Kirtland tandem devastated opponents

The News-Herald is ranking the 25 best individual football seasons — high school, college or pro — for area players from the last 25 years. PLAYER » Sam Kukura and Adam Hess N-H RANKING » 8 YEAR » 2013 NFL TEAM » Kirtland WHY THEY’RE RANKED » Kukura and Hess, who are cousins, formed arguably the most devastating tandem at running back in area history in leading the Hornets to the Division VI state title in 2013. Kirtland finished 15-0 when it crushed Wayne Trace, 44-16, in the state championship game. Kukura, Hess and the offensive line did their part. Kukura rushed for a game-high 196 yards and a touchdown, and Hess 177 and two TDs. The game was tied at 8 early in the second quarter. Then Kirtland’s ground game steamrolled the rest of the way behind Kukura and Hess.

THE SKINNY » Collectively, the numbers Kukura, a senior in 2013, and Hess, then a junior, accumulated were staggering — 3,242 rushing yard and 50 touchdowns. Kukura was Mr. Outside, and averaged 12.2 yards per carry on 145 carries. He finished with 1,764 yards and 28 TDs. Hess was Mr. Inside as a fullback for the Hornets. He finished with 1,478 yards on 186 carries with 22 TDs. THEY SAID IT » “If we needed five yards, we were probably giving the ball to Adam. If they gave me the ball, I had Adam in front of me blocking, leading the way. It was awesome. “— Kukura

“I was a quarterback and Adam was an offensive lineman growing up in youth football, but we always dreamed about being running backs.” — Kukura

“I remember the time we put in preparing for that season in the weight room. We used to say, ‘How cool would it be if we dominated a season, a playoff run?’ Our confidence was sky-high. With that line we had up front, we just moved people.” — Hess

“There were times we ran the same play over and over. We knew our coaches wanted to run it 60 times a game. I drooled about

that type of playing style.” — Hess

“I remember it being hard to give Sam the ball in the practice because he would hurt some of the younger kids. He was that good. Adam was so physical. We knew we had two great running backs.” — Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde

“When you have great players, guys have to be unselfish. Whoever got the ball, we had 10 other guys blocking for him.” — LaVerde

“(Kukura and Hess) just wore down (Wayne Trace in the state championship game). It was fun to watch. It was awesome.” — LaVerde WHERE ARE THEY NOW? » Kukura attended Kent State for two seasons before transferring to John Carroll for more playing time. He made an immediate impact in 2016, his first season at JCU. It was yet another time share in the backfield involving Kukura, who shares carries with Ro Golphin (Gilmour). Kukura rushed for 821 yards and team-high 14 touchdowns; Golphin 1,111 rushing yards and 11 TDs. The two will again share carries in 2017. Kukura is a JCU junior. Hess dealt with shoulder injuries at Kirtland and had surgery in 2015, ending any hopes he had for playing in college. He’ll be a junior this fall at Ohio State, and is majoring in actuary science.

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Sam Kukura, RB, and Adam Hess, RB, Kirtland, 2013