Jeannette passing attack shines in blowout win

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 1, 2017 | 10:21 PM

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Jeannette football coach Roy Hall joked during training camp that with his team's size and depth at receiver, the Jayhawks could revert back to the old run-and-shoot offense.

Maybe he wasn't kidding.

First-year starting quarterback Robert Kennedy threw for 144 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half, to pace the Class A No. 2 Jayhawks to a 58-0 nonconference win over Chartiers-Houston on Friday night at McKee Stadium.

“We have been working on this passing game since February,” Kennedy said. “Our gameplan wasn't to just throw the ball; it was to win. We thought they had some weak corners and thought we could throw on them. It paid off.”

With several tall targets, the passing game has a big upside. One of those targets is 6-foot-3 junior Marcus Barnes, who hauled in four receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns for the Jayhawks (2-0), who escaped East Allegheny last week with a 28-26 win.

“Passing is one of our main strengths,” Barnes said. “We have the size to go up and get it.”

Kennedy, who completed 9 of 14 passes, did overthrow a few shots in the second quarter, but that was inconsequential after he settled in and gave the Jayhawks control.

And “Poogie” also showed he can boogie. He ran for 45 yards a touchdown and had a 74-yard kick return score called back by penalty.

Kennedy, following in the footsteps of previous dual-threat quarterbacks at Jeannette — Terrelle Pryor, Demetrious Cox, Julian Batts and Gio Vonne Sanders among them — makes things happen, particularly when he rolls out.

“He rolled out well and looked good in the pocket too,” Jeannette coach Roy Hall said. “What was impressive is that we were able to spread the ball around to some different receivers.”

Jeannette had four pass-catchers, including Isaiah Winters, who caught a touchdown.

Kennedy threw a beauty to Barnes late in the first quarter, a soft-spiraled, over-the-shoulder toss that went for a 41-yard touchdown.

“If he can put the ball there, we can get it,” Barnes said.

Later in the half, he lofted another gem to junior Isaiah Winters for a scoring play that covered 36 yards and helped Jeannette build a 33-0 halftime lead over the Buccaneers (0-2).

In addition to another positive step for the passing game, Jeannette turned two first-half turnovers into points: an interception by Jackson Pruitt and a fumble recovery by Justin Cramer.

And junior newcomer Anthony Johnson, the basketball standout, was active on defense. He had sack and forced a fumble.

“Anthony hasn't played since the seventh grade,” Hall said. “He has improved just from last week. If he keeps it up, sky's the limit.”

Jeannette turned an early interception by Jackson Pruitt into points. Tre Cunningham hauled in a 12-yard pass and Kennedy ran for a 20-yard gain before Imani Sanders scored from the 3.

Kennedy zinged a 19-yard score to Barnes to put the Jayhawks up 12-0 after back-to-back missed conversions.

Johnson's third-down sack set up the second score.

Kennedy scored on a shifty 14-yard run to put the Jayhawks up 26-0 after Johnson forced a fumble and Justin Cramer recovered for Jeannette.

Zack Berginc scored on a 43-yard run on the first play of the second half to kick-start the mercy rule.

“We have to clean up our penalties,” Hall said. “We need to get better there. I thought our line looked good tonight.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Chartiers-Houston, Jeannette