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Sports

Football: Wildcats Strike Late, Defeat Kennedy 31-13

Dougherty Valley is off to 2-0 start for second-straight year.

Dougherty Valley 31, Kennedy-Fremont 13

The Star: Senior wide receiver/defensive back Cody Larkin scored on a 66-yard pass and had a key interception in the fourth quarter.

The Turning Point: Larkin's interception, the only one of the game by either team, led to two fourth quarter touchdowns that broke open a tight 17-13 game.

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The Quote: "Our goal this year is that even if we lose a game, we want to make teams hate playing us." – Cody Larkin.

What's Next: Dougherty Valley opens its home schedule Friday against Northgate High.

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Bottom Line: In the battle of rush-determined teams, Dougherty proved superior once it altered its offensive approach – going from the wishbone to the spread offense.

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Helmet to helmet. Nose to nose. The Dougherty Valley Wildcats were determined to run come feast or famine. Fremont's Kennedy Titans had the same notion.

After three quarters of dare-you-to-stop-me combat, the team that blinked first was Kennedy.

With Dougherty clinging to a 17-13 lead early in the fourth quarter, Wildcats defensive back Cody Larkin made the play that changed it all. He intercepted Jesse Ochoa's pass near midfield, returned it eight yards to the Titans' 40 and set the stage for what turned out to be a strongarm finish.

Dougherty Valley scored two touchdowns in the final 4:22 to close out a closer-than-it-sounds 31-13 victory over Kennedy at Tak Fudenna Stadium in Fremont. The win marked the second-straight year Dougherty Valley has started the season with a pair of victories.

The turnover was the key.

"I think when you run like we like to run and they like to do the same thing, you have to play a mistake free game,'' Wildcats coach Bob Spain said. "When it broke, the floodgates opened."

They opened for Dougherty Valley (2-0) and over the top of the game Titans. Larkin's interception turned out to be the only turnover of the game.

"When I got it, I felt it was a game-changer," Larkin said. "It felt like it, but the offense still had to go do its job."

It did, marching 40 and 39 yards for its final two scoring drives. Running back Lucas Raventos scored on one-yard run and Kamron Crook pounded it in from the five for the coups de grace.

The Wildcats held Kennedy scoreless in the second half after the Titans (1-1) built a 13-7 lead in the first half on a pair of touchdown runs by Isaiah Cortez – from nine and two yards out.

However, they lost their lead on the final play of the first half when Dougherty Valley quarterback Tyler Eastman found Larkin over the middle and Larkin took it all the way 66 yards for a touchdown that put the Wildcats up 14-13 at intermission.

A 33-yard field goal by Mitchell Ward upped Dougherty's lead to 17-13, setting the stage for the big finish.

A strategic change by Dougherty coach Bob Spain in the first half was critical to the outcome. At the outset, the Titans were having great success shutting down the Wildcats' running game, limiting it to 30 yards on 11 carries in the first quarter.

Running the wishbone with 5-foot-10, 300 pound Edsel Snoddy in the backfield, Kennedy was having good success stacking up plenty of  bodies to thwart the Dougherty running game.

"It was no secret, their people were going to pack the box (with eight defenders)," Spain said. "So we got out of the wishbone, went to the spread and opened it up some."

Over the last three quarters, the Wildcats rushed 33 times for 198 yards.Raventos finished the game with 134 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns. Dougherty Valley, which had rushed for 379 yards on 49 carries in its opening victory over Riordan, came away with 228 yards on 44 carries this time. In that game, Michael Spivey rushed for 142 yards on 13 carries while Raventos had 92 yards in 21 runs. This time, Raventos had the bigger numbers as Spivey finished with 29 yards on seven carries.

"We're like best friends," Raventos said. "We try to push each other all the time. When I'm doing good, he's doing good and when he's going good, it gets me going too."

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Dougherty Valley 31, Kennedy 13

Dougherty Valley    0   14   3   14   — 31

Kennedy                  6     7   0    0   —  13

Scoring summary:

7:29 1st:  K – Cortez 9 run (run failed)

7:11 2nd: DV – Raventos 5 run (run failed)

0:27 2nd: K – Cortez 2 run (Scheller kick)

0:00 2nd: DV – Larkin 66 pass from Eastman (Raventos run)

5:19 3rd:  DV – Ward 33 FG

4:22 4th: DV – Raventos 4 run (Ward kick)

0:30 4th: DV – Vaesau 5 run (Ward kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing (car-yards): DV – Raventos 22-134, Spivey 7-29, Vaesau 2-23, Walker 4-19, Snoddy 3-11, Eastman 5-7, Schneider 1-5. K – Crook 23-85, Cortez 11-39, Gramlich 1-18, Ochoa 1-2, Babb 1-1.

Passing (comp-att-yards-int): DV – Eastman 3-6-73-0. K – Ochoa 8-13-103-1.

Receiving (rec-yards): DV – Larkin 2-73, Baggett 1-0. K – Pousima 4-35, Crooks 3-61, Cortez 1-7.

Team offense (rushing-passing-total)

Dougherty Valley -- 228-73-301

Kennedy – 145-103-248

Fumbles/lost: DV 1-0, K 3-0

Records: Dougherty Valley 2-0, Kennedy 1-1

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More Patch East Bay Football Coverage — Week 1

Friday, Sept. 10

San Ramon Valley 16, Mitty-San Jose 13. By Kyle Bonagura

Campolindo 35, Mt. Eden 14. By Kyle Yamamoto

Encinal 59, El Cerrito 20. By Jordan Conn

Marin Catholic 20, Las Lomas 8. By Richard Paolinelli

Serra-San Mateo 28, Monte Vista 21. By Jim Mannion

Foothill 37, Novato 12. By Steve R. Waterhouse

Cal 45, College Park 3. By Adam Berke

Berean Christian 45, St. Helena 7. By Peter Fournier

Northgate 70, Tennyson 18. By Jim Mannion

Vallejo 42, Albany 24. By Patrick Creaven

Concord 36, Amador Valley 23. By Eric Gilmore

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