{"id":211540,"date":"2026-10-24T00:23:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T05:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=211540"},"modified":"2026-10-24T00:23:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T05:23:50","slug":"cougars-beat-kenton-clinch-playoff-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/10\/24\/cougars-beat-kenton-clinch-playoff-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Cougars beat Kenton, clinch playoff spot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KENTON — Entering Friday night\u2019s regular season finale, Van Wert needed a win over Kenton for a shot at a playoff spot in Division IV, Region 14. The Cougars, who had lost four straight, earned the much-needed victory in dominating fashion, 55-28 over the Wildcats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The win clinched the 12th and final playoff spot in Region 14. The Cougars (5-5, 4-5 WBL) will head to Wood County to face No. 5 seed Otsego in the opening round on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just how dominating was Van Wert on Friday night? The Cougars:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Xavier Kelly accounted for five touchdowns against Kenton on Friday night. Bob Barnes\/file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
    \n
  • Intercepted five Kenton passes and returned two of them for touchdowns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sacked quarterback Xavier Gammon three times, twice by Zach Crummey and once by Maddox Workman.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Forced Kenton into two 4th and 40 situations<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Had 26 first downs, compared to 18 by Kenton<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Outrushed the Wildcats 327-133.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cOur efficiency the first half was as good as you could ask for,\u201d Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. \u201c48 points in a half is phenomenal and we did it through the run and pass. Defensively we really stepped up, especially getting some stops in the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Both teams scored on their first possessions, with Van Wert taking the opening kickoff and marching 67 yards in nine plays and scoring on Xavier Kelly\u2019s 1-yard run. Kenton (2-8, 2-7 WBL) responded on its first possession and drove 70 yards in seven plays, capped off by a 2-yard touchdown pass by Gammon to Maddox Hommel. Both kickers missed their respective PATs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Van Wert\u2019s next possession ended with a punt but on Kenton first play after that, Micah Cowan stepped in front of a Gammon pass and returned it 11 yards for the score. Kenton\u2019s next possession ended on downs and Van Wert moved 74 yards and scored on a 1-yard pass from Crummey to Kelly, making it 20-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Six touchdowns were scored in the second quarter, including four by Van Wert. A 5-yard run by Kelly gave the Cougars a 27-6 lead, then after Gammon connected with Wyatt McKenzie for a score, Van Wert added a pair of touchdowns \u2013 a 28-yard pass from Crummey to Kelly and a 55-yard sprint on an option run by Kelly, who finished with 170 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 20 carries, putting him over 1,100 yards on the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

    \u201cXavier ran with the intent to impose his will tonight,\u201d Recker said. \u201cYou could see the intensity he was running with and it showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gammon and McKenzie connected for their second scoring pass of the period, a 12-yarder that made it 41-21. However, the Cougars answered with an 11-play drive that ended with a 5-yard scoring run by Crummey shortly before halftime, giving the Cougars a 48-21 lead at the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Crummey was 15-of-26 for 153 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and added 11 carries for a season-best 63 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cZach commanded the game offensively and defensively,\u201d Recker said. \u201cWe needed to be able to get some pressure on the passer and he was able to cause a lot of issues for Kenton in their backfield. Offensively, he consistently showed the ability to make great reads in their backfield run and pass. He showed a little bit of everything tonight that makes him such a great football player.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Cohen Bragg led Van Wert with three receptions for 44 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Neither team scored in the third quarter, then Evan Keuneke had Van Wert\u2019s second pick-6 of the night with a 10-yard interception return for a touchdown.The game\u2019s only other score came on Gammon\u2019s 15 yard run with less than three minutes left in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cDefensively we did a great job of adjusting some coverages which really slowed them down the second half,\u201d Recker stated. \u201cThere was a lot on the line with tonight\u2019s game and our guys showed a lot of pride in getting the win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kenton had four touchdowns called back by penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Along with Kelly and Crummey, Roman Martin enjoyed a big night, rushing for 87 yards on just six carries, including a 54-yard jaunt on his first carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Van Wert outgained Kenton 480-400. Gammon completed 26-of-45 passes for 222 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While the playoff pairings will become official on Sunday, Van Wert will face Otsego on the road Friday night. The Knights finished the regular season 7-3 (5-2 Northern Buckeye Conference) and are a run-based triple option team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWe love the challenge of playing someone new and playing at a new stadium we haven\u2019t played at is exciting,\u201d Recker said. \u201cCoach (Craig) Rutherford is an Eastwood guy and has done a great job at Otsego in his third year. It\u2019s going to be a fun challenge as we go against a different scheme than what we are used to in the WBL and I have no doubt the guys will be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Scoring summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    First quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VW \u2013 Xavier Kelly 2-yard run (kick failed)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    K \u2013 Xavier Gammon 2-yard pass to Maddox Hommel (pass failed)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VW \u2013 Micah Cowan 11-yard interception return (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VW \u2013 Zach Crummey 1-yard pass to Xavier Kelly (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Second quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VW \u2013 Xavier Kelly 5-yard run (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    K \u2013 Xavier Gammon 9-yard pass to Wyatt McKenzie (Gammon to McKenzie pass)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VW \u2013 Zach Crummey 28-yard pass to Xavier Kelly (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VW \u2013 Xavier Kelly 55-yard run (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    K \u2013 Xavier Gammon 12-yard pass to Wyatt McKenzie (Cameron Fox kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VW \u2013 Zach Crummey 5-yard run (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Third quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    No scoring<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fourth quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VW \u2013 Evan Keuneke 10-yard interception return (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    K \u2013 Xavier Gammon 15-yard run (Cameron Fox kick)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports KENTON — Entering Friday night\u2019s regular season finale, Van Wert needed a win over Kenton for a shot at a playoff spot in Division IV, Region 14. The Cougars, who had lost four straight, earned the much-needed victory in dominating fashion, 55-28 over the Wildcats. The win clinched the 12th and final […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-11-04 13:00:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211540"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211544,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211540\/revisions\/211544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}