The John F. Kennedy senior grabbed the airborne ball, corralled it and began running parallel to the Eagles’ sideline.

A St. Thomas Aquinas defender approached near the Knights’ 30. Hollobaugh stiff-armed the would-be tackler and knocked him to the ground.

Hollobaugh was unimpeded the remainder of the way in a 37-7 victory for the Eagles Saturday at Mollenkopf Stadium as he scored on a 63-yard pass.

“I was feeling it tonight,” said Hollobaugh, who had three catches for 83 yards, 13 carries for 86 yards and was 8-of-9 passing for 47 yards with a combined two touchdowns. “I did that a couple times earlier in the game. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not slowing down.’ I ran right through him.”

Staff photo / R. Michael Semple

Jesse Likens looks for running room while following the blocking of teammate Michael Mauro on Saturday.

Offensively, Kennedy (2-0) has dominated its opponents, 76-27, but Saturday was a defensive-oriented game brought on by wave after wave of blue-clad defenders hounding the Knights (0-2) play after play.

The onslaught began early in the second quarter.

Kennedy’s lengthy first-quarter drive resulted in a Sarosh Sheth’s 21-yard field goal with 1:25 remaining.

D’andre Black took the kickoff and tiptoed down the JFK sideline 70 yards for a touchdown, giving Aquinas a 7-3 lead after the extra-point kick.

Hollobaugh threw the game’s only interception with 11:04 remaining in the half to the Knights’ Trey Foster in the end zone. Foster took the ball out of the end zone, but holding brought it back to the Aquinas 5.

Staff photo / R. Michael Semple

Kennedy’s Michael Mauro makes a sideline catch on Saturday against Aquinas.

There, the Kennedy defense started the push back against an Aquinas team that beat JFK 34-9 last season.

Aquinas’ Karief Culler was sacked for a 2-yard loss, which at first glance seemed like a safety.

The Eagles quickly made up for that on the next play as the Knights lost one of their two fumbles.

Ambrose Hoso grabbed the loose ball in the end zone as JFK took a 10-7 lead with 10:02 before halftime.

“It was a momentum change, really,” Hoso said. “I think that’s what changed the momentum in the game.”

The nightmarish looks didn’t stop for Aquinas as it seemed as if Black, the team’s quarterback, didn’t have a line in front of him as at least one Kennedy defender always seemed to be in the Knights’ backfield.

Jesse Likens, who had 13 carries for 40 yards and a score, came up with another fumble recovery with 9:01 before halftime.

Hoso said his team had plenty of preparation in the summer, running to keep them in shape for games like this.

“We all got penetration on the line, which won us the game,” Hoso said. “The secondary held up great.”

Black was hindered all night — he had 11 carries for 1 yard — as Kennedy contained him from getting to the corners and taking off down the field.

“Our defense has been nicknamed for the past five years the Blue Storm,” said first-year JFK coach Dominic Prologo, who was previously the team’s defensive coordinator. “Our kids take pride in the fact that every time they show up they’re the most physical team on the field.

“I think tonight that was their goal. I think if you watch the game you’d feel that way.”

Kennedy didn’t have any fumbles Saturday, an improvement from four in the opener against Warrensville Heights. Penalties went way down on Saturday, as JFK only had three for 25 yards.

“We focused a lot this week on our discipline and ball security,” Hollobaugh said. “We had a lot of mistakes and turnovers last week. We got it together this week.”

Offensively, it was a balanced attack as JFK had 157 rushing yards and 130 passing, but it was the Eagles’ Blue Storm defense that hounded the Knights, a playoff team in 2019, from getting any momentum in Saturday’s game.

Scoring touchdowns are part of the highlight reel, but so are the hard-hitting shots delivered during the course of the game to give the offense that much-needed momentum.

“It’s the best feeling you could have,” Hoso said. “It’s really a game-changing moment when you do that. It changes the whole crowd. It changes everything.”

On Friday, JFK looks to keep its momentum going as it hosts Conneaut (1-1).