By Greg Chrapek
Wyoming-Kentwood News Today Contributor
greer@wktv.org
For a season opener, they don’t come much more impressive than East Kentwood’s 55-0 win against Southfield A&T to open the 2026 high school football season.
The home crowd at East Kentwood was treated to an explosive display of offense, some dominating defensive play and excellent special-team play as the Falcons dominated the visitors from the Detroit area right from the opening kickoff.
On offense, the Falcons amassed 344 total yards, a figure kept in check by the fact that the entire second half was played with a running clock limiting the Kentwood offense to the number of plays it could run. Of those 344 total yards, 252 came via the ground and 92 yards came through the air.
“Overall, I thought it was pretty good,” said East Kentwood Coach Tyrone Spencer. “You know, I wanted to see how smooth we can operate and be efficient and do some of those things. I thought, for the most part, we did a pretty good job of that.”
The Falcons wasted little time in taking control of the game as they scored on their first four possessions and were up 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
On Kentwood’s second offensive play of the game, senior running back Dallas Moody exploded for a 63-yard touchdown run to start the avalanche of points.
On the second possession, senior quarterback Colin O’Connor connected with Stephan Jones on a 13-yard touchdown pass. O’Connor later added a three-yard touchdown run after the special teams blocked a punt deep in Southfield territory. The Falcons then closed out the scoring in the first quarter with a special teams touchdown when Stephan Jones returned a punt 51 yards. Junior placekicker Jayden Garcia kicked one of his seven extra points on the night to stake the Falcons to the 28-0 lead.
“I liked our ability to run the ball,” Spencer said. “We were able to run the ball and make some big plays when we needed to in the running game. I thought we protected and blocked well, so you know those are things that we want to continue to build, but that was really important, so I liked that and I like the defense didn’t let up as well.”
During the second quarter, the Falcons limited Southfield’s offense to three, three-and-outs. The Falcon offense, meanwhile, tacked on two more touchdowns to go up 42-0 at the half. Moody scored his second touchdown of the game on a five-yard run early in the second quarter and then senior running back Ace Bryant closed out the second-quarter scoring with a one-yard touchdown run.
East Kentwood was dialed in right from the opening snap. The Falcon front constantly pressured the Warriors while the Kentwood secondary blanketed Southfield receivers and the linebackers cleaned up the rest as the defense set the tone for the game right from the start.
“Defense sets the tone this year”
“That was the plan,” Spencer said. “We know what we have defensively with the guys that we have coming back and I told them, we (the defense) set the tone this year. You know, last year, Kayd Coffman and Ahman Edwards and the offense set the tone, but this year, defense, we set the tone this year.”
With the running clock in play during the second half, the Falcons still managed to put two more touchdowns on the board. Backup quarterback Tyran Harris scored one touchdown on a 30-yard run, while junior running back Ja’Kari Lovelady closed out the scoring with a four-yard touchdown run.
Kentwood’s depth and balance at running back showed through in the final stats as Moody led the way with five carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Harris had five carries for 69 yards and a score, Lovelady added four carries for 33 yards and a touchdown, sophomore Davione Harvey, four carries for 25 yards, and Bryant, four carries for 19 yards and a touchdown.
In the passing game, O’Connor connected on six-of-eight passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. Harris, who played receiver in the first half, caught two passes for 47 yards, while Stephan Jones caught a pair of passes for 29 yards and a score.
D’Mari Love-Simmons led with eight tackles
Senior defensive lineman D’Mari Love-Simmons led with eight tackles, three for loss and one quarterback sack, while senior linebacker Chris Thompson added seven. Senior defensive end Alijah Bondon had six tackles with two tackles for loss and one sack, while senior defensive lineman Zymeire Dannah added three tackles for loss. Junior defensive backs Austin Nelson and Ezekiel Ferrell both intercepted a pass.
With the opening win to their credit, the Falcons face a huge Week Two test this Thursday when they travel to 1-0 Byron Center on Thursday to face a Bulldog team that defeated Hudsonville 41-20.
“This win was a good confidence boost for us,” Spencer said. “We go to Byron Center and we’ll work our butts off to try to get a win over there. I think the key is going to be our ability to take their best shot, They (Byron Center) are a physical team and it’s going to be a physical football game. When they throw their best shot, we are going to have to be able to withstand it and be able to punch back.”
