The victory, said Kenton Ridge coach Jon Daniels, was the culmination of several years of hard work and commitment to doing things the right way.
“I’m happy for the kids,” Daniels said. “I’m happy for this group now and the kids from the last couple of years working to get things right in our program. I’ve got some messages from those guys. I kept telling them that what they were doing mattered even though the record wasn’t what they had wanted. I kept telling them that they were creating something different for future Cougars. I’m happy for all those kids and all of our guys now.”
The victory didn’t come without some adversity, Daniels said. Mechanicsburg returned the opening kickoff to the Kenton Ridge 29-yard line, scoring two plays later. The Cougars responded with a 7-play, 66-yard drive, tying the score on a 16-yard touchdown pass from junior Julian Daniels to junior Caleb Hall.
“Our defensive unit came out with eyes wide open and kind of thinking, ‘How is this going to go’ and gave up a quick score,” Jon Daniels said. “Next thing you know we’re in a game. (Hall) made a big play in the back of the end zone and it took some weight off our shoulders.”
The Cougars led 20-7 at the half, but made a few mistakes that let the Indians hang around, Daniels said.
“We haven’t been in those types of games with teams like Mechanicsburg,” Daniels said. “We’ve got to go learn how to make those things happen when it’s crunch time.”
KR pulled away in the fourth quarter for its first season-opening victory since the Cougars beat Northeastern 48-13 in 2017.
“(Mechanicsburg) is a really quality football team and our guys are starting to figure out what it takes,” Daniels said. “They’ve worked their tail off and executed on Friday at a level we haven’t executed in some time. It was nice to see.”
The offense, led by offensive coordinator Clay Mangen, controlled the tempo of the game, Jon Daniels said. Cougars senior Jackson Patton rushed for 115 yards on 24 carries.
“I’m not sure I’d want to tackle him,” Daniels said. “He’s running the ball really impressively and physically. He’s a tough, hard-nosed kid. He’s the type of kid you want to try to make some changes and put toughness back at the center of what we want to do.”
Daniels’ son Julian is back at quarterback this fall after suffering a season-ending injury midway through the season. He threw for 229 yards and four TD passes and also rushed for a score.
“It was really cool to see him go out and see the fruits of his labor,” Daniels said. “He certainly put in a ton of work in the last year. I think he was disappointed with how his season ended last year. … As soon as he was cleared, he started working with Coach Mangen to prepare for this season.”
Julian Daniels threw two TD passes to Hall and one each to sophomore Brody Runkle and senior Seven Vannoy.
“Those guys are a fun group to watch right now,” Jon Daniels said.
The Cougars travel to Bethel on Friday night, the second of three straight regular season away games. Kenton Ridge has won three straight games against the Bees, including a 44-0 victory last season. Bethel beat National Trail 41-14 in its season opener.
“Bethel is an improved football program for sure,” Jon Daniels said. “They have some good players that are back this year that didn’t play against us last year. They’ve got a running back that’s really good, a linebacker that can really play, a couple receivers that can go and a quarterback that’s capable — they’ve got all the things that once you start putting together, they can become a dangerous team really quick.”
The players that came before them helped put them in a position to be 1-0 for the first time in seven years, Jon Daniels said. They can’t let up in Week 2, he said.
“We’ve got to honor that by going to work and elevating to the next level,” Daniels said.
PREP FOOTBALL
Week 2
Thursday’s game
Waynesville at Greeneview
Friday’s Games
Gonzaga College (D.C.) at Springfield
Troy Christian at Catholic Central
Shawnee at Madeira
Kenton Ridge at Bethel
Riverside at Northeastern
Northwestern at Greenon
Carroll at Tecumseh
Lehman Catholic at Southeastern
Graham at Mechanicsburg
Fort Recovery at Urbana
East Clinton at Cedarville
Bucyrus at Triad
Benjamin Logan at West Liberty-Salem
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