It was a roller coaster of emotions on Oct. 2 for the Auburn Trojans football team as they lost 47-22 against the Kennedy Catholic Lancers.

“There was a lot of up and down. I was really happy with the first drive. Kennedy is a really good team. It’s been a long time since they lost a league game (2018). We knew we were the underdog. We tried to play on that during the week, to embrace the underdog,” Head Coach Aaron Chantler said.

Coming into the game against the Lancers, Auburn had arguably the best offense in the state. Quarterback Baylen Erdmann is second in the state in terms of passing yards (1,376) with 12 touchdowns. Wide receivers Christian Titialii and Lucas Whitehall-Gilkes were also the number one and two pass catchers in terms of yards and were separated by just a single yard (543 for Titialli and 542 for Whitehall-Gilkes).

But Erdmann was on the sidelines for the game against Kennedy. The University of Jamestown commit was nursing an injury that he suffered against Stadium the week before. In came the junior Isiah Avelar in his first career start at quarterback at the high school level. Avelar is a default wide receiver, complementing Titialii and Whitehall-Gilkes, but he was tasked with distributing the ball to them against once of the best defenses he’ll see all season.

“Playing quarterback in our offense is very mentally challenging and draining. It is a lot of prep work. To have him shift gears in the middle of the season is a lot. He showed what he is capable of,” Chantler said.

Isaiah Avelar looks to make a throw against Kennedy Catholic. Ben Ray / The Mirror

Avelar came out firing, connecting with both receivers on the game’s first drive. Then from the two yard line, Avelar tucked the ball and ran in to take the only Trojan lead of the game.

“As a play caller, you couldn’t ask for much more,” Chantler said. “It was super promising. It was disappointing to see the air come out of the sails so quickly because it was a really promising drive.”

To come out in his first drive and look that ready to go was impressive for Chantler and Whitehall-Gilkes to see. It sparked a bit of confidence that even without their star quarterback, they could go toe-to-toe with Kennedy.

“I saw somebody stepping up. To see Isaiah lead a team down the field first drive was impressive. Complete props to him,” Whitehall-Gilkes said.

But following the Auburn score, the Lancers went on to score 41 unanswered points in the first half and took their opening possession of the second half down for a touchdown to reach the 40-point lead threshold and get a running clock for the rest of the second half.

“You saw some head nods on the sidelines, saying ‘we can do it, we can do it.’ Then we gave up a score and I said ‘Let’s answer back.’ We just didn’t and it kind of spiraled out of control really quick,” Chantler said.

For the first three quarters, Auburn just could not find a rhythm on offense or get a stop on defense. Playing on defense is an extremely difficult task when the offense plays with the tempo and pace that Chantler runs. When an offense is running 100 plays in a game, that means the defense is going to be out on the field a lot. Against Tahoma and Kentwood, the defense is going to have a lot asked of it moving forward to keep their postseason hopes alive.

“The way our defense is built, you got to do your job or it could be a big play. We’d like to clean up that stuff. The defense is going to be in situations way more than they want to be,” Chantler said. “I just want to see some resiliency and really focusing on their assignments so we can clean up and eliminate those big plays.”

Kael Copeland of Kennedy tries to escape a tackle but has his jersey pulled by an Auburn defender. Ben Ray / The Reporter

Early in the fourth quarter on an apparent mundane run play from Kennedy, the Auburn football community was shaken. Senior defensive back Keyonte Kendrick went in for the tackle and stayed down at the 12 yard line. Athletic trainers ran onto the field to tend to Kendrick and eventually paramedics were on the scene and took Kendrick off in a stretcher, as all his teammates could do was watch and hope their teammate was OK.

Due to privacy laws, the Auburn School District could not release any additional information about Kendrick’s health following the injury.

Following the stoppage in play, the game continued, and Auburn’s defense recovered two fumbles that resulted in points. Senior running back Monty Conlan found his way into the endzone and Whitehall-Gilkes caught his only touchdown pass of the night with 3:38 left in the game.

“Yes it was against their young kids, but we continued to try and execute. The defense was able to force a couple of fumbles and we were able to get some momentum for next week. Every week from this point out is a playoff game,” Chantler said.

Auburn has work to do. The Trojans have two crucial games in the near future, in Tahoma and Kentwood. Last season, Auburn lost both of those games. This year, to make the postseason, they will need to win at least one and preferably both.

Robert Coma runs with the ball in his hands for Auburn. Ben Ray / The Reporter

“It’s going to just take will. We just have to want it. I think all of us are athletic enough. I don’t see a single person on offense or defense that can’t make plays. We have to want it. Unfortunately we didn’t want it bad enough tonight. But we are going to come next week and want it,” Whitehall-Gilkes said.