Kennedy didn't need long to get even with St. Louis Park. On Sept. 10, Park beat the Eagles 44-0. On Oct. 27 the teams met again at St. Louis Park Stadium to open Class 5A, Section 5 play, and Kennedy won 34-6. It was the program's first playoff win since 2021.
"It's been a long time. It means everything," Kennedy coach Kedrick Williams said. He said his team had kept its eyes on the playoffs all season, even through the early losses.
Park scored first, on a 4-yard run by quarterback Jovan Clay in the first quarter. Nobody on Park's side scored after that. Xavier Boyd answered with a 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Kennedy led 12-6 at halftime. In the third quarter, quarterback Zach Kremer hit Archer Zemple for a 29-yard touchdown. Boyd ran for another score in the fourth, and Joshua Amadi finished it with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Clay, a sophomore, threw for 286 yards on 21 completions, so Park could move the ball between the 20s. Kennedy's defense kept it out of the end zone. Seck Diane recovered a fumble and had a sack, and LaMarian Lewis and Khalil Wertz Copeland each intercepted a pass. Williams also credited senior center Ethan Besch for running things up front. "He's our leader, he calls things and lets us know where we can double," Williams said.
Health made a big difference in the rematch. Park was missing several key players to injury, while Kennedy had 72 healthy players heading into the next round. "We were a different team this time," Park coach Jason Foster said.
The win set up another crosstown game: Kennedy against Bloomington Jefferson four days later. Jefferson had won the regular-season Battle of Bloomington 35-12, and it won the playoff rematch too, 27-14 on Halloween, which ended Kennedy's season. Still, a team that was shut out by Park in Week 2 went back to Park and won a playoff game by 28.
