KP Football Rebounds with Win Against OA

During pre-game warm-ups at Muscato Stadium Thursday night for a Hockomock League match-up between  and King Philip one thing was very apparent.

Charles Ruffin - KP's star running-back, was not dressed to play.

The game-time decision to sit the back was a result of a "variety of injuries," according to KP's coaching staff.

An injured featured back isn't ideal for any coach, but Warriors coach Brian Lee had a back-up plan: throw early, throw often and come out strong.

Behind the arm of sophomore quarterback John Dillon, KP certainly came out gunning. And, despite the lack of production on the ground, the Warriors still came out with a dominating 28-13 win over Oliver Ames to improve to 4-1 while OA slipped to 3-1.

"We didn’t run the ball like we wanted but that’s OK when you’re throwing it," said Lee. "That ‘old school’ mentality gets mad when you’re not running it, but if you’re moving the ball and getting points its OK."

KP put most of its points on the board early. In its first possession, Dillon found junior wide receiver Joe Cochrane on a 30-yard touchdown pass. The extra point from Ryan Dunn gave KP an early 7-0 lead. After a recovered onside kick following the touchdown, the Warriors drove down the field with the help of a 27-yard pass from Dillon to wide receiver Sam MacDonald to set up KP's second touchdown — a quarterback sneak from Dillon.

With 2 mins left in the first quarter, Oliver Ames was down 13-0 and quarterback Jared Schneider's offense hadn't stepped foot on the field.

"The game plan offensively got chucked out the window real early because of the score and then we had to do things that made us a little bit one-dimensional," OA head coach Jim Artz said. "[Runningback] Sam [Langston] has been one of our better weapons offensively and we didn’t get him the ball because they kind of put us in a spot where four and five yards at a time wasn’t going to get it done."

The Tigers couldn't find the endzone in the first half. Before OA even had a first down, the Warriors had added to their lead. KP's Sam MacDonald had caught a 40-yard touchdown pass and Ruffin's replacement, Sean Littlefield punched the ball in from the two yard-line for another score. The score was 28-0 with five minutes remaining in the half.

After putting together a 77-yard drive with time winding down in the half that included a 50-yard run by senior captain Brian Rezendes and two first down receptions by senior wide-receiver Michael McMillan, the Tigers were facing a fourth and goal from the three-yard line. The KP 'D' though, stifled the Tigers on a run up the middle.

"I was very pleased," said Lee. "The defense really played well and stepped up for us when we had to."

The goal-line stand proved to be key for the Warriors. OA scored early in the second half with a 50-yard reception from Schneider to Rezendes. That would be the final touchdown of the game until Sam Langston found the endzone for the Tigers on a 15-yard reception with just 2 minutes to play.

"If we got that one going into the half and then we scored quick coming into the second half we would have had a little bit more of a game," Artz said. "Unfortunately, we just never really hit full cylinders but hats off to them. They did an outstanding job."

Despite playing without Ruffin, King Philip rebounded nicely after a heartbreaking loss to Mansfield last week. Next week the Warriors will take on a powerful North Attleboro team at home that just barely survived its game against Stoughton Thursday night.

While the Tigers sputtered Thursday, they turn their attention to an important Davenport Division match-up against Foxborough, which beat Franklin Thursday night to improve to 3-2.