The Kenston football team is enjoying its spot in the driver’s seat of the rugged Western Reserve Conference. But as Coach Jeff Grubich told his Bombers after a 31-14 win over Riverside on Oct. 10, the goal isn’t to be in the driver’s seat after eight weeks of play. “We want more!” Grubich barked to his team in the postgame huddle. “More, more, more!” After starting the season with a 2-3 record, the Bombers have won three league games in a row against Chardon, Mayfield and Riverside. In doing so, not only has Kenston put itself in a great position to perhaps win another league title, but also clinch a coveted home game in the first round of the Division III, Region 9 playoffs. PHOTOS: Kenston vs. Riverside football, Oct. 10, 2024 "The mindset is to just go back to work and keep building," said senior quarterback Lucas Kaltenbach. "We want more." Riverside looked as if it was up for the challenge when it scored on a 45-yard touchdown pass from David Seibert to Colin Borris in the first quarter for the early 7-0 lead. But that's as good as it got for the Beavers, who gave up 31 unanswered points before tacking on a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. After Riverside scored first, Kenston responded with a long drive capped by Kaltenbach's 6-yard scoring run on the second play of the second quarter to knot the score. It was the first of three touchdown runs by the Bombers' quarterback. "I think we've just been through a lot," Kaltenbach said of his team's ability to take an early punch. "This team is battle-tested. We don't get shaken by much." After a Riverside punt, Kenston drove again for another Kaltenbach scoring run. Then after an interception and a fake punt on fourth down, Kaltenbach scored again for a 21-7 lead. "We punched first and they punched back pretty hard," Riverside coach Jeremy Ishmael said. "They counter-punched, and their counter-punch was pretty hard." Riverside had an opportunity to get a score to end the first half, but Zy'ar Scott recovered a fumble near midfield for Kenston and that allowed the Bombers to get in position to let Grady Kucharson kick a 37-yard field goal as the halftime clock expired. If the 24-7 halftime lead wasn't insurmountable, then the Bombers' opening drive of the third quarter that ended with Kaltenbach connecting with Charlie Thompson on a 15-yard pass did the trick. Thompson broke two tackles and dove in for the 31-7 lead. While Riverside scored last on an 8-yard run by Kyndall McCaleb, the game was decided well before that. "Our kids know one play is not going to dictate the outcome of a football game," Grubich said of the early deficit. "We have a resilient group." Kenston outgained Riverside, 325-215. Two statistics stood out — the Bombers' ability to slow down the area's leading rusher, Kyndall McCaleb, who was held to 73 yards on 12 carries, and converting two turnovers into 10 points. "I'm not a math guy, but to me, that's a good two, three, four-possession swing," Ishmael said of his team's turnovers resulting in points by Kenston's offense. Kaltenbach agreed, noting, "We feel like it's disrespectful to (our defense) if they get a turnover and we don't capitalize on it." Of slowing down McCaleb, who entered the game with more than 1,200 yards rushing, Grubich said, "He's a heck of a athlete. We wanted to make sure we knew where he was at on the football field." Along with his three touchdown runs, Kaltenbach threw for 198 yards. Dylan Krupp had a big night with eight catches for 136 yards, while Cohen Clark ran for a team-high 51 yards. Seibert threw for 110 yards for Riverside, but 45 came on one play in the first drive. Ishmael said the passing game will need to evolve because "we're going to face some pretty stacked boxes" the next two weeks against Mayfield and Chardon. Riverside fell to 4-4 and 2-1 in the WRC. "It was encouraging to see our kids fight and never give up," Ishmael said. "Somewhere between our first and second score, we've got to get some things figured out." Kenston finishes the regular season against North and South. But as their coach said, the Bombers want more than what they've already got. "This was huge," Kaltenbach said. "We know every week is a WRC championship game. We treat every one like that. ... We knew what was at stake tonight. We were ready for it."