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Lori Robinson • The Madill Record Scoring against the Redskin defense proved to be more than the Marietta offense could handle.
Kingston’s district campaign continued on Thursday night in Marietta, as the Redskins took on the Indians for the middle game of their 7-game district schedule. Fall Break moved the game up a night, but the Redskins were clearly not in vacation mode, shutting out the Indians 62-0.
The bad news started for Marietta on their first drive. After receiving the opening kickoff, Marietta lost two yards net on first and second down, and senior quarterback Albert Florez dropped back on third down to throw a play-action pass. However, Florez threw into double coverage, and senior defensive back Colby Carter picked him off and took it 40 yards back to the house to give the Redskins a 7-0 lead.
After Marietta went three and out and punted, Kingston’s offense showed what it could do. On a drive where he caught the only pass on fourth-andfive for a 15-yard gain, junior running back A.J. McKinney finished things off by taking a pitch 19 yards for another Redskins touchdown to make the lead 14-0 Kingston.
After another Marietta three-and-out, a short punt and good return by junior Jarron ‘Boomer’ Morgan set Kingston up on the Marietta 33. Six plays later, junior quarterback Jase Hayes faked a handoff and hit wide-open junior tight end Matthew Hawkins in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown to put the Redskins up 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Junior Matthew Flesher spearheaded Kingston’s next drives on offense and defense. Flesher sacked Florez who wound up chasing an errant snap on Marietta’s first play for a 10-yard loss, effectively killing the drive. Florez narrowly staved off a safety on third down when junior Jesse Rose sacked him again at the Marietta 1. On the first play after Marietta’s punt, Flesher took a handoff as the fullback and shot 35 yards right up the gut for another Redskins touchdown, making the lead 27-0.
Three more Marietta plays and another punt started Kingston at the Marietta 34. Six plays later, Hayes took it in himself on a read option for an eight-yard touchdown run to make it 33-0, which would be the score at half.
If the first half was bad for the Indians, the second half started out worse, as Morgan returned the opening kickoff to the end zone to extend Kingston’s lead to 40-0. Kingston’s backups took over, and with a running clock, still outscored Marietta’s starters 22-0 to make the final margin 62-0.
Hayes was a perfect 4-for-4 for 88 yards and a touchdown on the night. Sophomore Brandon Watson led the Redskins in rushing with 80 yards on 12 carries, with fellow sophomore Grant Holmes chipping in 62 yards on four carries with two touchdowns. McKinney led the team in receiving, with two catches for 58 yards. Watson and junior Tanner Carr were the Redskins’ leading tacklers, with seven each, while Flesher recorded 2 sacks on the night to lead Kingston.
When asked about his team’s performance, Kingston head coach Tommy Bare was pleased to come away with a district win on the road, and cited improvement in all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams, calling it another solid performance. Noting the extended playing time for his reserves, Coach Bare stated he was “proud of the way everyone contributed.”
Kingston (4-0 district, 6-1 overall) moves on to the meat of the district schedule, traveling to Dickson (3-1, 3-4). The Comets are coming off a 41-0 whipping of Tishomingo (0-4, 0-6) Thursday night. More importantly, Dickson is fighting for its playoff life after a loss two weeks ago to Davis (2-2, 2-4). With a tough end to its district schedule with games against top teams Kingston, Lindsay (4-0, 6-1) and Comanche (3-1, 5-2), the Comets can ill afford another loss in the district. Kickoff in Dickson is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
EXTRA POINTS
The numbers really understate how much Kingston dominated the Indians. Marietta did not record its first offensive first down until 1:42 left in the second quarter, and that was due to a Kingston penalty. That same drive saw the Indians’ only penetration into Redskins’ territory, as Marietta drove to the Kingston 35, only to fumble away their best opportunity to score on the game. Marietta would only record four offensive first downs all night, half of them on penalties on that one drive. While you have to take the opponent into account - there is a reason the Indians are winless on the year, and they’ve only scored a single touchdown the entire season - it’s rare that you see a defense so completely control a game that their opponent only crosses midfield once, especially when that defense played backups against their opponents’ starters for an entire half. The Redskins defense played extremely well, holding the Indians to 19 total yards on the game, and forcing four turnovers.
The next three weeks will determine how good the Redskins really are. Their next three opponents, Dickson, Comanche and Lindsay, are the other top teams in District 2A-8. Davis appears to be the only possible challenger for a playoff spot that is not on the upcoming schedule, and the Redskins’ narrow victory over the Wolves to open district play looks even better in retrospect. If form holds, Kingston and Lindsay will be meeting once again to decide the district title, this time in Lindsay, for the last game of their regular season.