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Kansas City, MO —
Earlier in the week, Darrius Shepherd asked Blue Springs football coach Kelly Donohoe for a moment of his time.
“Darrius isn’t a kid who says a whole lot, but when he does,” Donohoe said, “it’s worth listening to.”
They sat in Donohoe’s office and Shepherd said, “I don’t want to sound selfish, but I want to win this game Friday night so much, please get the ball in my hands. I’m not being selfish, I just want to win.”
The comments struck a chord with Donohoe, who made sure Shepherd got plenty of touches in the Wildcats’ 38-24 victory at Rockhurst Friday night.
His game-turning play came with just 1:20 left in the second quarter.
“We’d watched Rock on film and saw that they liked to kick the ball high and short before halftime,” Donohoe said, “so we moved Darrius over to the spot where they like to kick it.”
With the Wildcats leading 24-10, Shepherd caught the kickoff near the 39-yard line and burst through an initial group of would-be tacklers.
“I pretty much knew where all their guys were on the field,” said Shepherd, who sprinted for a 61-yard touchdown – eluding the Hawklets’ kicker near the 20-yard line. “That touchdown was all Coach – he saw something on film earlier in the week and put me in the right position.
“A 31-10 lead is a lot better than a 24-10 lead over here at their place. It was a big score, but Coach gets all the credit.”
With the Wildcats holding a 31-17 lead early in the fourth period, Shepherd made a big third-down catch that paved the way to Dalvin Warmack’s third touchdown of the game, an 11-yard misdirection gem that accounted for the Wildcats’ final points of the night.
“I’m so proud of Darrius and all the guys on the team,” said Donohoe, whose Wildcats are 3-0 and have outscored their opposition 128-51 this season. “This is a group of kids who do all the right things. They’re a special group and we all know that there is a lot of football to be played, but we like the way we’ve started and we think we can get even better.”
Earlier in the week, Darrius Shepherd asked Blue Springs football coach Kelly Donohoe for a moment of his time.
“Darrius isn’t a kid who says a whole lot, but when he does,” Donohoe said, “it’s worth listening to.”
They sat in Donohoe’s office and Shepherd said, “I don’t want to sound selfish, but I want to win this game Friday night so much, please get the ball in my hands. I’m not being selfish, I just want to win.”
The comments struck a chord with Donohoe, who made sure Shepherd got plenty of touches in the Wildcats’ 38-24 victory at Rockhurst Friday night.
His game-turning play came with just 1:20 left in the second quarter.
“We’d watched Rock on film and saw that they liked to kick the ball high and short before halftime,” Donohoe said, “so we moved Darrius over to the spot where they like to kick it.”
With the Wildcats leading 24-10, Shepherd caught the kickoff near the 39-yard line and burst through an initial group of would-be tacklers.
“I pretty much knew where all their guys were on the field,” said Shepherd, who sprinted for a 61-yard touchdown – eluding the Hawklets’ kicker near the 20-yard line. “That touchdown was all Coach – he saw something on film earlier in the week and put me in the right position.
“A 31-10 lead is a lot better than a 24-10 lead over here at their place. It was a big score, but Coach gets all the credit.”
With the Wildcats holding a 31-17 lead early in the fourth period, Shepherd made a big third-down catch that paved the way to Dalvin Warmack’s third touchdown of the game, an 11-yard misdirection gem that accounted for the Wildcats’ final points of the night.
“I’m so proud of Darrius and all the guys on the team,” said Donohoe, whose Wildcats are 3-0 and have outscored their opposition 128-51 this season. “This is a group of kids who do all the right things. They’re a special group and we all know that there is a lot of football to be played, but we like the way we’ve started and we think we can get even better.”
