Six-Man Team of the Week: Kress Kangaroos
There was no shortage of drama in Kress’ showdown with Petersburg last Friday.
With the Kangaroos trailing 44-42 on the final play of the game, two freshmen rose to the occasion. Kingston Brumley connected with Zavian Pacheco for the game-winning touchdown as time expired in a huge 48-44 victory for Kress.
“The emotions were indescribable! It was everything we wanted and more,” Kress head coach James Shelton said. “Like my fellow Aggies say, ‘From the outside looking in, you wouldn’t understand it, and from the inside looking out, you cant explain it.’ These young men have worked so hard since I got here in June determined to prove everyone wrong that this would be a “rebuild” or a “down year”. Everybody counted them out over and over, but when it came down to the most important games of the season, these young men accepted the challenge and accepted nothing less than success.”
And while Brumley and Pacheco earned the spotlight with their-late game heroics, there were several Kangaroos who played big roles on Friday.
Junior Cole Todd rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns, recovered a fumble, and had two interceptions, including a pick-six. Senior Jaleel Baker also contributed on multiple units, rushing for 72 yards and a score, while also returning a kickoff for a touchdown.
Defensively, Todd led the way with 12 tackles, while Malachi Guzman had seven tackles and a forced fumble.
Shelton said the wide range of contributors for Kress is a testament to how they’ve bought into the team motto of F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Forget About Me, I Love You)
“We are truly a “Team by committee.” We rely heavily on everybody to do their part to be successful,” Shelton said. “Having only two starters come back from a year ago, we have a lot of freshman and ex-JV players who had to really step up and fill huge positions for us to be successful. Every week they settle into their roles even more. We are a long way from where we want to be, but we are so far from where we started.”
With the progress Shelton alluded to, Kress is on the verge of its first playoff berth since 2019. The Kangaroos are 2-0 in District 3-1A Division I play.
A win over Lorenzo at home this Friday would just about seal that playoff berth and also set up a potential district championship clash in Kress’ season finale on Nov. 3 on the road at Springlake-Earth.
Previous Six-Man Teams of the Week
Week One: Highland
Week Two: Van Horn
Week Three: Harrold
Week Four: Moran
Week Five: Bowie Gold-Burg
Week Six: Oglesby
Week Seven: Covington
