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Kinkaid rallies past St. John’s, advances to SPC title game
By JARED SEROTA
After six weeks of everything being fuzzy, the Southwest Preparatory Conference Division I championship game picture has become clear.
For weeks, everyone knew Episcopal was going to be there. But who were they going to play?
Just two weeks ago, five teams were in contention.
On Friday night, with SPC regular season play now over, it will Episcopal and Kinkaid playing once more next Saturday night and this time for all the SPC marbles after Kinkaid rallied late in the game for a 14-13 win over St. John’s Friday night in their big private school rivalry game at Rice Stadium.
Kinkaid advances to the SPC title bout because the Falcons won and Tulsa Holland Hall beat Oklahoma City Casady, 14-13, Friday night in Tulsa. Kinkaid and Holland Hall both finish 4-2 in the SPC Division I but the Falcons hold the tiebreaker advantage because they beat the Flying Dutchmen during the regular season.
On Friday night in Houston, the local SPC schools failed to score in the first half.
St. John’s was the first to miss an opportunity to score. After they recovered a fumble on the Kinkaid 38-yard line on the first play of the game, quarterback Josh Winslow was intercepted by Damion Dunn in the end zone for a touchback.
The teams traded punts, and it was Kinkaid’s turn to squander a chance to grab the lead. After beginning their third drive on the St. John’s 47, the Falcons were drove to within field goal range, at the Mavericks’ 21. However, Thomas Deskin missed the 38-yard field goal, and the game remained scoreless with 15 seconds left in the opening quarter.
With just over three minutes left in the first half, the Falcons were on the doorstep, trying to score the opening touchdown.
From seven yards out, Dunn took a handoff and appeared to fall into the end zone, but was judged to have fumbled on the goal line. The ball was recovered in the end zone by Reed Daniel for a St. John’s touchback.
The next St. John’s drive led them to the Kinkaid 26-yard line, but Winslow’s pass fell through the hands of Will Wallace as time expired, and the two teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime with a 0-0 score line.
“At halftime I told the guys if we would stop shooting ourselves in the foot, we ought to win the football game,” said Kinkaid head coach Steve Victory, “The guys played their hearts out. St. John’s fought so hard. It was such a great game. It was great to be a part of.”
The second half began much differently than the first.
St. John’s began the opening drive on their 35-yard line and went the length of the field without seeing a third down until the final play of their drive.
On third and six from 27 yards out, Winslow called his own number and ran the ball in for the first touchdown of the game. Dan Tweardy converted the extra point to extend the Maverick’s lead to 7-0 with 8:27 left n the third quarter.
Winslow was the game’s leading rusher, with 110 yards and a touchdown on 18 running attempts.
The Falcons began their next drive at their own 28-yard line. Within seven plays, they were on the Maverick 8-yard line. Instead of scoring on their next play, Macan Wilson fumbled the ball at the St. John’s 7 and it was recovered by Jack Craddock for another Kinkaid turnover.
The Falcons defense forced a three-and-out and their offense took over at the St. John’s 47-yard line after a Maverick punt. After senior quarterback John Ed McGee completed a 16-yard pass to William Campbell, Kinkaid was once again on the doorstep of their first touchdown.
Wilson took a handoff and pounded the ball into the end zone for the Falcons’ first touchdown of the game. Deskin converted the extra point to tie the game, 7-7 with 11:40 left in the game.
St. John’s answered back quickly. Their next drive took 12 plays to go 60 yards and bled 5:30 off the clock in the fourth. Fullback Rush Moody finished the drive with a three-yard run for the Mavericks’ second touchdown. A five- yard false start penalty backed the Mavericks up 5 yards for the extra point and that have cost them as the Mavericks missed the extra point, giving them a shaky 13-7 lead with just 6:06 left in the game.
The Falcons knew that if they wanted a chance to play in the SPC Championship game, they needed to mount a game-winning drive. After a four plays, including a 22-yard pass from McGee to Graham Bayley, the Falcons were at the Mavericks’ 30-yard line.
Needing a touchdown, Kinkaid turned to Wilson. He got his hands on the ball for the next eight plays in a row, one for a 10-yard reception and the other seven for a total of 20 yards on the ground.
The final rush came from three yards out, when he once again took the ball over the goal line for a touchdown. Deskin converted the extra point to give the Falcons their first lead of the game at 14-13 with just 1:31 remaining in the game.
Wilson led the Kinkaid rushing offense with 79 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
McGee finished as the game’s leading passer, with seven completions on 11 attempts for 137 yards.
“John Ed is such a great leader, and he played within himself,” said Victory, “We’ve tried to teach him not to do too much. We’ve told him not to do too much, just follow your blocking and try to be a leader. That’s what he did tonight.”
St. John’s attempt to mount a game winning drive brought them to the Kinkaid 24 with just over six seconds remaining in the game. The Mavericks rushed their field goal unit out to try and catch Kinkaid off-guard, but the Tweardy 41-yard field goal fell short, and Kinkaid was able to down the ball to run out the final three seconds of the game.
Oklahoma City Casady lost their game at Tulsa’s Holland Hall, so the Falcons’ victory earns them a spot in the SPC Championship game against the Episcopal Knights, who defeated the Falcons 45-7 earlier in the season.
“It’s going to be a really tough challenge for us,” said coach Victory of his team playing in the Championship game, “But we’re excited to take a shot at them. Not a lot of teams get the chance to play a team again and gain a little bit of respect back. That’s what our goal is going to be. Our small goal is to gain some respect back, and secondly, why not win the championship?”
