By Steve ruman

sports @vindy.com

GIRARD

Blitz Live | September 9, 2016

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First Varsity female football player for Mooney, a game winning kick just short for Struthers, and a thrilling comeback for Warren Harding highlight Week 3 …

The Warren John F. Kennedy football team experienced an emotional week leading up to Friday’s road game at Girard.

Last Friday, the Eagles posted their second straight shutout in a win at LaBrae. However, in the process they lost their Mr. Everything, Jacob Coates, to a shoulder injury. On Thursday, Coates underwent surgery and it was determined he would be out of commission for the next eight weeks.

With Coates looking on from the sidelines, Kennedy proved it will remain a force to be reckoned with in Division VII. The Eagles turned in another dominating defensive performance en route to a 28-7 win at Arrowhead Stadium.

“This has been a very emotional week for Jacob and his family,” said JFK coach Jeff Bayuk. “You hate to see any kid on any team go down. But when he’s the leader of your team, and a kid who does absolutely everything on the football field, it’s especially tough.

“To show you what kind of kid this is, he was at every practice this week. He had surgery yesterday and he’s here tonight. He’s a great player and a true leader.”

Coates certainly had to be proud of his teammates, who led 14-7 at halftime, then put away the contest in the second half with another dominating defensive performance. The Eagles (3-0) surrendered just 19 second-half yards while displaying an productive running game.

Ross Nocera scored three touchdowns for the Eagles on runs of 11, 1 and 4 yards. But it was Evan Boyd who proved to be the workhorse. The senior rushed for 143 yards on 23 carries — many of which came in the second half during several JFK time-consuming possessions.

“The first half we started out kind of slow offensively, but we just told ourselves that we would come out in the second half and keep running and keep pounding away at their front line,” Boyd said. “The offensive line did a great job. Each time I ran the ball, I was going back and telling them what a great job they did.”

Girard’s second possession of the game produced its biggest play of the night, a 50-yard pass from Mark Waid (7 of 15, 137 yards) to Michael Belcik. However, a fumble on the play ended the possession deep in Kennedy territory. The turnover would be the first of four for the Indians.

Kennedy scored the game’s first points with just 19 seconds left in the first quarter when Nocera capped an eight-play drive with an 11-yard run.

Girard (0-3) answered on its next possession with a with a 13-yard Kenny Walters touchdown reception from Waid.

However, Kennedy responded with a 12-play, 65 yard drive to take a 14-7 lead just before intermission. Facing a fourth-and-nine at the Girard 24, the Eagles decided to go for broke. The gamble paid off, as quarterback Gregory Valent threaded the needle on a pass to the end zone to Hyland Burton, who was draped by a pair of defenders.

“What a pass that was, that was a huge play and a huge momentum swing in the game,” Bayuk said. “The pass couldn’t have been thrown any better, and then Hyland made a great play to pull it in.”

Following a scoreless third period, Kennedy scored on its first two possessions of the fourth quarter to pull away.

“With Jacob out, we just all know that we all have to step up and do a lot of different things,” Boyd said. “We’ll be okay, we have a lot of players who can do it all.”