Kentlake football notches second win of the season

Under first-year head coach Rob Hammond, there has been an emphasis on building a culture of Kentlake football. That emphasis came to the forefront as Kentlake survived a late attempt at a fourth quarter comeback from Thomas Jefferson High School. The Falcons were able to hang on and win 28-19 over the Raiders for just their second win of the season on Oct. 9 at Federal Way Memorial Field.

“We were losing guys in practice all week and down to our fourth string quarterback. But luckily he is a pretty good athlete. Our guys found a way to make it happen. After four straight losses, it was tough. The kids played hard and played together. That’s the stuff we want to build in the program right now,” Hammond said after the win.

Quarterback is possibly the most important position in sports, and two days before this game, Kentlake had to go to their fourth string quarterback, Lincoln Moore, who on the roster is listed as defensive back and wide receiver. Moore, a sophomore, didn’t even play football before this season. Now in his first start at quarterback, he has a win under his belt.

”A lot of work went in the last week to prepare myself. But I just tried to play off my own strengths and do what I can for the team. We haven’t seen a lot of success in history at Kentlake. We want to push for the best,” Moore said.

Moore is a standout young baseball player, getting his name out into the national circuit with his talent on the diamond. But on the football field, not so much — but he has a work ethic like no other, according to Hammond.

“He’s an athlete making plays. We didn’t throw it too much because he’s played quarterback for two days. He threw some good balls, but he’s such a competitor and a leader. He was nervous before the game, and I told him, ‘I’m worried of a lot of things but I’m not worried about you tonight,’” Hammond said.

Kentlake got the scoring started on their first drive of the game, a point of emphasis from Hammond coming into this contest. A 27-yard run from James Mullenix on an end-around showed that there was yardage to be had on offense for the Falcons.

Makaio Villarin finished the drive with a seven yard rush and the scent of victory entered the air for what felt like the first time in over a month and a half for Kentlake.

“When you lose four in a row, and you get behind, it is hard to push that weight back. We talked all week that the first drive is the most important in the game. If I could figure out how to get the ball first every time when I wanted it, I would. The guys locked in and executed a game plan,” Hammond said.

After forcing a punt and muffing the return of said punt, Thomas Jefferson found momentum, and Marin Guillen connected with DJ Smith for what would be their first of three touchdown connections of the evening. However, Kentlake blocked the point after and held a slim one-point lead, a lead they wouldn’t give up the rest of the night.

As the clocked continued to roll, so did Moore. The sophomore used his legs to extend plays and out-run Raider defenders all night. On fourth and goal from the 21-yard line, Moore rolled to his right and with all the defenders’ backs to him, scampered into the end zone for the touchdown.

“That second touchdown (of the game), he just ran it on his own. He’s a high level athlete and played in big situations in baseball. This is nothing to him,” Hammond said.

Moore recorded his second touchdown of the night, rushing in from the Thomas Jefferson nine yardline to give Kentlake a 20-6 lead over the Raiders. But Thomas Jefferson rallied late in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to one point, and Kentlake needed a blocked point after try to keep it level.

Apart from a shaky fourth quarter, defensively the Falcons created a lot of pressure in the Thomas Jefferson backfield. The Falcons’ tackling was a point of emphasis this week and they took a major step in the win.

“I think we tackled better and our assignments were better. The past couple weeks, guys were unsure. Coach Gregory Naegle did a great job simplifying things, the guys knew what they were doing and played full speed. Then we tackled a whole lot better,” Hammond said.

With the score 20-19, Kentlake drove down methodically and patiently. Moore was handing the ball off to Devin Saladin and Villarin and keeping it himself all the way down the field, making the right reads and taking care of the ball. Kentlake didn’t turn the ball over once.

After a Thomas Jefferson timeout where they were instructed to let the Falcons score, Villarin did for his second touchdown of the night. The decision Hammond took to go for two was to go up nine points and make it a two possession game with 2:05 left in the game.

“That two point conversion was all effort. We are starting to play with more effort and believe in each other and just do what Kentlake football is going to be about,” Hammond said.

The Falcons ran a shovel pass to Michael Garcia, who caught it and looked like he would come up short. But he kept driving and willed his way across the goal line for the two-point conversion.

“You prepare so much, and we wanted this game so bad. Everybody here wants to win so bad. Knowing you did it for your boys around you is huge,” Moore said.

On the final Thomas Jefferson drive, Lincoln Moore put the finishing touches on the win for Kentlake. The sophomore intercepted a Guillen pass for the second time in the game and sealed the win for the Falcons.

“He was gone the last two weeks for baseball tournaments and played on the scout team. He was our scout team player of the week. He just always goes hard,” Hammond said.

Hammond in his first season is making changes in the mentality of Kentlake football players. In completed seasons since the 2020 pandemic shortened season, Kentlake has a record of 9-32 with just Kent-Meridian has a worse win loss in that span in the Kent School District at 7-36. Kent-Meridian did play five games in 2020 compaired to two games that Kentlake played. Both teams are 2-4 this season and 2-3 in NPSL play.

“He’s been huge for getting us together as a team. That’s the biggest thing you can do is bring us all together,” Moore said about Hammond’s leadership.

Kentlake will be back at Federal Way Memorial Field on Oct. 16 to take on Decatur, giving the Falcons another test as the season continues.