G-Prep hopes to conquer Kentwood
There must be some basic pattern for success in high school football.
Because when you talk to Gonzaga Prep head football coach Dave Carson and his counterpart from Kentwood, Rex Norris, you find they both see their team in their opponent.
In other words, when the Bullpups and Conquerors face off in their State 4A quarterfinal today at Albi Stadium (1 p.m. kickoff), both teams will be looking in the mirror.
With one big exception.
“I see a lot of similarities,” Norris said, then spends the next 20 minutes adding “a lot like Prep,” to almost every description of his team.
Carson isn’t as sure of the similarities because “I think they’re bigger and they’re a little faster,” he said after viewing Kentwood on tape. But he agrees the two teams play the game the same way.Both are solid on defense, but both would rather run over you.
But one has a quarterback who has proven he can break open a game: Gonzaga Prep.
“I don’t ever see (Billy Karwacki) make a mistake,” Norris said. “He’s very athletic and he can throw the ball. They throw it a little more than we do, but if you can, you can.”
Junior Andrew Stephenson fills the quarterback role for Kentwood (9-2), although the Conquerors, like almost every team in the South Puget Sound League, rarely pass the ball. In nine league games, Stephenson completed 40 passes (of 101 attempts) for 595 yards, with nine interceptions and five touchdowns.
Karwacki’s regular-season stats: A near mirror-image 39 percent completion percentage, but his 45 completions went for 906 yards including 13 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He also added 320 yards rushing.
The Conquerors’ strength on offense is their senior running back tandem of Travis Nauta and Kenjamine Jackson.
“They’re talented kids,” Norris said. “We’re really fortunate. One kid, you give him space and he causes problems for you, the other kid, he makes space.”
Nauta is the one who makes his space, having rushed for 1,023 yards during the SPSL regular season. Jackson, the speed back, rushed for 1,042 yards, including 290 against Enumclaw in a game Nauta missed because of an ejection suspension.
The two combined for 18 rushing touchdowns in league, more than half of the Conquerors’ total.
But, like G-Prep, offense isn’t Kentwood’s main reason for being in the quarterfinals. It’s the other side of the ball where both teams shine.
The Conquerors yielded 84 points during league and also led the league in rushing defense (78 yards per game) and total defense (151 yards per game).
“Defensively they just pressure the crud out of you,” Carson said. “They’ll give you a different look every time. They bring it hard and they’re well-coached. We’re gonna have our work cut out for us.”
G-Prep, which gave up a league-low 94 points, was second in the league in rushing defense (116 yards per game) and third overall (243 yards per game).
“They’re senior-laden,” Norris said of G-Prep’s defense. “I keep telling our kids, ‘They’re right where you are.’ They’re battle-tested, they’re focused and they play with a purpose. You don’t see any weak links in the chain. They’re real organized, kids sitting up in the right spot.”
Norris is in his first year as head coach after replacing two-time state titlist Tom Ingles after Ingles was let go because of the district’s rules on rehiring retired teachers. Ingles moved on to Puyallup.
The Norris era got off to a slow start, as the Conquerors lost their first two games before reeling off nine straight wins, Including a win over Ingles and Puyallup in last week’s opening-round state win.
“The question we have to answer is, can we bring the same emotion we’ve been playing with?” Carson said. “If we do, then at least maybe the field’s level. But we’ve still got to make plays, Billy’s got to throw the ball, Brandon’s got to catch it and we’re going to have to run. And we’re going to have to keep them off the board.”