Redington football holds off Kenai

The Redington football team defeated Kenai Central 6-0 on Friday in Mid Alaska Conference action at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School.

The Huskies move to 1-2 in the conference and 3-3 overall, while the Kardinals fall to 2-1 in the league and 3-3 overall.

Redington’s Ikaia Flores scored on a 1-yard plunge in the first half for the game’s only points.

Kenai Central head coach Jake Brand said his offense had some miscues to start the game.

“We had a couple short fields, and the defense really responded and took care of some of those shorts fields,” Brand said. “We didn’t take care of all the short fields, and that was where the six points came from.”

In the fourth quarter, the Kardinals ventured inside the red zone twice, but turned the ball over on a fumble and downs.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Kardinals had a first down at the Redington 10-yard line, but Flores was able to recover a fumble.

“Ikaia had a tremendous game today,” Redington head coach Mathias Weinberger said. “On defense, he was all over the field. Offensively, he made that score.”

With 5 minutes, 34 seconds, left in the game, Kenai faced a fourth-and-one from the Redington 8, but Triston Charley knifed through to tackle Kainoa Taylor for a loss.

“He’s such an aggressive and tremendous football kid,” Weinberger said of Charley. “He’s our emotional leader on and off the field.”

Redington took possession and got two first downs before punting. The Kards got the ball on their own 20 with 1:41 left but made one first down and turned the ball over on downs at the Kenai 38 to effectively end the game.

Brand said getting a win in the team’s home opener was the goal, but he also loved the improvement his team showed. Redington had defeated Kenai 50-14 in Week 2 in nonconference action.

“We really wanted to get the win, especially since they’re winless in conference, so this kind of gives them a path back to the playoffs,” the coach said. “At the end of the day, this is a huge improvement, and our team is certainly coming together on defense.”

Brand said safeties Peyton Kindred and Gunnar Stanley stood out in the game. The coach said Kindred has been making a return to full health and that really showed in this game. Brand added Stanley was a linebacker in that first game against Redington, but has since blossomed into a great safety.

“Kenai did a great job of prepping their kids,” Weinberger said. “We are dealing with a couple injuries. We had to switch around a lot the last couple of weeks.

“We somehow came away with the win today, but it was hard-fought. Kenai did a tremendous job.”

Weinberger said sophomore quarterback Landon Purvis did a good job managing the game. He also said Cayden Ingraham did well on both sides of the ball.

“Our defense is really doing a tremendous job right now,” Weinberger said. “Offensively, we need to take the next step.”

Brand, whose team also has some key injuries, said Taylor ran the ball tough all game, Garrett McCanna cut down on turnovers and completed passes, and lineman Brandon Blake battled through injuries.

The coach said Kenai’s inexperience showed, especially in the game’s big moments.

“Our offense, they’re not too far off, but those kids that are getting into the rotation now, they’ve got to pick up the slack,” Brand said. “They’re going to run out of season pretty soon.”

Kenai hosts Homer at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27. Redington travels to Kodiak for a 5 p.m. contest on Friday, Sept. 26.