With only two losses in the entire 2024 campaign, the second-seeded Kennedy Cougars dominated their opponents in the first two rounds of the CIF L.A. City Section Division I Playoffs. Powered by dual-threat junior quarterback Diego Montes, who finished 8th in the state of California in total yards, the Cougars averaged 48.5 points per game in their postseason victories. They hosted the King-Drew Golden Eagles in the CIF City Section D1 semifinals on Friday night with a trip to the title game at stake. Kennedy couldn’t overcome a 21-0 third quarter deficit yet showed their resilience until the final whistle in their 35-23 defeat. 

Both teams struggled to get off the schnide offensively, each turning the ball over on downs in their first possession. King-Drew senior defensive end and team captain Chinedu Onyeagoro, who came into Friday 5th in California with 18 sacks on the season, forced a Kennedy punt with a third down sack. They took advantage of two key penalties from the Cougars on their next drive through the ground game to take a 7-0 lead with a 2-yard touchdown run from sophomore Jayden Mitchell. 

On the second play of the subsequent Kennedy drive, the Golden Eagles regained possession of the football after senior Jahmir Torres recovered a fumble in red zone territory for the offense. The game went into the second quarter where, on the first play, King-Drew senior quarterback and captain Keenan Jackson tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior wideout Roberto Salazar to go ahead 14-0. 

The Cougars couldn’t get their running game going after rushing for 213 yards a week earlier, as they were once again stuffed short on fourth down. King-Drew ate up the majority of the clock for the remainder of the third quarter on a penalty ridden drive. A sack from the Cougars forced a field goal attempt from the Golden Eagles, which was unsuccessful as time expired in the first half. 

King-Drew began the second half with a 55-yard run from Torres on the second play of the drive to put them in goal territory. Sophomore running back Devin Burnley hauled in an 8-yard score to give the Golden Eagles a 21-0 lead. Down three scores with 9:23 left in the third quarter, Kennedy found a groove offensively in the second half. Montes spread the ball around on a drive that took up six minutes of clock, where he used his legs on a 3-yard score to give the Cougars their first points of the evening. 

The Golden Eagles patiently moved the ball down the field, as their next drive took the contest into the fourth quarter. Leading a balanced offensive attack, Jackson dealt a crushing blow to the Cougars with a 23-yard touchdown run on the second play of the quarter. After forcing a sack, King-Drew earned their second takeaway of the game with an interception from Montes. 

Jackson ripped off a 20-yard first down run, which led to him throwing a 32-yard touchdown to Mitchell for his third touchdown pass of the night. Down 35-7 with 5:43 left in the game, Kennedy continued to play hard until the very end refusing to quit. Sparked by senior running back Justyn Sears, he powered in a 9-yard touchdown run to make the score 35-15 after a successful two-point try. 

Kennedy recovered the onside kick with a little over three minutes left in the game. Taking over in Kind-Drew territory, Montes threw a 40-yard completion on the first play to put the Cougars in goal territory. On the next play, Kennedy junior Sebastian Choudry powered it in for a 9-yard score to make the score 35-23 after a successful two-point conversion with 2:46 remaining in the game. The Cougars couldn’t convert the onside kick on their second attempt, which led to King-Drew running out the clock to seal their trip to the CIF L.A. City D1 Championship Game. 

Kennedy head Coach Troy Cassidy was very proud of his team in how they persevered through a tough preseason schedule and credited the work they put in the off-season towards their 10-3 season. “Every year, we want to keep growing as a program.”, he stated, “These guys keep stepping up. Especially these guys who have been playing for us for four years”. As the players consoled each other in the field, Cassidy knows this loss will be a motivating factor for Montes and their returning players next season.