Kentridge continued its power surge Friday night.
Behind a dominant front line, the Chargers cranked up the run-and-pass show, scoring early and often to put away Auburn 54-13 in a North Puget Sound League interdivisional game in front of a jammed homecoming crowd at French Field.
Playoff-bound Kentridge, riding a six-game winning streak and with the third-tier Sound Division title already in hand, moved to 6-1 on the season. Auburn, out of the second-tier Valley Division, dropped to 2-5.
Natano Woods ran 118 yards for four touchdowns and threw for 130 yards and another score, and running back Jaron Gonzalez ran for 168 yards and two more TDs in the rout.
“One game at a time, one week at a time. I know it sounds very cliché, but it’s really what we’re trying to do,” said Kentridge coach Brett Ogata. “The kids continue to keep working to get better every day, every game.
“Offensively, we’re doing some good things. Natano’s a big key for that. He’s done a great job running this offense. He’s really the head coach on the field,” Ogata said. “The receivers are really playing well, but really tonight it was the offensive line.”
The Chargers jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and maintained command the rest of the way.
Woods, on the game’s seventh play from scrimmage, found slot receiver Louie Albrecht, all alone, on a 31-yard scoring strike.
“It was amazing. We had a nice crossing route post from our wideout, Ben Victoria, and it just left me wide open,” Albrecht said afterward. “Natano threw me a great ball.”
Gonzalez capped another scoring drive with a 15-yard run more than three minutes later, then scooted 45 yards up the middle on the Chargers’ third possession of the opening quarter, setting up Woods’ 2-yard TD run and a 21-0 lead.
After Auburn got on the board with a touchdown, Kentridge quickly responded, with Woods weaving and busting tackles on a 14-yard scoring smash to restore the lead to 27-6 with 8:15 to play in the half.
Jeremy Banks’ interception led to Woods’ 9-yard TD run midway in the third quarter. Jayden Haynes stripped the ball out of a running back’s hands and raced 32 yards for a touchdown moments later, extending the lead to 40-6.
Woods’ 62-yard dash, after escaping the pocket, pushed the margin to 47-6 late in the third quarter. Gonzalez’s second TD, from 5 yards out, capped the scoring blitz with 8:53 left in the game.
Again, Woods proved difficult to contain – on the run or with the pass.
“I know the work he put in during the offseason, which, as you can tell, shows on the field,” Albrecht said of the senior quarterback.
Kentridge ends the regular season at Decatur (0-7) in a Sound Division game this Friday. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Federal Way Stadium.
The Chargers, who have clinched their first winning season since 2009, will play the No. 4 qualifier out of the first-tier Mountain Division in the NPSL playoffs on Oct. 26-27.
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