For weeks, everyone knew Episcopal was going to be there. But who were they going to play?
Just two weeks ago, five teams were in contention.
On Friday night, with SPC regular season play now over, it will Episcopal and Kinkaid playing once more next Saturday night and this time for all the SPC marbles after Kinkaid rallied late in the game for a 14-13 win over St. John’s Friday night in their big private school rivalry game at Rice Stadium.
Kinkaid advances to the SPC title bout because the Falcons won and Tulsa Holland Hall beat Oklahoma City Casady, 14-13, Friday night in Tulsa. Kinkaid and Holland Hall both finish 4-2 in the SPC Division I but the Falcons hold the tiebreaker advantage because they beat the Flying Dutchmen during the regular season.
On Friday night in Houston, the local SPC schools failed to score in the first half.
St. John’s was the first to miss an opportunity to score. After they recovered a fumble on the Kinkaid 38-yard line on the first play of the game, quarterback Josh Winslow was intercepted by Damion Dunn in the end zone for a touchback.
The teams traded punts, and it was Kinkaid’s turn to squander a chance to grab the lead. After beginning their third drive on the St. John’s 47, the Falcons were drove to within field goal range, at the Mavericks’ 21. However, Thomas Deskin missed the 38-yard field goal, and the game remained scoreless with 15 seconds left in the opening quarter.
With just over three minutes left in the first half, the Falcons were on the doorstep, trying to score the opening touchdown.
From seven yards out, Dunn took a handoff and appeared to fall into the end zone, but was judged to have fumbled on the goal line. The ball was recovered in the end zone by Reed Daniel for a St. John’s touchback.
The next St. John’s drive led them to the Kinkaid 26-yard line, but Winslow’s pass fell through the hands of Will Wallace as time expired, and the two teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime with a 0-0 score line.
“At halftime I told the guys if we would stop shooting ourselves in the foot, we ought to win the football game,” said Kinkaid head coach Steve Victory, “The guys played their hearts out. St. John’s fought so hard. It was such a great game. It was great to be a part of.”
The second half began much differently than the first.
St. John’s began the opening drive on their 35-yard line and went the length of the field without seeing a third down until the final play of their drive.
On third and six from 27 yards out, Winslow called his own number and ran the ball in for the first touchdown of the game. Dan Tweardy converted the extra point to extend the Maverick’s lead to 7-0 with 8:27 left n the third quarter.
Winslow was the game’s leading rusher, with 110 yards and a touchdown on 18 running attempts.
The Falcons began their next drive at their own 28-yard line. Within seven plays, they were on the Maverick 8-yard line. Instead of scoring on their next play, Macan Wilson fumbled the ball at the St. John’s 7 and it was recovered by Jack Craddock for another Kinkaid turnover.
The Falcons defense forced a three-and-out and their offense took over at the St. John’s 47-yard line after a Maverick punt. After senior quarterback John Ed McGee completed a 16-yard pass to William Campbell, Kinkaid was once again on the doorstep of their first touchdown.
Wilson took a handoff and pounded the ball into the end zone for the Falcons’ first touchdown of the game. Deskin converted the extra point to tie the game, 7-7 with 11:40 left in the game.
St. John’s answered back quickly. Their next drive took 12 plays to go 60 yards and bled 5:30 off the clock in the fourth. Fullback Rush Moody finished the drive with a three-yard run for the Mavericks’ second touchdown. A five- yard false start penalty backed the Mavericks up 5 yards for the extra point and that have cost them as the Mavericks missed the extra point, giving them a shaky 13-7 lead with just 6:06 left in the game.
The Falcons knew that if they wanted a chance to play in the SPC Championship game, they needed to mount a game-winning drive. After a four plays, including a 22-yard pass from McGee to Graham Bayley, the Falcons were at the Mavericks’ 30-yard line.
Needing a touchdown, Kinkaid turned to Wilson. He got his hands on the ball for the next eight plays in a row, one for a 10-yard reception and the other seven for a total of 20 yards on the ground.
The final rush came from three yards out, when he once again took the ball over the goal line for a touchdown. Deskin converted the extra point to give the Falcons their first lead of the game at 14-13 with just 1:31 remaining in the game.
Wilson led the Kinkaid rushing offense with 79 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
McGee finished as the game’s leading passer, with seven completions on 11 attempts for 137 yards.
“John Ed is such a great leader, and he played within himself,” said Victory, “We’ve tried to teach him not to do too much. We’ve told him not to do too much, just follow your blocking and try to be a leader. That’s what he did tonight.”
St. John’s attempt to mount a game winning drive brought them to the Kinkaid 24 with just over six seconds remaining in the game. The Mavericks rushed their field goal unit out to try and catch Kinkaid off-guard, but the Tweardy 41-yard field goal fell short, and Kinkaid was able to down the ball to run out the final three seconds of the game.
Oklahoma City Casady lost their game at Tulsa’s Holland Hall, so the Falcons’ victory earns them a spot in the SPC Championship game against the Episcopal Knights, who defeated the Falcons 45-7 earlier in the season.
“It’s going to be a really tough challenge for us,” said coach Victory of his team playing in the Championship game, “But we’re excited to take a shot at them. Not a lot of teams get the chance to play a team again and gain a little bit of respect back. That’s what our goal is going to be. Our small goal is to gain some respect back, and secondly, why not win the championship?”
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