Kennedy surges into playoffs

A regular season that began 0-3 and with a lot of question marks for Kennedy on the football field ended with a lot of answers and an exclamation mark last Saturday.

The Cougars ripped off their fifth consecutive victory, a 21-6 decision over New Hyde Park, to give the program its longest winning streak since the 1973 team finished a perfect 8-0. “The guys decided that we weren’t done yet,” head coach Nick Martone said of the turnaround that also helped Kennedy squeak into the first-round of the Conference II playoffs this Saturday as the No. 8 seed. “I couldn’t be prouder of them. It’s going to be a fun week of practice. It’s the playoffs.”

Kennedy will travel to top-seeded Garden City on Saturday for a 3 p.m. kickoff after hitting the five-win mark for the first time since 1975. “We had a couple of seniors that last couple of days that were [previously] soft-spoken starting to speak up a little bit,” he said of the week leading up to one of the program’s biggest games in years. “The other guys were just latching on to that.”

On the game’s opening drive, the Cougars faced a fourth-and-1 at their 48 yard-line but didn’t want to give up the advantage of having the wind at their backs. The handoff went to sophomore Tom Ferner, who did more than just gain the necessary yard for a first down. He broke through the line and kept going, all the way to the end zone. His 52-yard score helped set the tone on a day when turnovers were just as plentiful as touchdowns due to the snowy, windy conditions.

“There were a bunch of turnovers on both sides,” Martone said, noting the importance of getting out to an early lead. “It was tough to just stand out there and coach. I couldn’t imagine playing out there. It was tough just to take the snap.”