Kennedy player's death overshadows prep football weekend

While many more teams across the Sac-Joaquin Section celebrated their return to the football field last Friday night, one Sacramento school's night ended in tragedy. Kennedy High School senior lineman Emmanuel Antwi collapsed on the sideline during the Cougars' season opener against Hiram Johnson in Sacramento and died at UC Davis Medical Center. He was 18. The game was canceled after the incident, and the Cougars won't play this weekend to take time to mourn and grieve. Details of Antwi's death had not been released as of Sunday night, but a GoFundMe page created on his family's behalf raised more than $47,000 as of Thursday to help pay for funeral expenses. Several regional programs sent condolences to the Kennedy football family, including Roseville and Woodcreek, which is scheduled to host Kennedy on April 9. Oakmont coach Tim Moore on Saturday tweeted, "And I thought not playing last night was heartbreaking. Our thoughts and prayers go out for this fallen Cougar, his family and the Greenhaven community." Here is a look ahead to this weekend's games. All games are scheduled for Friday unless noted. Due to COVID-19 testing, all games are subject to change. PONDEROSA (1-1) AT LINCOLN (1-0), Thursday Lincoln sat idle last Friday as its Week 2 opponent, Oakmont, reported a positive test and had to cancel their Foothill Valley League matchup. That game has been rescheduled for April 16. This week, Lincoln hosts Ponderosa on Thursday night since there is a shortage of referees on Friday. The Bruins responded to a 15-7 loss at Oakmont in Week 1 with a 56-0 pounding over Rio Linda last Friday. The Fighting Zebras hope momentum is still on their side from a 54-41 shootout win over Placer in Week 1. Kyle Remigio caught 119 of JT Willis' 244 passing yards and three of his five touchdown passes against Placer. Jordan Wagner, Caden Noonan and Simeon Ruiz played stellar defense for Lincoln. WESTERN SIERRA (0-0) AT BEAR RIVER (1-1) This game will be highlighted by the father-son coaching matchup between Western Sierra's second-year coach Zach Logue and his father, Terry Logue, of Bear River. Terry Logue won his 250th career game last week against Foresthill. Zach Logue guided the Wolves to a playoff berth in his first season as a head coach, a feat not even his father accomplished in his first season. The elder Logue has been coaching since 1973 – the last 15 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He's hinted this season might be his swan song. NORTH TAHOE (0-0) AT FORESTHILL (0-1) Foresthill showed grit and fight last week in a tough 34-8 loss at Bear River. A team with just two seniors, Foresthill is led by quarterback Nick Meltz, who tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to junior Brayden Durand for the Wildfires' lone score. Kendall Carpenter is the senior captain of the offensive and defensive lines. North Tahoe brings back an even smaller roster from a 1-8 team in 2019. TRUCKEE (1-1) AT COLFAX (1-0) Colfax avenged two lopsided losses to Center from 2019 with a 21-7 victory in the mud last Friday. Wyatt Neumann and Luke Green connected for two touchdowns in the air while Juliono Martello ran for another for the Falcons. Colfax has not played Truckee since 2009. The Wolverines began this season with a 24-0 shutout at Union Mine on March 12 as junior Jason Roth ran for 100 yards. Truckee fell to Sutter 14-7 last Friday. DEL ORO (0-1) AT FOLSOM (2-0) Despite being down 22-0 at halftime last week against Rocklin, the Golden Eagles kept fighting back. Del Oro used hard-hitting defensive plays, including a sack-fumble by Jacob Birch that led to a 90-yard touchdown return from Reagan Arney, to close with a one-possession loss. Junior quarterback Ryan Lewis impressed with his leadership under duress. The Bulldogs downed Granite Bay thanks to four TD passes by junior Tyler Tremain. Folsom looks to win its 50th consecutive league game Friday against the Golden Eagles. OAK RIDGE (1-1) AT ROCKLIN (1-0) Rocklin appears to be an early favorite to contend for the Sierra Foothill League's top team after last week's 29-21 win over Del Oro. Elias Mullican tallied 135 rushing yards with two scores and Mason Thomas added two scores for the multi-faceted Thunder. The Trojans responded to an opening-week loss to Folsom with a Saturday afternoon defensive win against Whitney. Oak Ridge, however, lost two of its best defensive players to injury in the Week 1 loss to Folsom. GRANITE BAY (1-1) AT WHITNEY (0-1), Saturday Granite Bay led Folsom at halftime thanks to a school-record 96-yard touchdown connection from Nick Poulos to Talsen Smith. But the Bulldogs took charge in the second half to down the Grizzlies. Whitney, playing its first game after a Week 1 quarantine, played tough in a loss at Oak Ridge. Anthony Parker ran for the Wildcats' lone score from 38 yards out. He finished with 71 yards on the ground. Last season, Granite Bay shutout Whitney 23-0. ROSEVILLE (0-0) AT ANTELOPE (0-0), Saturday It's the third week of the season, and both of these Roseville Joint Union High School District schools hope to get their first game in. Both programs were hit with quarantines due to positive tests before last week's games. If Saturday is a go, we could see a matchup of mobile quarterbacks in Cole Errecart for the Tigers and Quincy Gallon for the Titans. In 2019, the pair combined for 1,077 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.