Nobody said it was going to be easy, but the Kennedy Catholic Lancers already knew that as they entered the first round of the 4A state football playoffs Saturday against the Richland Bombers.

Although it looked easy in the beginning, Kennedy (10-1) had to withstand a strong, second-half rally by Richland (6-5) before emerging with a 46-35 victory at Highline Memorial Stadium to advance to the second round against Skyline this coming Saturday.

“That's a great football program right there with a lot of pride,” said Kennedy football coach Sheldon Cross. “They weren't going to stop playing. We told our guys all week that team’s not going to stop playing. That was a great football game. We just made the plays we needed to make.”

Surprisingly, Kennedy's first two possessions ended with interceptions, the first of which led to an early Richland score, an 11-yard passing touchdown from Josh Woodard to Brody Bocek.

Kennedy would bounce back with a score of its own on a 32-yard run by Xe’Ree Alexander and a two-point conversion run by Indy Jones.   That score was set up by a 42-yard pass play from Devon Forehand to Mason Moriarty.  Kennedy added its second score on a 10-yard scoring run by Forehand.  Mason Hayes ran for the two-point conversion.

Alexander extended the lead with a 47-yard dash to the end zone and Jones added the two-point run.   The Lancers completed the first-half blitz when Moriarty reached the end zone on a six-yard run. Forehand passed to Hayes for the conversion.

Richland scored first in the second half on a trick play when a Bomber’s running back passed back to the quarterback on a reverse flea- flicker, resulting in a a 38-yard touchdown.

Turnovers were a problem for Kennedy throughout the night.  A fumble on the return kick led quickly to another score for the Bombers and cut the deficit to 32-20 early in the third quarter.   The Lancers, however, capitalized on a Richland mistake when Hayes picked off a Richland pass.  He would later score himself on a one-yard quarterback keeper as the score stood at 38-20.

A 29-yard field goal by Richland’s Jason Slack narrowed the gap to 38-23, but the Lancers quickly answered with a one-yard touchdown by Jones.  A pass to Hayes from Nate Barnes once again extended the Lancer lead.

But Richland would not quit as quarterback Woodard passed for 15 yards and another score.  Richland added one more score on a quarterback 1-yard run with 47 seconds left in the game.

Kennedy recovered the onside kick to end any further scoring threats in the game.

A year ago, Kennedy lost its opening round playoff game.  This year the Lancers lost their opening game to Eastside Catholic but have won 10 in a row since.  Kennedy brought in offensive coordinator Pat Jones from Bellevue High School to add to its coaching staff and has also added a wing “T” formation to complement its Air Raid passing attack. The results have been outstanding.

“Our wing “T” offense executed all night. We moved the ball and scored and ran a lot of clock.  It helped put the game away,” explained Cross. “At this point no one cares how you win, you’ve got to win.  You’ve got to make more plays than the other team and that’s what we did.”

Hayes, who came in to direct the offense in the second half, said his team was ready to do battle.  “These {Richland} boys battled the whole way, and we knew that was coming.”  He added, “Of course we're happy.  We are moving on to the next round.  We're another game closer to that ring.”

Offense dominated the game for both sides.  Kennedy had 481 yards of total offense while Richland totaled 483.  The Bombers had 320 yards passing and 163 yards rushing, mostly by Kalani Steward.  Meanwhile, Kennedy threw for 126 yards and ran for 355 yards on the ground.

Big plays came from both sides, but Alexander led all players with 13 carries for 252 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.