Aug. 28—Kokomo’s football team made quick work of the Plymouth Rockies on Friday night in a 41-6 Wildkat victory at Plymouth.
The Wildkats (2-0) scored on their second play on offense for a quick lead in the game’s second minute. Then in the second half, the Wildkats pushed their lead to 35 points midway through the third quarter to trigger a running clock and put the game to bed quickly.
Wildkat running back Plez Lawrence was at the center of the action. He scored four touchdowns on the ground and added a fifth through the air to lead Kokomo’s onslaught. Lawrence opened the scoring less than 90 seconds after the game started when he scored on a 35-yard run with 10:48 left in the first quarter.
“The first play of the game they came out in a 5-2 [defense] which is what Western came out in last week,” Kokomo coach Austin Colby said of Plymouth’s defensive formation while speaking on WIOU after the game. Lawrence pierced that defense for the opening score. “We blocked it perfect — looked like practice — for a touchdown.”
Kokomo was off and running. The Kats’ defense stymied Plymouth (0-2) quickly time and again in the first quarter and the Kats kept getting the ball back in good field position. On Kokomo’s second possession, Lawrence scored on a 20-yard run with 4:36 left in the frame, then scored on a 39-yard run with 2:23 left for a 21-0 lead before the opening quarter ended.
The Wildkats again got the ball back and started their fourth drive in the first quarter. The quarter ran out with Kokomo up 21-0 during that drive, and the Kats scored again two plays into the second quarter when Trey Marciniak punched in a 3-yard run for four TDs on four Kat possessions.
Plymouth scored with :22 seconds left before halftime to cut Kokomo’s lead to 28-6 at the break. The Wildkats re-asserted their dominance with quick score to start the second half. Lawrence capped that drive with a 12-yard TD run.
On its next possession Plymouth turned the ball over on downs at its own 19-yard line and the Kats took over midway through the third period. This time, Kokomo struck through the air as quarterback Evan Barker found Lawrence for an 18-yard scoring strike. Cole Boruff’s point after made the score 41-6 and the 35-point margin triggered a running clock with the rest of the game playing out in quick order after that.
Lawrence finished with 129 yards rushing on just a dozen totes. Marciniak, Keegan Name and Ta’Shy Stewart combined for another 77 yards rushing on nine carries. Barker was 2 for 5 through the air for 32 yards and no interceptions. Lawrence hauled in both receptions.
Colby said he was “very pleased” with the performance. “Still have a few things that we have to get cleaned up on the defensive side of the ball. As soon as we get that cleaned up, I think we can be a pretty good football team.”
Kokomo’s defense and special teams pinned the Rockies back all game. Plymouth ran 44 times for just 96 yards and completed 6 of 12 passes for 62 yards and an interception. Wildkat freshman Daveon Pepper snagged the interception in the fourth quarter on a deflected ball.
Jaquan East was a menace on defense, leading the Wildkats with a dozen tackles including 2.5 sacks.
“Jaquan East is a last-minute fill in and he’s going to be a good middle linebacker for us, and that keeps Evan Barker from going both ways,” Colby said. “We can play some big boy football if we don’t have seven or eight guys going both ways.”