When Dayton football coach Jesse Herbst saw Amillion Brown run for 61 yards in Friday’s 48-26 win at Ludlow, he gave a five-finger wave.
“Five running backs,” Herbst said.
Junior Malachi Kennedy did the most damage – 19 carries, 267 yards, touchdowns of 54, eight, 20 and 57 yards.
The Greendevils improved to 4-0, their best start since the 2020 team went 5-0. It would be easy to say Kennedy was the main reason – but it would be woefully inaccurate.
The quintet of Kennedy, Brown, Kaden Anderson, Elias Lopez Torres and Mykah Foster ran over and around the Panthers for 490 yards. Brown ran for 119 and a touchdown, Anderson ran for 73 and a score, and Lopez Torrez and Foster added another 15 and 16, respectively.
“Five guys can take the ball anytime,” Herbst said.
Kennedy said the sharing on offense removes a lot of stress.
“It takes a lot of stress personally because it’s really taxing on my body getting the ball 25 times a game,” he said. “I get really stressed out and tired very easy.”
Herbst remembers how inexperienced the Greendevils were two seasons ago.
“I watched them develop from middle school all the way through, and they’re amazing kids,” he said.
What Kennedy is doing now is worth the pounding he took as a freshman in 2024.
“I got bullied, I got thrown around all the time,” Kennedy said. “… I was scared, I didn’t want to get in the game. I wanted to sit on the sidelines and cheer for whoever.
“… But now that I’m getting to experience what it’s like smacking teams in the mouth, it’s a really good feeling.”
What almost went unnoticed Friday was the blocks Kennedy and friends threw. The best example: Brown’s 27-yard run around left end midway through the second quarter largely made possible because Lopez Torres sealed a would-be Ludlow defender.
Ludlow (2-2) was not devoid of offense. The Panthers gained 291 yards, mostly through the air – Miller Reed threw for 171 yards and three touchdowns – two to Andre Englemon Jr. and one to Jaylen Stone.
Ludlow opened the scoring with Deaken Reed’s 1-yard run to cap an eight-play, 61-yard drive.
Kennedy needed just nine seconds to take a lead Dayton never relinquished – he was untouched down the left side.
“They had too many big boys,” Ludlow coach Woody McMillen said. “We had a hard time stopping them.”
About the time a Dayton fan screamed ‘Gimme some offense, baby!,’ Kennedy obliged – a 62-yard run around right end. Lopez Torres added the final 15 yards three plays later.
Dayton hosts Frankfort Western Hills next week, while Ludlow takes on Gallatin County in Warsaw.
GREENDEVILS 48, PANTHERS 26
DAYTON — 14–14–7–13 — 48
LUDLOW — 6-13-0-7 — 26
First quarter
L-Deaken Reed 1 run (kick blocked), 7:23
D-Malachi Kennedy 54 run (Elias Lopez Torres run), 7:14
D-Kaden Anderson 9 run (pass failed), 2:56
Second quarter
D-Lopez Torres 15 run (Matt Weaver kick), 9:25
L-Andre Englemon Jr. 21 pass from Miller Reed (run failed), 6:09
L-Englemon Jr. 38 pass from M. Reed (Finn McMillan kick), 4:42
D-Kennedy 8 run (Weaver kick), 1:29
Third quarter
D-Amillion Brown 61 run (Weaver kick), 11:39
Fourth quarter
D-Kennedy 20 run (Weaver kick), 9:42
L-Jaylen Stone 28 pass from M. Reed (McMillan kick), 7:38
D-Kennedy 57 run (kick failed), 6:00
Records: Dayton 4-0, Ludlow 2-2