Jefferson Football

No. 5 Cougars bowl over J-Hawks

Shaun Beyer never saw the umpire who got in his way during his 55-yard gallop for a touchdown Friday night against the Jefferson J-Hawks at Kingston Stadium.

Pity the poor ref.

And pity the undersized J-Hawks for the pounding they took from the fifth-ranked Kennedy Cougars as well.

Kennedy rushed for 441 yards and finished with 510 yards of total offense in its 35-7 conquest of Jefferson before a big crowd of approximately 5,000 fans who came to see a battle of two winning clubs.

It was Kennedy all the way.

The bigger, stronger Cougars drove 91, 90 and 84 yards on their first three possessions and never looked back.

They have been playing football at Kennedy since the school opened in 1967, and this is the first time a Kennedy football team has begun a season with five straight wins. It comes a year after the Cougars began the season with six straight losses.

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Kennedy versus Jefferson: It's a rivalry again

Inch by inch, step by step, Brian Webb has rebuilt the downtrodden Cedar Rapids Jefferson football program into a competitive Class 4A team that appears headed to the playoffs for the second straight year.

Along the way, Jefferson's annual game against Kennedy has become a rivalry again instead of a one-sided affair.

The J-Hawks (3-1) and fifth-ranked Cougars (4-0) meet again Friday night in the District 5 opener for both clubs at Kingston Stadium. It's always fun when both teams go into a game with a legitimate chance to win and that's certainly the case this time.

Jefferson stunned Kennedy, 27-24, in overtime last season in a "statement" game for the J-Hawks. It was Jefferson's first victory over the Cougars in 12 years and showed that Webb is serious about returning the J-Hawks to glory.

Kennedy kicked a field goal for a 24-21 lead in overtime, forcing Jefferson to respond or lose. The J-Hawks faced fourth down at the 2-yard line, where a chip-shot field goal would have tied the game and forced a second overtime.

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Ask recalls glory years of Jeff football

On a Friday night in early November 50 years ago this fall, perennial Iowa high school football powerhouses Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Davenport Central duked it out at Kingston Stadium for state-wide bragging rights.

Both were undefeated, and on the line was the mythical state championship as determined by the Associated Press newspaper poll.

A full house of 12,000 fans packed the stands on both sides of the gridiron as well as the horseshoe on the north end of the stadium. A special television broadcast beamed the battle far and wide.

And what a battle it was.

Trailing 18-14 with seven minutes left, legendary J-Hawk quarterback Larry Lawrence (the son of legendary Coach Ted Lawrence) engineered a 72-yard scoring drive to pull out a 20-18 victory.

At the time, it was called “the greatest Iowa prep football game ever.”

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J-Hawks roll by Davenport West, 62-21

They waited out one weather delay, then just as the game was about to kick off, Jefferson and Davenport West were sent back to the Kingston Stadium locker room for another delay.

The visiting Falcons probably wished they weren't allowed back after a mandatory 30-minute delay.

Jefferson speedster Manny Olutunde took the opening kickoff and sprinted 92 yards nearly untouched for a score that sent the J-Hawks on their way to a 27-point opening quarter and a 62-21 victory on a rainy Friday night at Kingston.

The game was barely two minutes old when the J-Hawks struck again on their first offensive play. A mishandled snap on a West punt attempt left the ball on the Falcon 40. Jared Eivins came out and lofted one down the sideline to rangy 6-foot-5 receiver Jalyn Stafford for a second score.

"Obviously Manny's kickoff return was big," Jefferson coach Brian Webb said. "He's one of our main guys."

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