The Kenowa Hills Knights and Forest Hills Northern Huskies are both considered teams on the rise this fall, so it was fascinating to watch them square off in Week 1. Both teams showed their strengths in a 31-28 Kenowa Hills victory.
After forcing a stop on the opening position, Forest Hills Northern found the end zone first. Liam Rozier ripped off a 28-yard touchdown run, giving the Huskies an early 7-0 lead.
Kenowa Hills responded with a quick touchdown run. Grayson Fellows kept the football, powering into the end zone to even the score at seven. FHN would answer with a scoring drive on their next possession, with Owen Ostipow finding the end zone from 25 yards out.
The Knights once again answered, with Grayson Fellows using his arm for the equalizer. His 22-yard strike to William Fussman brought us back to even at 14. The game would remain deadlocked at halftime.
In the second half, the defenses flexed their muscle with a few early stops, but the flood gates quickly burst open. The Huskies finally took the 21-14 lead when Owen Ostipow returned to the end zone with his second touchdown carry, a 7-yard run.
Kenowa Hills got an explosive kickoff return from Fussman, racing 81 yards all the way to the FHN six yard line. The Knights would punch in the tying score on the first play, a 6-yard carry by Lundon Hampton. The Huskies answered with a quick drive of their own. Ostipow showed his breakaway speed when he ran 69 yards to the end zone, completing his hat trick.
On the ensuing Knights drive, they needed eight plays to find their way back to the end zone. Grayson Fellows had a key 33-yard pass that advanced Kenowa to the red zone. Lundon Hampton had an 11-yard run to get the Knights down to the 7, and he would find he end zone when he caught Fellows’ pass on the third play of the fourth quarter.
Forest Hills Northern punted, but quickly got the football back after an interception from Cage Bush just fifteen yards from the end zone. The Huskies worked their way out to their own 36 yard line, but a miscue on fourth down gave Kenowa Hills great field position.
The Knights got two big runs from Lundon Hampton to work their way down to the FHN 7 yard line, and on the final play of the game, Riley Smith‘s 24-yard field goal kick soared through the uprights, lifting Kenowa Hills to victory.
In the win, Grayson Fellows was 16/21 passing for 217 yards and a touchdown, adding two more scores with his legs. Lundon Hampton only had 64 yards, but he had some key carries to set his team up for success. Will Fussman had 100 receiving yards in addition to his electric kick return. The Knights will try to get to 2-0 for the first time since 2012 next week when they face Paw Paw.
FHN gained nearly all of their 314 offensive yards on the ground, with only one complete 27 yard pass. Owen Ostipow had 19 carries for a game high 205 yards and three scores. The Huskies will look to rebound next week against Jenison.
