Jeannette star helps seal win
Jeannette’s do-everything star, Robert Kennedy, has a very simple philosophy when thegame is on the line.
“Whenever it’s the fourth quarter, I just like to take over the game,” Kennedy said.
He did just that with a fourth-quarter interception and a starring role on the game-sealing drive, as the Jayhawks defeated Farrell, 17-6, at Seneca Valley to claim a spot in the PIAA Class 1A championship.
The Jayhawks (14-1) will face Homer-Center at 1 p.m. Thursday at Hersheypark Stadium.
The win was a WPIAL record 735th for the Jeannette program. While Jeannette was making history on the field, the best player in its history was watching from the sideline.
Terrelle Pryor, who led the Jayhawks to the PIAA title his senior year in 2007, watched his alma mater punch a ticket to Hershey for the first time since he was wearing a Jayhawks uniform. Pryor, a member of the Washington Redskins, is recovering from ankle surgery and was in town to donate funds to a youth football programin Jeannette.
“To have him here was surreal,” Jayhawks coach Roy Hall said. “It was huge. I’m so proud of the support wehave for our players.”
Kennedy said it got the team pumped up to play a big game with Pryor watching.
“It added more fuel to the fire when the best player to ever play in a Jeannette uniform was here,” said Kennedy, who had a receiving touchdown and, as a quarterback, carried the ball 17 times for 125 yards and another touchdown.
With a little over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Jeannette was clinging to a 10-0 lead while Farrell was driving toward the end zone.
Isaac Clark was under pressure, as he was most of the game, when he floated a pass toward the end zone. Kennedy quickly made a break for the ball and snatched it out of the air before returning it to the 20.
The ensuing 10-play, 80yard drive saw Kennedy, whose nickname is Poogie, carry the ball nine times for 79 yards. The finale was a 13yard run in which he pinballed off several defenders before finding a crease into the end zone for his second touch down of the game.
“That’s Poogie,” Hall said. “That’s what he does. He’s done it all year and that’s our boy. He’s the best player in [Class1A]. Maybe [2A] also.”
Farrell (11-3), the District 10 champion that averaged 43 points per game, watched a tape on Kennedy. They mimicked him in practice. But when it came time to step on the same field, nothing could prepare the Steelers for him.
“Robert Kennedy is just an amazing athlete and an amazing player,” Farrell coach Jarrett Samuels said. “You can’t simulate that.”
Kennedy had two interceptions in the game to give him 12 for the season. Jackson Pruitt also intercepted a pass.
“Against a great team like that, you can’t turn the ball over,” Samuels said. “That stymied us. We played our worst game of the season.”