MoKan, Indiana 6th Graders Victorious in Round 1 of FBU NC
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The sixth-grade teams of MoKan and Indiana took home the first two victories of the day in Saturday’s round one of the FBU National Championship tournament at St. Pius X high school in Kansas City, Missouri. MoKan defeated Wisconsin 30-6…
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Continue ReadingThe sixth-grade teams of MoKan and Indiana took home the first two victories of the day in Saturday’s round one of the FBU National Championship tournament at St. Pius X high school in Kansas City, Missouri.
MoKan defeated Wisconsin 30-6 in the opening game of the day before Indiana ran out 14-0 winners over Kentucky shortly after. MoKan and Indiana will face off in the second round on Sunday for a place in Championship Week in Naples, Florida the weekend of Dec. 17.
MoKan vs Wisconsin
Using the comfort of home-field advantage, MoKan strolled to an easy victory that saw a running clock in the final quarter thanks to three touchdowns from running back Makhi Robinson-Akins and two from wide receiver Skye Vaughn.
It took just two plays for MoKan to take the lead: A fumble recovery on kickoff and a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first down of the game from quarterback Kasimir Manczuk III to Vaughn.
The quick start was exactly what MoKan head coach Tom Harmon was looking for after slow starts had hurt his team in tournaments past.
“We talked about special teams and we kept running over special teams, how it would be the make and break of this tournament, and it set the tone right away,” Harmon said.
MoKan ran out to an 18-0 lead within the first minute of the second quarter after Robinson-Akins exploded for 58 and 68-yard touchdown runs. Robinson-Akins also caught a touchdown pass late in the game.
Along with a 40-yard connection between Manczuk and Vaughn just before halftime, Robinson-Akins’ touchdown catch was one of the few times in the game that MoKan threw the ball until it went more vertical in the fourth quarter.
“We have been playing in some tournaments and we’ve been airing it out a lot but we wanted to establish the running game,” Harmon said. “Because if you can run the ball you can do everything else and I thought the guys up front on the line did a hell of a job today.”
Wisconsin’s only bright spot of the day came midway through the second quarter when quarterback Dalton Steinke kept the ball for a short one-yard touchdown. The following two-point attempt found itself in the hands of running back Colton Wall before he was brought down in the backfield.
Indiana vs Kentucky
In his first game as a head coach, Dwayne Brown led Indiana to a shutout 14-0 victory over Kentucky.
Despite a pair of running touchdowns in the first and fourth quarters to seal the victory, it was the defense that Brown had to thank for the victory.
Perhaps coming into the game as slight underdogs, Indiana forced Kentucky into three turnovers but also coughed up the ball three times itself, including once in the red zone.
“It was a total team effort, our defense played out of their mind. It’s a field position game and we kind of won the field position,” Brown said.
After fumbling the ball and turning it over on its first drive, Indiana shut down Kentucky on the following drive before charging down the field and setting itself up one yard out from the endzone.
It took just one play for running back Ellis McGraw to dive in for the opening touchdown. Quarterback Darian Prather kept the ball on a similar play to push the ball in for a two-point conversion and 8-0 lead.
The Indiana defense continued to pester Kentucky throughout the remainder of the game. Safety’s Markell Bailey and TuaJohn Averitte both pulled in interceptions and defensive lineman Tyler Gaines scooped up a fumble late in the game that led to Indiana’s second touchdown.
“They trusted my DC, they trusted and believed everything he told them and he told them ‘We can do it,’” Brown said. “People were able to come in and make plays and really just do their assignments.”
Prather put the game to bed on a keeper with just under two minutes left in the game following Gaines’ fumble recovery. But that didn’t come until after the quarterback threw his second interception of the game minutes prior in Kentucky territory.
“We’ve got to still clean some things up but I was really proud,” Brown said. “We stuck to the plan and just kept on grinding and grinding.”
Contributed special to PRZ Next by Shaun Goodwin