MISHAWAKA – It was a story of two distinctly different halves Friday night at the Mishawaka Marian.
The cavemen of Mishawaka were certainly happy about this too.
Coach Keith Kinder’s team responded in style, dominating the second half with a 41-24 win over the Knights in the high school football season opener at Bob Otolski Field.
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Sophomore Kadyn O’Neal ran for three touchdowns, all in the second half, as Mishawaka overcame a 17-7 halftime deficit and defeated the Knights for the fourth straight time to once again earn bragging rights over the Reds in the Princess City.
Mishawaka (1-0) hosts Penn (1-0) next Friday night, while Marian (0-1) travels to Culver Academy.
The Cavemen, who had a 9-3 record last season and won the Class 5A title, showed resilience after a difficult first half that featured two turnovers and seven penalties.
“There was no panic at halftime,” Mishawaka coach Keith Kinder said by phone after the game Friday night. “The message to our team was that things are going to happen, sometimes bad things. It’s all about how you react to them.”
“It was about getting back to our system and playing fast and physical, and we did that well in the second half. It was about playing calmly, and we did that. I thought we had a good start and then a bad second quarter.”
“Both teams played hard and it was an extremely physical game. We had commitment, energy and physicality. It was fun to watch.”
The Cavemen, who beat Marian 44-12 last season, outscored the host Knights 34-7 in the final half of nonconference play. O’Neal scored three times, including a two-yard run in the final minute of the third period that gave his team a final lead, 20-17.
Marian, which finished 5-5 last year, took a 17-7 lead on the final 17 points of the first half. Brian Osman scored a 37-yard touchdown, Lucas Marr hit Deuce Owens on a 15-yard touchdown throw and Lucas Primrose kicked a 33-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
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Mishawaka took a 7-0 lead in the opening period on a 25-yard touchdown run by senior Gage Spychalski. Spychalski scored another touchdown run for the Cavemen early in the final period.
Mishawaka, co-champion of the Northern Lakes Conference in 2023, scored a final touchdown through Carson Francis.
“Offensively, we weren’t consistent enough tonight to beat a good football team like Mishawaka,” Marian coach Michael Davidson said. “I think our lack of execution on offense contributed to our weakness on defense. It’s only a matter of time when you’re going to face an offense like that if you can’t get through offensively.”
“I was pleased with the effort of our boys. They played with a lot of effort, fast and physically and gave everything they had. That is the first step to becoming a good football team.”
“Our message to our guys was simple. If we learn from this and are willing to work on getting things right, we can be a pretty good football team. The main thing is we need to get things right, avoid mistakes and just be more consistent.”
The Knights, who can rely on 14 returning regular players, hurt themselves with three turnovers and eight penalties.
Kinder, whose team lost its three best runners from last season, praised O’Neal’s work.
“I think he matured a lot tonight,” Kinder said of his sophomore star. “He had some good, powerful runs and some longer ones too. We decided to go right at them in the second half.”
