Kentucky 7th Graders Allow No Points, Punch Ticket to Naples

<p dir="ltr">Weekend shutouts seemed to be the thing in Kansas City, Missouri, this past weekend as Team Kentucky’s seventh-grade team became the second team to finish the weekend without conceding a single point.</p> <p dir="ltr">Kentucky defeated MoKan 34-0 on Sunday in the second round of the FBU National Championship tournament at St. Pius X<img class="alignright wp-image-245414 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/KasenBrock-300x300.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /> High School to advance to the national championships in Naples, Florida. Kentucky also defeated Indiana 46-0 in the first round on Saturday, finishing the weekend outscoring its opponents 80-0.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve told these guys today, it looks like they’ve been playing for a while, so I’m just excited for these guys and excited for them to have an opportunity to go to Naples and have an opportunity to win a national title,” Kentucky head coach <strong>Marcus Harris</strong> said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The best phrasing for Kentucky’s victory would be ground-and-pound except there wasn’t a whole lot of pounding required as Kentucky had their way with the MoKan defense on the ground.</p> <p dir="ltr">Kentucky punched in four touchdowns on the ground, led largely by the running back pair of <strong>Kasen Brock</strong> and <strong>Tristan Dillard</strong>. The pair scored three touchdowns between them and it was Brock who got things rolling within four minutes of the start of the game.</p> <p dir="ltr">Brock trotted in a 12-yard touchdown after the solid work of Kentucky’s punt defense saw linebacker <strong>Jeremiah Anderson</strong> bat down a punt deep in MoKan territory.</p> <p dir="ltr">Brock also played a part in a great run-pass option play late in the first half. Kentucky quarterback <strong>Boone Godby</strong> sold the play excellently, looking like he still had the ball in his hands and pulling the MoKan defense toward him, providing Brock open field to sprint the ball home for 55 yards.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our philosophy with our team is being able to run the football, that’s what we pride ourselves on,” Harris said. “What we do is we return the ball and we get it back and we make sure that we run it down their throat.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img class="alignleft wp-image-245408 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/KadenGoodin-300x300.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="300" />But two-way player receiver and cornerback <strong>Kade Goodin</strong> also put in an impressive shift on both sides of the ball.</p> <p dir="ltr">Goodin got his night started with a 26-yard touchdown reception just two minutes after Brock’s opening score then activated a running clock just minutes into the second quarter when he fielded a punt at his own 40-yard line, broke a tackle down the sideline and sprinted the ball home for a punt return touchdown.</p> <p dir="ltr">Defensively, Goodin pulled in a pass apiece from MoKan quarterbacks <strong>Landen Harden</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="103095" first="Max" last="Wilson"].</strong> The first of those interceptions led to a 27-yard rushing touchdown from Dillard.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He’s (Goodin) a name that you will remember,” Harris said. “He’s a great athlete but I call him a humanitarian, he’s a guy who wants his teammates to win, he’s a guy who’s an even better teammate than athlete. So it’s a blessing and an honor to have him on our team.”</p> <p dir="ltr"></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Contributed special to PRZ Next by Shaun Goodwin</em></p>