LYNN — The KIPP Academy football team came out strong and rode a 36-point first half to a 36-10 win over Minuteman Thursday night at Manning Field.
The Panthers had no trouble finding the end zone, with four different players scoring touchdowns. But head coach Jim Rabbitt was more impressed with his team’s continued desire to improve after the final whistle.
“We certainly executed today,” Rabbitt said. “It’s a big win but the biggest thing I saw that made me proud was that our players expected more. They want to play a perfect game. We know we made some mistakes, left some points out there. They knew that after the game and wanted to let me know that they knew we could’ve done more. That’s an extreme growth in the program.”
Quarterback Piero Canales had a solid night directing the Panthers spread offense. Piero completed 2-of-4 passes for 19 yards and one touchdown and added three carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Daniel Oluwasuyi (seven carries, 82 yards) and Taj King (19-yard touchdown catch) also made key plays.
“With the spread offense, the best part is that you can do anything out of it,” Rabbitt said. “We were able to mix up the pass and run with Daniel, Piero and Taj. It’s good to execute in all those phases.”
It didn’t take long for the Panthers offense to get started. Canales took a quarterback keeper 34 yards for a touchdown and Oluwasuyi ran in a two-point try to give KIPP a 8-0 lead.
On the Panthers’ next offensive drive, Canales hit King for a 19-yard touchdown pass and connected with King again on the two-point try to stretch the lead to 16-0.
KIPP kept it rolling on its next two drives. Canales added another score on a 29-yard touchdown scamper and Jonathan Caraballo capped off a drive with a three-yard touchdown to put the Panthers out front 28-0.
Meanwhile, the Panthers defense was perfect — allowing just nine yards heading into the second quarter. The defense continued that dominance on the next Minuteman drive when Juan Setalsingh ran back an interception 35 yards for a score to stretch the KIPP lead to 36-0.
Minuteman finally got on the board with a safety before the half.
The Panthers chewed away most of the clock in the second half and KIPP’s defense added a pair of interceptions. Rabbitt got his bench players some reps on the final few drives and Minuteman added a late touchdown to cap off the scoring for the night.
“Anytime you can get your JV players or subs out there it’s a great experience for them,” Rabbitt said. “They can learn from that spot playing against (Minuteman’s) ones. And when they do play you know it was a good game.
“We talked all week about taking care of business and getting it done,” Rabbitt said. “No matter what the score was we wanted to finish the game properly. But (our players) knew we made a few mistakes. That just shows overall growth in football IQ and football sense.”
The Panthers (2-2) will hope to keep rolling next Thursday when they host Mystic Valley (7).
“It’s going to be a battle,” Rabbitt said. “They’re a league opponent and we certainly don’t take any of them lightly. We talk about if we win the next two weeks it makes the game Thanksgiving night (against Tech) for a tri-championship. That’s our goal.”
