WATERLOO - Two snaps after taking the football for the first time Friday night, Waterloo West posted the following numbers:

A pair of penalties, and two points - for the other team.

That's not a good rate of return offensively, and the Wahawks never quite climbed out of the hole.

They tried, and tried again, but Cedar Rapids Kennedy trotted out of Waterloo Memorial Stadium with the 30-14 Mississippi Valley Conference victory.

Later, head coach Stan Wienke stood at midfield and tried to assess why his team failed to bring enough emotional currency to the action.

"I think we played hard, but you can't come out of the locker room not ready to play a stinking game," said the first-year West coach. "I don't understand. I've coached 31 years and I've never had a team that would come out of the locker room not ready to play a game, just on their own. Cross the white line and try really hard."

Actually, West dodged a bullet on Kennedy's opening possession when a delay of game penalty helped derail a Cougar drive at the West 38. Things started to go sour, though, when the Wahawks drew a block in the back infraction on the ensuing punt. That left West at its own 6-yard-line.

Then came a false start penalty. Back to the 3 went the Wahawks.

Finally, Kennedy's defense nailed West running back Collin Styron in the end zone. That safety, at the 7 minute, 58-second mark of the opening quarter, gave the Cougars the lead for the night.

"You can't play the game medium-paced in the MVC," said Wienke. "It can't be done. I don't know. I'm at a loss. I can't play anymore. I can yell and scream at them in the locker room - tell them stories. I can give them motivational things, but we come out passive."

The Wahawks picked up the pace late in the first half after Kennedy scored its first touchdown. Ryan Edwards, taking a turn at quarterback, directed a drive that he finished with a three-yard keeper for a touchdown.

Styron raced 39 yards for another score early in the third quarter that kept the Wahawks close.

Ultimately, West's inability to stop Kennedy running back Royce Bell and a big turnover in the third quarter thwarted any Wahawk hopes for a comeback victory.

Bell, who missed Kennedy's first five games with academic issues, rambled for 229 yards on just 18 carries. He bolted 67 yards for the score that made it 16-7 Cougars in the third quarter and added an insurance TD in the fourth.

"Royce is something special," said Kennedy head coach Tim Lewis. "He just works real hard. … He came out tonight and he was patient."

Still, West trailed by just two points ? at 16-14 ? when quarterback Jud Wienke faded to pass. In the middle of a 12-for-16 effort, Wienke aimed for Edwards. Instead, Kennedy linebacker Bond Harman charged on a dead run, picked off the pass and raced 63 yards for the touchdown that made it 23-14 Cougars with 1:30 to go in the third period.

"I really think that was the turning point," said Lewis of Harman's pick. "We were struggling a little bit."

Said Stan Wienke, "It was a bad read. I jumped all over (Jud's) butt. He doesn't like it, but even though he's my son, he's got to learn there are reads to be made as a quarterback, and you've gotta do it. That hurt there."

Overall, Kennedy racked up 476 yards of total offense to 234 for West.

Those numbers didn't mean as much as the win-loss columns. At 4-3, Kennedy moved closer to a Class 4A playoff spot. At 3-4, West's hopes for a spot in the 32-team field took a hit with games against Iowa City High and Dubuque Hempstead coming up.

Meanwhile, the coach wants a better effort.

"I'm not getting through to them, so we have to do something in practice that gets them to play the game hard," said Stan Wienke.

Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 2 7 14 7 ? 30

Waterloo West 0 7 7 0 ? 14

CRK ? Safety, Collin Styron tackled in end zone

CRK ? Derek Thomas 1 run (Tyler Sievertsen kick)

WW ? Ryan Edwards 3 run (Edwards kick)

CRK ? Royce Bell 67 run (Sievertsen kick)

WW ? Styron 39 run (Edwards kick)

CRK ? Bond Harman 63 interception return (Sievertsen kick)

CRK ? Bell 1 run (Sievertsen kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

CRK WW

First downs 23 15

Rushes-yards 42-336 31-85

Passing yards 140 149

Return yards 63 3

Passes 15-22-0 14-21-1

Punts-avg. 3-36.3 5-48.2

Fumbles-lost 0 4-1

Penalties-yds 7-68 4-21

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

KENNEDY ? Bell 18-229, Thomas 8-25, Anthony Cooper 6-52, Harman 1-3, Josh Simmons 9-27

WEST ? Styron 12-80, Edwards 8-43, Jud Wienke 7-minus 32, Mike Meyerhoff 3-2, Team 1-minus 8

Passing

KENNEDY ? Thomas 15-22-0, 140 yards

WEST ? Wienke 12-16-1, 117 yards; Edwards 2-5-0, 32 yards

Receiving

KENNEDY ? Max Martino 5-45, Cooper 3-25, Andrew Petersen 2-8, Joshua Erceg 1-minus 2, Jacob Heffernen 4-64.

WEST ? Edwards 3-39, Max Shower 7-67, Dan Petullo 2-19, Mark Krouse 1-8, Brandon Peterson 1-16.

KENNEDY SOPHS 45, WEST SOPHS 27