On Thursday Oct 20, the class of 2026 played their final high school football game. The Cougars won their second game of the season against the Natomas Nighthawks 14-6.
As the seniors from the football, cheer, and flag football teams were announced, the Kennedy team and fans were ecstatic in the crowd ready for another win. Once the game began, Kennedy jumped right into action, it was clear it was going to be a exciting game.
The Cougars were playing the best football Kennedy has seen in a long time. Running backs, Xavier Williams-Adeyeye, Micah Merrill, and David Lewis had an excellent night with their running game. All night, multiple flags were thrown and many touchdowns were called back. At halftime, the Cougars were ahead with the score being 8-6. At halftime, the band seniors were announced and the Cougars came back out with more determination to win their senior night.
The rest of the game, the Cougars continued to dominate the Nighthawks but more touchdowns were called back. These call backs affected the score causing the Cougars to try and score again and at times were unsuccessful. Kennedy was able to successfully score again making the final score 14-6. This was the first time in years the Cougars have had a record of 2-8 and win on senior night.
The energy from not only the players, but coaches and fans was joyous. Finally winning more than 1 game, and winning on senior night. After the game, coach Merv talked to his players. His message was emotional “You are a different man from when you first started. All of you are different men from when you first started.”
Congratulations and thank you to all of the seniors for your hard work and dedication to not only the team but to the school. Thank you to:
David Lewis
Xavier Williams-Adeyeye
CJ Marx
Diego Avalos-Daniels
Quinn Bryant
Gabe Slama
Tyler Woodard
Termir Knox
Micah Merrill
Ricardo Brau
Marttavan (Mark) Burgess
Noah Rice-Nash Granderson
Jaylen Pabelonia
Elijah Estrada
Jeremiah Richardson
Jeremiah Christian
Yoseff Davenport-Moten
Rozario Henry
Matthew Gonzalez Jr
