By Greg Chrapek
WKTV Contributor
greer@wktv.org

The East Kentwood football team opened OK Red Conference play in a big way Friday as it totaled over 500 yards of offense in a 54-7 win against Jenison. 

The offense came from a multitude of sources as 261 yards came via the ground game and 240 yards from passing as the 54-point scoring output was the biggest offensive outburst by the Falcons since they scored 63 points in a 2019 win against West Ottawa.

“I liked the way we executed the game plan,” said East Kentwood Coach Tyrone Spencer. “We want to be able to keep teams off balance with our offense and we were able to do that. I also think we were able to wear Jenison down. They had some guys that were going both ways and I think we were able to wear them down as the game went on.”

Coming into the season the Falcons planned to run the ball and use a running back by committee approach. That plan is being carried out as the Falcons again shared the wealth in the ground game. A total of four Falcons eclipsed 40 yards rushing for the game with three rushing for over 60 yards. Kentwood junior Ace Bryant led with 68 yards on four carries, followed by Ahman Edmonds, one carry for 62 yards, Jacarvion Johnson, two for 60 and a touchdown and Nasir “Nas” Williams ran seven times for 40 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Davien “Bam” Nettleman added 12 yards on three carries and scored a touchdown, while sophomore Tyran Harris, five yards on one carry and a TD.

“Our running back by committee has been working out nice,” Spencer said. “The guys are progressing well. We have guys that do certain things well and they are making the most of their opportunities.”

QB Kayd Coffman in high gear

Senior quarterback Kayd Coffman also clicked into high gear against the Wildcats, completing 15-of-20 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns. 

Ahman Edmonds led the way in receiving with 114 yards on six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. For the game, Edmonds totaled 176 yards of total offense. That kind of production is not going unnoticed by college recruiters as Tiffin University offered Edmonds a scholarship following Friday’s game.

Like the running backs, the Falcons shared the wealth in the receiving department. Junior wide receiver Stephan Jones caught four passes for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wideout Bryce Barnes caught three passes for 43 yards, while senior tight end Kendrick Mayhue caught a pair of passes for 26 yards and sophomore receiver Caiden Cox caught a pass for 10 yards.

The Jenison defense proved to be a tough nut to crack during the early potion of the game as the contest was scoreless at the end of the opening quarter. The Kentwood offense began to percolate in the second quarter with four touchdowns to take a 26-7 halftime lead. Nas Williams scored the first Kentwood touchdown on a three-yard run and Jayden Garcia tacked on the extra point. 

Jenison tied the game thanks to a long touchdown run. The Falcon offense then took over, reeling off three consecutive touchdowns. The Falcons took the lead for good when Coffman hooked up with Stephan Jones on an 18-yard scoring strike. The Falcons closed out the first-half with a two-yard touchdown run from Williams and a one-yard scoring run by Bam Nettleman.

East Kentwood put the game on ice with four touchdowns in the third quarter. The outburst began with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Coffman to Edmonds. Coffman then hooked up with Jones on a 14-yard scoring strike. The Falcons closed out the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run by Tyran Harris and a 59-yard touchdown run by Jacarvion Johnson.

Strong EK defense as well

Along with the offensive explosion, the East Kentwood defense came up with an impressive effort. Factor out the 77-yard touchdown run, and the East Kentwood defense surrendered 116 yards of total offense for the game. Subtracting the touchdown run, the Falcon defense allowed Jenison 2.4 yards per play.

“Overall, I thought our defense turned in a really good performance,” Spencer said. “They created some turnovers and got some big stops. I thought we controlled their passing game, and other than the one big run we controlled their running game.”

The Falcon defense turned in a total-team effort against the Wildcats. Junior defensive back Donavan Jones led with four tackles and two assists, followed by Senior Benedi Kanda, two tackles for loss, Malachi Daly and Austin Bobo also added a tackle for loss. The Falcon defense also intercepted three Jenison passes with Dallas Thomas-Moody, Jaziel Negron and Major Barnes all recording picks. Senior defensive lineman James Jones Jr. racked up four assists, while Barnes and Baxter Johnson added three.

With the win, East Kentwood improved to 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the OK Red. The Falcons return to action this Friday with a big conference road trip to Rockford to face the 2-1 Rams, who opened conference play with a 42-24 win at Grand Haven.