“Our kids just took this program tonight and elevated it,” said KR coach Jon Daniels. “Northwestern is probably an underrated team right now. They’re doing an incredible job from a coaching standpoint. Their kids played lights out. I have to imagine if I’m a team on the small side of the (Central Buckeye Conference) right now, I’m a little worried about Northwestern.”
Patton rushed for two TDs as the Cougars improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2014. Junior quarterback Julian Daniels went 12-for-25 for 176 yards and two TD passes, one to junior Caleb Hall and another to sophomore Brennan Shaffer, for KR.
“Our kids continued to battle,” coach Daniels said. “There was never a moment on the sidelines where our kids doubted. Jim Brown runs our (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) program and we have a bunch of dudes buying into that. You can see them coming closer together, giving glory to God in that moment. There’s not a more beautiful thing than that.”
WJunior quarterback Ried Smith went 20-for-32 for 128 yards and two TD passes and rushed for another as Northwestern fell to 2-2 overall. Senior Miles Estes and sophomore Rennen Smith each caught TDs for the Warriors. It was the second straight one-score loss for Northtwestern, which fell to Miami East 21-20 last week.
“We played four quarters of good football,” said Warriors coach Lance Lambert. “This was our cleanest game. I know last week we talked about being undisciplined and playing undisciplined football. Tonight we played disciplined for four quarters, we played well and things just didn’t go our way. We had a couple big turnovers that led to our downfall.”
The game got off to a slow start with neither team converting a first down until 1:15 remaining in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Kenton Ridge senior Seven Vannoy returned an interception about 45 yards, setting up first-and-goal from the 6-yard line. Two plays later, Patton scored on a 4-yard run to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead with 4:45 remaining.
Northwestern held the ball for the rest of the half, scoring with 8.5 seconds remaining on a 3-yard pass from Ried Smith that bounced off of a Cougars defender and fell into the arms of Rennen Smith to tie the score heading into the half.
Kenton Ridge took the lead with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter when Daniels rolled left and threw the ball across his body, hitting Shaffer in the middle of the field. The sophomore outran the Warriors defense, scoring on a 40-yard TD catch and run to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead.
With 16 seconds remaining in regulation, Ried Smith found Estes on a 10-yard TD pass on fourth down, tying the score at 14 and sending the game to overtime.
Kenton Ridge won the toss and elected to defer in overtime. Northwestern got the ball first, scoring on a 9-yard run by Ried Smith to give the Warriors a 21-14 lead. On KR’s possession, Daniels hit Hall on an 11-yard pass to tie the score.
“I’m extremely proud of the kids and how they played football tonight,” Lambert said. “They played exactly the way we coached them to play. They shouldn’t hang their heads after this one.”
On the first play of the double overtime, Ried Smith’s pass was intercepted by KR sophomore Bryndyn Parsons.
“We adjusted to a cloud call that puts him in the flat on a play and with stone cold eyes looked at me and said, ‘That’s the right call’,” coach Daniels said, “and goes and makes the play. You can’t ask for anything better than that from a kid.”
A few plays later, Patton scored from 9 yards out, stretching the ball over the goal line to give the Cougars the victory on Senior Night.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Jackson from a toughness standpoint,” Jon Daniels said. “He’s a tough dude that cares immensely about his team, loves God and gets after it.”
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