Forte, Kennett start strong as Demons take care of Oxford

KENNETT SQUARE >> For the Kennett Blue Demons, making a stand on their home field and winning in Week 1 was the main goal heading into training camp earlier this month.

While the first quarter started off rocky, the Blue Demons got it together and defended that home turf against a league rival.

The Kennett offense got hot, with quarterback Sam Forte throwing three touchdown passes in the second quarter, and the Blue Demons relied on their stout defense to win their first game, 36-14. 

“Defense is the identity of our team,” said Forte. “It’s huge. We have a really good team and we feel like we can shut guys down. I think after our defense gets a stop or a three and out, our offense feeds off of that and that’s how we score our touchdowns.” 

Kennnett’s defense held the Hornets scoreless through a majority of the first half. In fact, the Hornets were unable to move the ball at all with only five first downs in the first half, three of those coming in their final drive before halftime. 

When the Blue Demons kicked off the second half, the defense became even stingier, amassing five sacks for a combined loss of nearly 50 yards, plus two interceptions and three turnovers on downs along with multiple forced punts. 

However, Kennett was not the only one playing tough defense. In the third quarter alone, Oxford recovered to force two fumbles, both within Kennett’s 30 yard-line, and intercepted Forte. In the fourth quarter, the Hornets forced another fumble, but the difference between Oxford’s defense and Kennett’s is that Kennett capitalized on its good field position. 

Oxford failed to score three out of the four times that it received the ball within striking distance. 

“I thought the defense had a really good game plan and we came out and we were really physical in the second half,” said Oxford head coach Michael Means. “The offense put the defense in tough spots. There’s no doubt about it. We had four turnovers in the second half and couldn’t capitalize on any of them.

“The biggest turning point play is that we’re at the six-inch line with a chance to score and we jump offsides,” Means continued. “That’s a backbreaker when we had the chance to get it within one score. They are a well-coached, good and physical football team. They do a good job  with them.

While both teams played well in certain aspects of the game, neither team is satisfied with their performance Friday night. 

Means said Oxford has to get back to the fundamentals ahead of their next game, Friday night at home against Interboro. 

Forte knows his Kennett offense has to settle down before the Demons host Chichester. 

“I think out of anything we got rushed on offense,” said Forte. “Once Oxford started to put a couple points on the board and a couple touchdowns, we started to get frazzled and we didn’t have to. We just have to take a deep breath and I think we’ll be alright.”