Kennedale football seeks what opponent Stephenville has in abundance
Currently in its 17th consecutive postseason, Kennedale has certainly established a playoff tradition. The next tradition it wants to establish is winning state championships.
For reference, the Wildcats need only look across the field at their 5 p.m. Friday opponent in a Class 4A Division I state semifinal at AT&T Stadium.
That would be Stephenville, which is seeking its sixth trip to a UIL state title game. The Yellow Jackets won the previous five, most recently is 2012 when their 70-35 victory over El Campo set a Texas mark for most points scored in a championship game.
“I did mention it to my players,” Kennedale head coach Richard Barrett said. “I told them they’ve got a very storied past. They’re five-time state champions. They’re one of the most successful programs in the state of Texas and it’s an honor to get to play them. They’ve been there and done something that we want to do.”
Indeed, Stephenville (12-2) has an impressive résumé, including coaching alumni Art Briles and new Arkansas head coach Chad Morris. It was under Briles that the Yellow Jackets won four of those titles in the 90s.
Of course, for Kennedale (13-1) to get to five state titles, it needs to start with one. And to get one, it needs to first get to the championship game, something that has eluded it thus far — oftentimes painfully.
The Wildcats came close last year, losing in the state semifinals to Abilene Wylie 21-13 in a game Kennedale outgained the Bulldogs by almost 100 yards, but committed four turnovers.
Twice, in 2014 and 2015, the Wildcats were upended by eventual state champions Argyle in the quarterfinals. In both of those seasons, it was Kennedale’s only loss.
A championship tradition has to start somewhere, and this year’s senior class at Kennedale says “Why not us?”
“They want to be the class that starts that,” Barrett said. “They’ve talked about it and want to be the first. But in order to get to that point, we’ve got to line up and go toe-to-toe with a team like Stephenville and beat them.”
Should Kennedale do so, that would mean back-to-back games in the football palace just a 20-minute drive from its campus. Considering none of the current Wildcats have played in AT&T Stadium before, Barrett knows that, too, is something his team will need to deal with.
“There will be a ‘wow’ factor when we walk in there, there’s no doubt about it,” the coach said. “Hopefully we can go in there early and let everybody take their cellphones and cameras and whatever and get all the oohing and aahing out of the way and done so we can focus on what we need to do. There’s going to be kids who want to look up at the jumbotron and do those kinds of things. Hopefully, we can deter that and remind them the action is on the field.
“We don’t want them to miss out on the experience, but at the same time we want them to stay focused and remember what’s most important,” Barrett added.
Because it’s important to remember that you can’t count to five without starting at one.
This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Kennedale football seeks what opponent Stephenville has in abundance."