Kingston scored on its opening two possessions on the way to 398 yards of total offense as the Redskins secured the district championship, dominating Hugo, 42-14, on the road last week.
Now 8-1 on the season, the Redskins are assured of playing at home through the opening two rounds of the playoffs provided they advance. They’ll wrap up the regular season slate on the road Friday at Roland.
“The kids played really well,” said head coach Brad Hill. “They were focused all week and came out fast. I was so proud of the way they played in a game that had major implications. They knew the district title was on the line and that was one of our goals. Hugo is a really good football team, but the kids were determined to go out and take the district. They have worked so hard to get to this point where we could have a couple of playoff games at home.”
The Redskin defense set the tone from the start in stopping the hosts on the opening possession and limiting the Buffaloes’ big play attack.
Kingston then went to work with a methodical 13-play scoring drive that grinded for the game’s first touchdown, spurred by the running of quarterback Reid Patterson.
Following another defensive stand, the Redskins got the ball back for the second time and duplicated the earlier drive, controlling the clock on the way to paydirt again.
The lead ballooned to 21-0 in the second stanza before Hugo scored on the final play of the first half to narrow the gap at intermission.
“Coach Richards did a great job coming up with a plan to limit Hugo with their tremendous athletes,” Hill stated. “They have a big-time receiver, who we contained well. Special teams did a good job against them as well, limiting their big play ability.
“We also adjusted the game plan offensively with predominantly runs and that helped control the tempo and limit their possessions. I thoughtweexecutedatahigh level all the way around.”
The Redskins tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter to build a commanding 35-6advantageand never looked back.
Most of the Kingston offense came on the ground as they rushed for a whopping 310 yards on 38 carries.
Patterson tallied 171 yards on 16 totes, scoring three times on the ground. He also completed five of nine passes for 88 yards.
Adding to the rushing attack, Sam Walker ran for a 42-yard touchdown on his one carry. Hudson Everhart had nine carries for 38 yards, Parks Ratzlaff ran six times for25yardsandCashWalker had 27 yards on four totes. Ty Jones rushed for a two-yard touchdown and Wise had one carry for five yards.
Cash Walker was the team’s top receiver with three catches for 21 yards. Jones snagged one for 38 and Everhart had one grab for 29 yards.
“The last few games defenses have really crowded the box, which has opened up the passing game,” Hill commented.“Friday,theway Hugo was playing lended us to needing to run it. Our line did a great job opening holes. Whateverweneededtodo,we took advantage of it.
“It’s nice to have the district title secured but we wanttobeundefeateddistrict champs. We also want to get out of the game at Roland healthy and get everyone playing time. We need to stay focused all week, start fast and take care of business.”