Loss to Loyola hits Warren, Kennedy hard
As the Warren football team broke the huddle for the final time this year, senior Greg Kennedy sat at the 20-yard line all by himself. With tears running down his face, the harsh reality of his sensational season coming to an end hit Kennedy harder than any defender had all season.
"I wish this could have ended in a state championship," he said. "Going to state and ending it that way would have been a great way to end the season, not like this."
Instead of playing on the final day of the season, Kennedy and the Blue Devils saw their season come to an end Saturday with a 21-7 loss to Loyola in a Class 8A second-round contest. The Blue Devils conclude the 2009 season with an 8-3 mark, while Loyola (10-1) will face Mt. Carmel for the second time this season next weekend in the Class 8A quarterfinals.
"Greg is an exciting young man and a quality individual," Warren coach Dave Mohapp said. "I was glad to see him have the kind of success he had this year."
Kennedy and the Devils went toe-to-toe with the Chicago Catholic League power in the first half. After falling behind 7-0 midway through the first quarter, Kennedy took a pitch to the right, broke a couple of tackles and weaved his way through the Loyola defense. His twisting, turning run ended 73 yards later in the end zone to tie the score 7-7.
"(Kennedy) is just an amazing player and we knew he was good," said Loyola coach John Holacek. "His acceleration is just incredible - we don't see that type of speed in our league."
The contest stay tied into halftime. Kennedy amassed 113 of his game-high 124 yards in the first half, but much like the rest of the Warren offense, Kennedy could not find the same smooth sailing in the second half.
"We needed to do a better job because (Warren) was hurting us on the outsides in the first half," said Northwestern-bound Loyola senior Chance Carter. "We just had to step it up and not let No. 4 beat us."
Not only did the Ramblers not let Kennedy beat them in the second half, they didn't let anyone else wearing a Warren jersey beat them, either. The Devils were limited to 27 yards and 1 first down in the second half. Turnovers and field position, meanwhile, allowed Loyola to assume control.
The Ramblers' first series of the third quarter ended with a controversial 15-yard scoring pass from William Forsyth to Bryan Luna. What made the play controversial is that it appeared that the knee of Forsyth touched the turf while he was scrambling, but the official did not see the play and the result was a go-ahead score.
Forsyth tossed his third scoring pass of the afternoon when the Ramblers took a third Warren turnover and turned it into 6 points. Forsyth hit Joe Gross from a yard out to close the scoring.
"The second half was about field position and capitalizing on turnovers," Mohapp said. "(Loyola) took advantage of the mistakes we made and you can't make those kind of errors against a good team like that."
The final numbers for Kennedy are simply staggering. He rushed for 22 touchdowns and had 24 overall on the season, He finished with a county-best of 1,878 yards rushing on just 230 carries.