KCI KLASH 2024: Our Football Team Triumphs!

Written by: Sophie Karigiannis

QUICK LOOK: 

FINAL SCORE: 13-7, KCI

TOUCHDOWNS: Griffin Roenspiess (12 points)

FIELD GOALS: Kanji Shimoda-Yungbiut (1 point)

CLOSER LOOK: 

On October 16th, hundreds of KCI students streamed into the Jacob Hespeler bleachers, sporting spirit wear and cheering on our school. KCI's senior football team played against Huron Heights at 7:00 p.m. that night, for our annual KLASH game. 

KCI started the game off strong, with their defensive end staying tight enough for the team to drift through the first quarter with the score staying 0-0. However, very early on in the second quarter, KCI senior football player Griffin Roenspiess scored a touchdown for the team. Unfortunately this was not followed by a field goal point, but it still earned them a loud cheer from the KCI community. 

With 6:18 minutes left in the second quarter, KCI scored another touchdown, also by Griffin Roenspiess, and tallied our score up to 13 thanks to a field goal by Kanji Shimoda-Yungbiut. Unfortunately, the 13-0 score did not stay for long, as minutes later the Huron Heights senior football team scored a touchdown, by Lukas Talbot, who also scored the corresponding field goal. Both teams went into halftime with a 13-7 score. 

After a fun dance battle between Rodney Raider (KCI) and Husky (HHSS), the Raiders were ready to head into the third quarter. Would a 6 point lead be enough to win the game? Luckily, KCI was able to last the third quarter without Huron scoring, but, in fact, no one scored. That meant that Huron only needed one touchdown to tie it up. Fortunately, after an epic, nail-biter fourth quarter, with Huron almost scoring a touchdown multiple times, and the ball going up and down the field, KCI was able to keep their lead and turn it into a celebrated, well-deserved 13-7 win. 

HEAR FROM THE COACHES: 

Mr. Ashley, assistant coach of the KCI senior football team for over 10 years, and a Green Bay Packers lover, congratulated the offensive side of the KCI team for "[putting] together a real solid drive," and praised the defensive side of the KCI team for really stepping up and doing "an excellent job of preventing the other team from scoring too many times." 

One of his favourite things about football is watching all the different parts come together for a "common goal." Discipline, consistency, being there for your teammates, helping your teammates, listening to your coaches, showing up and being a part of the team, and knowing your plays and your roles were all things that Mr. Ashley mentioned as good qualities to have to be on a football team. KCI definitely demonstrated that in their victory. KCI "kept the focus til the last whistle," he shared. "You’re gonna get knocked down 10 times, the key is to get up 11 times,” he emphasized, "You’re only gonna get better with practice." 

Mr. Horn is the head coach of the KCI senior football team, and has been coaching KCI football for 15 years. "We played some excellent defence and were very resilient at the end of the game in a difficult situation. We were able to show lots of great communication and lots of flashes of success," he commented when asked about how KLASH went. "Griffin Roenspeiss had two touchdowns and some big gains. Joel Park had some big catches and I thought our offensive line played very well. Defensively Logan Tomlinson and Brett Norman both made some big defensive plays," he commends. "We controlled the tempo of the game with our no-huddle offence, which made the other team have to play faster and adjust. That gave us the ability to put the ball in places where they were weak and we had advantages." He noted that seeing the KCI football players being good citizens of KCI always makes him proud: "The most important thing a teacher or coach can do is give them the tools to motivate themselves." (Go Chicago Bears!)

HEAR FROM THE PLAYERS:

Scotia Yorke (Offensive #33), a grade eleven wide receiver and kicker, has been playing football for KCI since grade nine. She is one of the few girls that KCI has ever had on their football team. The coach for KCI football during her grade nine year was luckily "really open" to having everyone on the team, but there were only about three-to-four girls that were interested in playing football for KCI at that time. Scotia has stuck with football for these past three years, scoring field goals along the way, and loving football. Along with the title of being one of the only girls on the football team, she shared that there are still some challenges, like people's expectations and social stereotypes, especially on teams that don't know her and underestimate her. Nonetheless, she expressed that it has been a really cool experience for her!

Ben Dryland (#10), a grade eleven defensive end, has been playing football for KCI since his grade nine year, as well. When asked about what advice he would give to grade nines coming into high school football with only middle school football as experience, he brought up the fact that everyone is adjusting to the change, and that you should just go for it. The KCI football family holds each other accountable, but they also congratulate each other and help each other, he said. 

For him, personally, victory comes with having a clear mind during a game. His head needs to be free of thoughts holding him to certain things. He wants to focus on "[him vs. the guy in front of him]," "[him vs. their quarterback]," or whatever the game matchups come down to. In other words, he finds it helpful to focus on what is happening in the moment, during the game. Ben is really happy about how the season has been going because the team has learned a lot.

Chase Jordan (#5), is a grade eleven quarterback that has also been playing KCI football since ninth grade. "Hard work pays off," he said, which is a valuable piece of advice that he noted has been the best thing to hear from the coaches. "I think our team effort and the support from our fans is what drove us to win [KLASH]," he said when asked about what he thinks was the key to KCI's success at KLASH. "As a quarterback, you need to be focused and driven, you need to know how to help out your teammates and how to lead by example," he shared. "As the [quarterback] for this team the ultimate asset is the teammates that I have." The KCI fans were also "amazing to have at the game," driving the team to "perform at [their] highest level," and ultimately contributing to their win.

WRAP-UP:

Coaches and players alike shared that having KCI fans and supporters at the sidelines during the game was extremely helpful for them, and that their love and energy definitely encourages the team to do their best. "KCI has the best fans in the entire region (maybe the province, maybe the country, maybe the world?). Our students always bring spirit, energy and enthusiasm to games in a positive way. It’s an awesome feeling to be on the sideline and hear the buzz and excitement from our fans. The players and coaches really notice," Mr. Horn exclaimed. 

So, come out to the games, when you can! Support KCI. And most definitely, congratulate the KCI football team on a great, 13-7, victorious KLASH football game.