Cypress High’s football team(3-1) ran away with a 21-17 victory after regaining the lead late in the game to give Kennedy High its second league defeat of the season on Thursday, Oct. 30.
The Centurions were down 10-0 at halftime but they rallied back to score successive touchdowns to pull ahead of the Fighting Irish in the fourth quarter.
A spirited Kennedy squad willed on by its supporters came back on the next drive to inch itself three points clear of Cypress, but the Irish couldn’t contain the Centurions to only two touchdowns.
Quintin Pounds, who earlier in the week announced he has committed to play football for the University of Washington, headed the offensive effort from the run game. Pounds ran in the first and final touchdown to seal the Centurions third victory, all of which have seen them score more than three touchdowns.
Pounds’ touchdown in the third quarter ignited life into the Cypress squad, and was followed by a touchdown pass by Cypress’ Nick Buras to a wide open Benny Morales in the endzone to start off the fourth quarter.
However, Kennedy’s impressive run game posed a threat to Cypress all throughout the match, and was headed by their standout running back TJ Williams. It was a tough night for Williams, who didn’t get into the endzone once on the night.
It was the Irish’s Joey Ortega that scored a touchdown from about three yards out to give his side their final points of the evening.
The reason for Kennedy’s frustrations in the rushing department was due to how well Cypress’ linebackers played. Cypress’ Logan Burt played outstanding and was pivotal for the abundance of three and outs that the Centurions achieved. Burt was chosen this year to wear the honorary number 44 jersey, which is given to the captain of the football team every year at Cypress.
Kennedy managed to get itself in the lead after trailing but they couldn’t stop the Centurions offense.
Cypress pushed Kennedy back up against its own two yard line. With less than a minute left on the clock, pounds pushed his way into the endzone to edge his side clear for the victory.
Cypress moves on this week to face Western High on November 6, in a match up that the Centurions need to win in order to secure their second place standing in the Empire league. Western still has yet to win a game in the Empire league, which is the perfect opponent for Cypress to finish of the season with. With Cypress’ top athletes showing that they can comeback from trailing a great feature to start gelling with towards the end of the season. Look for Cypress to come out and get a win Thursday night.
Kennedy faces Tustin High this week on Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. at the Tillers’ stadium. Currently both squads are tied and Saturday’s game will decide who walks away with the third place finish. Looks for a fairly even match that could come down to field goal in the end.