Bombers grind out opening win

Updated: August 19, 2011 10:54PM

Rensselaer can breather easier — the Bombers got the first one out the way.

Their 14-7 victory over Kankakee Valley on Friday didn’t come without its share of tense moments and botched plays from both teams. It’s still late summer, not early fall for these teams.

“For the most part, we just grinded it out,” Rensselear coach Chris Meeks said. “It wasn’t pretty but it was a win.”

The Bombers plowed forward firmly planted with their feet on the ground. Seven players carried the ball for a total of 220 yards. They completed just one pass for minus-5 yards.

Andrew Johns, a 5-5, 140-pound junior, who hadn’t played a varsity game, scored both touchdowns.

Johns finished a 10-play, 58-yard drive when he plunged in from 4 yards with 4:43 left in the first quarter. It was a typical Bombers scoring drive — a straight-ahead running attack with no frills. They didn’t complete one pass — and the longest run was nine yards.

The drive was set up when KV failed to convert on a fourth-and-2.

The first half involved lots of offense but not much scoring.

The Kougars racked up 82 yards rushing and 34 yards passing but they were stopped three times in Bombers territory.

The Bombers finally got on the board again in the fourth quarter when Johns ran one in from a yard out. The touchdown was set up when KV fumbled a punt and Ben Phillips recovered it at the Kougar’s 35.

KV made it interesting when quarterback Joel Bolen scored from 2 yards out with 2:13 left. That capped a 99-yard scoring drive that featured a 39-yard run by Tyler Birky.

The Kougars tried an onside kick but they didn’t recover it.

For both teams, the game was a lesson in what needs to be worked on next.

KV fumbled the ball five times, losing three of them. The last muffed punt cost them the game.

Kougars coach Brad Stewart knows what he has to work on. Catching the football and cutting down on the penalties. KV was whistled for four illegal motion penalties.

“We have to cut down on the mental mistakes and the penalties at key times,” he said. “Obviously, we have to improve on that.”

Stewart can take solace in the fact that his defense stiffened up for the most part after the Bombers ripped off their early drive.

He also appears to have a work horse running back in Tyler Birky, a 6-2, 200 pound junior. Birky rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries.

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