Kentwood’s offense explodes as the Conks dominate Auburn Riverside

There aren’t many better ways that Kentwood football (2-1) could have started their league season as the Conks went into Auburn Memorial Stadium and dismantled Auburn Riverside (0-3) by a score of 63-28 on Sept. 18.

It was the first NPSL league game of Kentwood Head Coach Quincey Davison’s coaching tenure and his Conks announced their presence with authority in week three of the season. But despite the win, there is still a lot to work on for Kentwood, in Davison’s eyes.

“Right now we are learning how to play with a lead. We haven’t had that in a while, but we are working on it. We are building and it is going to take some time, but we are heading in the right direction,” Davison said after the 35-point win.

It has been a while since Kentwood has put up an offensive performance like they did on Sept. 18 — 63 points is the best offensive performance in over a decade. Kentwood surpassed the most recent record of 62, which was scored back in 2015 in a 38-point win over Kentridge.

“Our offense just stayed in it. Our linemen were pointing out their blocks, we were pin-pointing where we needed to go. Brandon (Tagle) did a good job distributing the rock, the running backs ran hard. We just didn’t break down on offense, the defense had some breakdowns. But the offense stood tall and kept the defense up,” Davison said.

The offensive explosion began on the third play from scrimmage when senior quarterback Brandon Tagle took advantage of busted coverage from Auburn Riverside, which left sophomore receiver Tre Mayfield wide open. The two linked up for a 73-yard touchdown pass, immediately throwing the first punch.

Kentwood junior Darian Williams intercepted Colten Reid on the Ravens’ first drive, giving Kentwood the ball back. The proceeded to drive the length of the field and Marquise Jones ran in his first touchdown from three yards out.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Ravens botched the return and just let Kentwood cover the football without touching it. The Conks took advantage and Williams scored a touchdown to help Kentwood take a 21-0 in the first quarter.

After another special teams mishap, Kentwood punched the ball into the end zone on the back of Fa’atali Foma’i-Moli-Pouesi, aka Boy.

“Credit to all my offensive guys. The offensive line did a great job. We’re running the ball and passing the ball. Everything was going great. We were marching down the field. I’m really happy where we are at right now,” Tagle said.

Auburn Riverside hadn’t scored at all in their first two games and snapped that streak on a kick return for a touchdown when they were trailing 28-0.

With the score 28-7, Kentwood then fumbled, their first of three fumbles, giving the Ravens the ball back, but the defense responded. Senior Caleb Rubin sat back in his flat zone and intercepted a pass with one hand. He then ran 70 yards to the end zone.

“I’m a big film guy and I watched a lot of film on them, and I know he likes that flat route. He’s a great quarterback, I saw where his eyes were and it was pretty easy from there. I thought I was going to get caught, but everyone on my team did their job. That wasn’t my pick, that was the team’s,” Rubin said.

Following a turnover on downs, Tagle threw a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to senior Romeo Cabansag III from 30 yards out. Kentwood’s 41-7 lead looked easy, and with over 4:00 left in the first half, Kentwood was dominating on all three sides of the ball.

Six different Conks reached the end zone in the first half. From a defensive perspective, that is very difficult to game plan against.

“We’re not an offense that is based on a couple athletes. We are a team. With a team comes camaraderie and that is what we saw. We saw guys stepping up to the plate, their phone was ringing and they answered,” Davison said.

But over that next four minutes, Auburn Riverside took advantage of some Kentwood mishaps and got back in the game.

The Ravens went on to score 20 unanswered points and cut the lead to just 13. Two touchdowns before halftime and one on their first possession out of halftime swung momentum to Auburn Riverside.

Kentwood stopped the bleeding thanks to a prolonged drive led by Tagle. They were able to run the ball effectively and Tagle made the proper reads to slice open the Raven defense. Marquis Jones scores his second touchdown of the game, a touchdown the Conks needed.

On defense in the second half, after the initial touchdown drive from the Ravens, the Kentwood defense shut down the Raven offense. Junior Jacob Bail was seen all over the field for Coach Davison.

“Jacob is playing amazing for us. He is one of those guys that just loves to play football. He knew that we needed a spark, something to get the guys going and he led the charge,” Davison said.

Bail and Tagle are also teammates on the hardwood for Kentwood basketball. Tagle is seeing a new side of his teammate on the gridiron.

“JB is a great player. I know he wants to work, I know he wants to win. Seeing him with the pads on is a great feeling,” Tagle said.

The Conks went on to score two more touchdowns on the ground — Tagle ran it in and Ezra Moaalii followed his quarterback late in the fourth quarter for the game’s 90th point.

The 4A NPSL has the potential to be wide open. Kennedy started out 0-2 and Tahoma, Stadium, Auburn and Kentwood all can beat just about any team in the league. There is a lot of belief in this Kentwood locker room.

“I am 100% bought into this group. I love every guy in this program. We are all brothers, we are all family. It is just different,” Tagle said.

Rubin has had a long-lasting relationship with Coach Davison, and in his first season, Davison is making a huge impact on his players in just a short period of time.

“He’s such a passionate man, I love him to death. He’s an older brother for me. He really plays to prove everybody wrong,” Rubin said. “He never lifts his foot off the gas. He uplifts people and is a great coach. He wants to win, he has a drive to win. It rubs off on everybody else too.”

Kentwood will get put to the test as they host Kennedy for their week four matchup on Sept. 26. Kennedy has outscored Kentwood 231-66 in their last five meetings since the pandemic. The Conquerors hope to change that in 2025.