Kennedale kicker hits game winner in Wildcats’ season opener against Sunnyvale

Kennedale kicker Aidan Birr kicked a 22-yard field goal as time expired to cap a thrilling 28-27 non-district win over Sunnyvale on Friday night at Wildcat Stadium.

“We have all the confidence in the world in our kicker,” said Kennedale coach Richard Barrett. “He’s one of the best kickers in the state.”

Kennedale (1-0) took its first lead of the game with 8:27 left when Jeremiah Myers completed his only pass of the night in eight attempts. Jaylen Webb hauled in a 16-yard floater in the front corner of the end zone to put the Wildcats up 25-24.

Sunnyvale (0-3) countered just over a minute and a half later. Jake Taylor hit Max McAda for a 52-yard pass play on third-and-21 down to the Kennedale 34.

Four plays later, Jake Pecina booted a 48-yard field goal to put the Raiders back up 27-25 with 6:50 to go. Pecina opened the scoring for Sunnyvale with a 37 yarder midway through the first quarter.

Things looked bleak for Kennedale after the Wildcats were forced to punt with 5:32 to go in the fourth quarter.

Sunnyvale picked up two first downs on the ensuing drive, but a fumble by the Raiders was recovered by Kennedale’s Kameron Sallis at the Wildcats’ 29-yard line with 3:44 left.

“A lot of people counted us out at the end,” said Kennedale safety J.D. Coffey, a 4-star Texas commit. “But my boy Sallis over there came through and scooped that fumble up.”

A 43-yard run by Marlete Joyner gave Kennedale a first down at the Sunnyvale 29. The Wildcats then pounded the middle of the field with the run until Barrett called time out with three seconds left and the ball at the Raiders 5.

“On that last drive I told the team that all we had to do is get the ball to the thirty,” Barrett said. “Marlete Joyner made a big run and got us inside the thirty and Aidan kicked the game winner. It’s a great feeling.”

Kennedale looked like a team that was playing its first game of the season against a Sunnyvale team that had two games under its belt. The Wildcats committed 12 penalties for 90 yards on the night, had issues with extra points and had a punt blocked, but only had one turnover.

“If you’ve had game reps and we’ve had none it’s huge,” Barrett said. “Realistically you know you’re going to have mistakes, but as a coach you never like seeing that. You can’t accept it and you can’t live with it.

“It’s irritating, but that’s a reflection on me and I have to do better. In that regard I failed our kids tonight, but they were resilient and they picked it up there at the end and got us a win. And the way we did it made it even more special.”

After Sunnyvale used half of the first quarter to settle for Pecina’s field goal, the Raiders surprised Kennedale with an onside kick. Brenden Gomez caught the ball in stride to set Sunnyvale up at the Wildcats 43.

Sunnyvale converted three third downs on the drive. The final one being a 3-yard touchdown run by Jake Taylor and the Raiders led 10-0 with 3:31 left in the opening frame.

Kennedale finally ran its first play from scrimmage at the 3:28 mark of the first quarter, but the Wildcats didn’t pick up a first down until around the 8-minute mark of the second period.

But from that point, Kennedale kept the game close enough to strike late doing what the Wildcats do best ... run the ball. Running backs Ife Adeyemi (13 carries, 121 yards) and Joyner (14-105) led the Wildcats, who tallied 310 yards rushing on 45 carries.

Joyner’s 6-yard scoring run cut the lead to 10-6 with 6:13 left before halftime. Adeyemi had TD runs of 35 and 55 yards, but every time Kennedale would draw close Sunnyvale would counter.

Sunnyvale took a 17-13 lead into the break, but it could have been worse if not for an interception by Coffey at the Kennedale 2-yard line that ended the half.

The Kennedale defense held Sunnyvale to 39 rushing yards on 31 carries, but the Raiders hit big plays through the air. McAda hit Noah McDill with scoring passes of 75 and 81 yards, the latter giving Sunnyvale a 24-13 lead with 1:03 left in the third quarter.

Adeyemi answered for Kennedale 21 seconds later with his 55-yard TD to cut the lead to 24-19.

McAda led a three-quarterback rotation for Sunnyvale, throwing for 197 of the Raiders’ 298 yards. McAda added 88 yards receiving with McDill had 181 yards on six catches.

Cameron Lyles contributed 63 yards rushing on nine carries for Kennedale.

“We came out kind of slow, but one thing I know about my team is that we’re going to come through and we’re going to fight,” said Coffey. “We played this game to the very last second and came home with the W.”

This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 12:40 AM.