Tyler Black Jr./Phots by Noah Clooten
FORT TOTTEN — For the first time ever, Four Winds hosted a playoff football game on Saturday.
It was a valiant run by the one of the best Indians teams that this program has ever produced.
But it came to an end on Saturday, in an afternoon contest with the Cavalier Tornadoes (5-4, 3-2). Four Winds (5-3, 3-1) could never recover from a fumble on the opening kickoff and ultimately fell 42-12. Though the Indians came up with some big tackles, they allowed too many conversions on third and fourth down. And on offense, they couldn’t execute enough consistent plays, especially in the passing game.
“You can’t make mistakes and beat yourself up,” Four Winds co-head coach Travis Mertens said. “Any missed assignment, missed tackle, it just turns into a bigger play.”
The loss brought Four Winds’ season to an end.
“It’s not the way you want to end it,” Indians co-head coach Mark Bishop said. “I’m disappointed in the result. But I’m not disappointed in the season we had.”
The game started about as disastrously as it possibly could. The Indians fumbled the opening kickoff, and the Tornadoes recovered it at the three-yard line.
Tyler Black Jr. and Dayson Dubois both came up with big tackles, the latter of which came in the backfield for a loss of five. But Cavalier converted on third down, with its receiver finding a clear opening into the end zone.
The two-point conversion was successful, and the Indians trailed 8-0 before 90 seconds had even passed on the clock.
When the Indians belatedly got the ball for the first time, quarterback Kashton Keja Jr. did what he does best: run. He had a seven-yard carry for a first down. But on third and three, he was sacked, and Four Winds had to punt.
The Tornadoes grinded out a 71-yard touchdown drive on their next possession. They had a third-down conversion and two fourth-down conversions along the way, including a two-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal. Keja Jr. and Wakinyanho Greybear both had big tackles, but the Indians’ defense couldn’t hold strong all the way through.
Cavalier led 16-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the opening seconds of the second quarter, Four Winds had a 68-yard touchdown to Marial Deng called back due to an illegal forward pass made by Keja Jr. under pressure. The Indians ended up going three and out.
Four Winds forced a three-and-out on the next drive, and a bad punt kicked out of bounds by Cavalier allowed the Indians to get the ball back at their own 45.
Keja Jr., true to his form, had an 11-yard run. But the typically run-heavy quarterback made back-to-back incomplete passes, and Four Winds turned it over on downs at its own 33.
“He’s a special kid,” Mertens said. “Unfortunately, he probably wasn’t his best today.”
The next drive was emblematic of the way things were going for the Indians on defense. Judah Young had a sack, but Cavalier scored anyway on a 50-yard touchdown touchdown pass. Deng missed a tackle inside the 10. The two-point was good, and the Tornadoes were starting to run away with it, possessing a 24-0 lead.
“We just couldn’t quite catch the momentum,” Mertens said. “And they executed.”
To the Indians’ credit, they fought back and got on the board on the following drive. Keja Jr. connected with Deng for a 41-yard pass that got Four Winds to the 23-yard line. A 13-yard run by Keja Jr. got the Indians in the red zone — and this time, it was them who converted on fourth down.
After an eight-yard run by Black Jr., Keja Jr. muscled his way into the end zone on fourth and two. The Indians couldn’t replicate it on the two-point conversion attempt, but they still had a crooked number up on the board now while trailing 24-6.
Another Tornado slipped through the cracks a drive later, though, on a 64-yard touchdown run.
Keja Jr. connected with Deng again towards the end of the half, and pass interference made it a 30-yard play. But Cavalier picked it off and brought it back to the 50 just three seconds before halftime.
It was 30-6 at the break.
Cavalier opened the third quarter with another touchdown to get the score into mercy rule territory at 36-6. Four Winds fought back with a touchdown of its own, though, as Black Jr. ran 27 yards over the span of two plays to get into the end zone.
“You look at the kid; he’s physically gifted,” Mertens said of the 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior Black. “He’s fast. He’s athletic, strong. He’s physical. So watching him grow throughout the year was great.”
Bishop noted how quiet Black Jr. is, and said he wondered early on if Black was fully bought in. But with the strides he’s made, both coaches said they’re excited to work with him again next year.
Black Jr.’s touchdown made it 36-12 at the end of the third quarter.
Cavalier opened the fourth quarter with a 26-yard touchdown pass that brought the score to its eventual final, 42-12. Keja Jr. got intercepted on fourth down, and there was little action after that.
It wasn’t the ending Keja might have been hoping for. But it was a campaign to be proud of for the senior, who led the Indians to their first home playoff game and bounced back from a knee injury to be a staple as this team’s starting quarterback.
“Jun isn’t necessarily a big ‘get in your face’ type of guy or anything like that,” Mertens said. “But he’s a playmaker for us. Whenever the ball’s in his hands, good things seem to happen. He’s gonna be missed next year.”
Bishop and Mertens described Keja Jr. as a quiet but exemplary model of working hard and going about things the right way. He not only led this team on the field, but was an example for the rest of the kids.
“When your leader is that way, everyone else is that way,” Bishop said.
So, despite the natural disappointment that the end of any season always brings, the Indians can go into the winter knowing that they accomplished something special in the fall. They hosted a playoff game and had a winning season — a monumental progression from when Mertens and Bishop first took over the program and went 0-8.
But until next August when they start practicing again, the Indians will have to put down the football helmets.
