By Jon Moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

North Lima

With holes in his gloves, dirt on his face and steam coming from his shoulder pads, it was clear that South Range High’s Floyd Kenney had himself a ball game.

What was unclear was whether that steam was simply because of body heat on a cool night, or because Kenney was absolutely on fire. His three touchdowns led the way for a 26-7 victory over Warren JFK at South Range’s Memorial Stadium on Friday night.

Kenney rushed for 100 yards on 26 carries, and scored two rushing touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 37 yards, including a touchdown.

After the game, the Raiders running back looked down at his tattered gloves and made a revelation.

“They got torn up a bit during the game,” he said. “I’ve got to get new ones.”

Kenney’s gloves weren’t the only thing that was shredded. The Eagles’ (0-1) defense couldn’t find a way to contain Kenney, especially in short-yardage situations. His touchdowns came on runs of two and one yard.

“It certainly what we wanted in any respect,” said veteran Kennedy coach Tony Napolet. “We just didn’t play well. They were much, much, much, much better than we were tonight on both sides of the ball.”

The Raiders (1-0) had a one-two punch that quickly became one handed. Fellow running back Phillip Arsuffi was supposed to be the lighting to Kenney’s thunder. But the light show quickly faded and it was time to boom.

Arsuffi scored the game’s first points on a 3-yard touchdown run. He ran for 37 yards on 10 carries.

But South Range coach Dan Yeagley knew coming into the game the speed of the Eagle defensive line would be a challenge. So he opted for power instead of speed.

“They took Phil away, who is our speed guy who we can do some different things with,” he said. “Now all of a sudden they gave us our fullback, well, we’re going to pound it then.”

While Kenney and the offense get much of the credit, it was a physical Raiders defense that grounded the Eagles.

The lone touchdown for the Eagles came when No. 2 quarterback Zach Nicholas tossed a 70-yard bomb to Vince Infante on a play-action pass. The score occurred right before halftime, and Yeagley said the play stuck in his team’s mind.

And the Raiders weren’t even trailing. The score shrank the lead to 13-6 in favor of the home team.

“We went down, and when we went in at halftime we were sort of [disappointed] a little bit, and they forgot we were still winning,” he said. “We were still winning, and we were getting the ball back in the second half.

“And they need to realize just because you make a mistake – you have a little breakdown or whatever else – doesn’t mean it’s the end of the ball game.”

Yeagley made it a point of emphasis to get back to “Raider football,” which is something the team didn’t do last year. A 2-8 finish in 2009 was uncharacteristic for the Raiders. But Yeagley said it’s time to return to Raider form.

Kenney said it was good to win again.

“It feels absolutely great,” he said. “It feels amazing and I just hope we keep going.

“We’re just trying to be as optimistic as we can.”