2), which plays Lisbon (6-3) on Friday, Grand Valley (7-2), which Warren JFK beat and plays Pymatuning Valley (4-5), Doylestown Chippewa (6-3), which plays Jeromesville Hillsdale (8-1) and Wickliffe (8-1), which faces Conneaut (8-1). Both Wickliffe and Columbiana control their own destiny.
"It would continue the longstanding tradition of Warren JFK football," Buente said on the possibility of earning a playoff spot. "We will try to make a deep run in the tournament. That is our job. That is why I coach here, that's why the coaches coach here and it's nothing less than the standard of trying to get to Canton."