Kentwood coach Cornelius Blount and his senior-heavy squad said losing to rival Jewel Sumner for a third straight season was, simply put, not an option.
And at times — such as back-to-back highlight-reel touchdowns by Ahmade Bickham Jr. or a fourth-down stuff by defensive tackle Ivan “Stank” Williams — the veteran Kangaroos looked the part of a team that would not be denied the eventual 40-32 victory.
Even in a wild, come-from-behind and back-and-forth battle befitting the week of hype and electric stadium.
“Crosstown rival, a bunch of ’em kin to each other, families know each other personally— you saw everyone came out,” said Blount, an alumnus and longtime assistant now in his third season at the helm. “Packed house like we thought it would be. Beat us two years in a row, and this is the year I couldn’t lose to ’em. I’m gonna be honest with you: I couldn’t, man.
“I’m so excited right now. I really want to go in and celebrate with ’em as much as I can. But I know after tonight it’s back to the drawing board. We’ve got St. Helena next week.”
An early turnover and difficult punching in two-point conversions had the Kangaroos playing from behind until the final minute of the third quarter.
Jewel Sumner marched down the field to a 22-yard Rashaud Shy touchdown run and 7-0 lead.
And when Kentwood’s potential response fumbled free in the red zone, sophomore linebacker Jatonio Weber pounced for the recovery that set up the Cowboys to eventually extend their lead to 13-0 on a Kelyn Miller goal-line keeper.
The Roos broke through early in the second quarter with an end-around pass from Bickham to fellow senior Chance Briggs, but couldn’t punch in the ensuing conversion.
The rivals traded pairs of stops — a fumble recovery by Kentwood senior linebacker Kendell Zanders and a forced punt by Jewel Sumner — and long scores — a breakaway by Sumner running back Rylan James and a Kentwood strike from Kaleb Magee to Skylar Robertson — to take a 20-12 game into halftime.
Senior receiver Ricky Briggs cut the margin to 20-18 on a catch and run on which he slipped through at least a handful of attempted tackles.
James punched in a goal-line fourth down to push the Cowboys’ lead back to 26-18, but a second blocked extra-point by Kentwood kept the game within a one-possession margin.
The Roos rode quick passes to Bickham all the way down the field to the end zone and then finally knotted the game, 26-26, on a Magee draw keeper.
Williams and company stuffed a Jewel Sumner fourth down from its own 22 early in the final quarter, and Magee got the ball right back to Bickham up the hashes and breaking three tackles to the go-ahead score.
James popped a long run to knot the game back at 32-32.
But, after a trade of big defensive series, Kentwood leaned on Jomarrius Campbell in the run game to push back ahead, 40-32, with a Richard Otis Jr. conversion.
And senior defensive back Jonathan Bagnet jarred a ball loose on the sideline that Briggs was able to corral in bounds to snatch away the Cowboys’ final opportunity.
“Ball game, ball game,” Blount said he thought as he saw the play unfold from across the field. “I knew they weren’t gonna stop us from getting two first downs. Not being arrogant, I’m just being — it’s ball game. All we had to do was get a stop.”
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