BELLFLOWER - Special teams proved to be just that Friday night for Kennedy as Tony Nunez’s 55-yard kickoff return set up his 31-yard field goal with 4:50 left to help the Fighting Irish defeat Mayfair, 24-23, at Bellflower High.

“That was the longest field goal I’ve hit in a game,” Nunez said. “I had to get in there and do the job.”

Mayfair lined up twice for field goals in the closing minutes but mishandled the snaps both times.

Mayfair (0-4) took a 23-21 lead on by Dominique Small’s 4-yard touchdown run with 9:57 remaining, but the Monsoons’ missed conversion attempt, which set up the wild finish.

“This was a character test,” said Kennedy coach Brit Johnson, whose team improved to 2-2. “We were down in the second half and could have folded, but we didn’t.”

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