Kansas: Quarterfinal Football Rewind

By Dean Backes
MaxPreps.com

Late in Friday’s 24-20 win over Blue Valley Northwest, Blue Valley had its back against the wall. Facing fourth down from the Husky 41-yard line with seconds remaining in the game, the Tigers were forced into desperation.  

Blue Valley sophomore P.J. DeBay answered the call by recovering a fumble by teammate Luke Rampy, who had 175 yards on seven receptions, in the back of the end zone with six seconds remaining to secure the 4-point win over the Huskies.

As a result, the Tigers will host unranked Lawrence Free State (8-3) Friday in a semifinal contest that will decide who plays for a Class 6A state football championship at Yager Stadium on the campus of Washburn University on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 3:30 p.m.

Moments before DeBay’s heroics, the Huskies appeared to clinch the win when Ryan Luzenske ran under a pass that was tipped by Blue Valley Northwest teammate Matt Ornduff.

“When we scored that touchdown, it seemed like we had a little luck on our side,” Blue Valley Northwest coach Mike Zegunis told the Kansas City Star. “Its too bad it seemed like we had the same thing done to us at the end of the game.”

Running to Victory

Holton ran for 485 yards and 6 touchdowns on 69 carries against an overmatched Paola football team in a 42-20 quarterfinal win Friday.

Jackson Delay (17 carries, 131 yards), Gunnar McKenna (12 carries, 117 yards) and Dalton Harshaw (15 carries, 103 yards) all hit the century mark in rushing yards in the three-touchdown win.

After falling behind 28-7, Paola pulled within 28-20 by scoring on the last play of the first half, and then getting into the end zone on its initial possession of the second half.

But Holton took advantage of a failed Paola onside kick. The ensuing good field position allowed the Wildcats to score six plays later and open up a 35-20 advantage on its way to a semifinal pairing with unranked Perry-Lecompton (9-3).

Another Great, Late Comeback

Defending Class 3 champion Garden Plain overcame a 17-6 deficit to Scott City with less than two minutes remaining in the game last weekend.

The Owls blocked a punt in the end zone for a touchdown and then recovered a fumble at the Scott City 45-yard line to put the Owls in a prime position for the late come back.

Daniel Younger’s 6-yard run with 30-seconds remaining in the game secured the win for the second-ranked Owls, and paired Garden Plain with No. 5 Conway Springs in one of Friday’s two 3A semifinal contests.

No Updates Please

To avoid any distractions during Conway Springs’ quarterfinal contest with No. 7 Beloit, Cardinal coach Lelin George ordered no updates from the Garden Plain-Scott City contest be given.

His team responded with a resounding 44-12 win over the Trojans and advanced to host the defending Class 3 champion Owls Friday. With a win, Conway Springs would avenge a 21-7 loss to the Owls in Mid-October.

Streak Update

With its 28-0 shut out of No. 8 Salina South, Class 5A’s top-ranked Hutchinson extended its streak of postseason wins to 18 games. The Salt Hawks won the last four 6A football titles during the run…Class 2-1A No. 1 Smith Center posted its 65th straight win with a 32-14 triumph over second-ranked LaCrosse last weekend.

Kansas Quarterfinal Top Performances

Rushing
Jordan Ottley of Victoria rushed for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries in a 56-46 win over Moscow…Riverton’s Brenton Cates rushed for 259 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 64-21 win over Sabetha…Brayden Bloomfield of Clifton-Clyde rushed for 228 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 carries in a 48-20 win over Macksville…Conway Springs’ Caleb Brill rushed for 226 yards and 4 touchdowns on 19 carries in a 44-12 win over Beloit…Corey Harp of Andale rushed for 208 yards and 5 touchdowns on 14 carries in a 46-12 win over Rock Creek…Paola’s Skylar Hawkins rushed for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns on 27 carries in a 42-20 loss to Holton…Deveon Dinwiddie of Hutchinson rushed for 161 yards and 1 touchdown on 18 carries in a 28-0 in over Salina South…Meade’s Taylor Headrick rushed for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 carries in a 20-8 win over Ellis…Kade Schnoebelen of Macksville rushed for 153 yards on 25 carries in a 48-20 loss to Clifton-Clyde.

Passing
Anthony Abenoja of Blue Valley completed 18 of 33 passes for 343 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 24-20 win over Blue Valley Northwest…Bishop Carroll’s Blake Bell completed 38 of 52 passes for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 20-14 loss to McPherson…Chaz Smith of Pittsburg-Colgan completed 13 of 18 passes for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 35-28 win over Centralia…Moscow’s Taylor Roop completed 10 of 20 passes for 207 yards in a 56-46 loss to Victoria…Jacob Puetz of Garden Plain completed 5 of 20 passes for 192 yards and 1 touchdown in a 20-17 win over Scott City…Topeka Hayden’s T. J. McGreevy completed 12 of 19 passes for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 37-13 win over Buhler…Shane Gimzo of Perry-Lecompton completed 8 of 17 passes for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 35-23 win over Louisburg…Blue Valley Northwest’s Mike Petersen completed 12 of 23 passes for 157 yards in a 24-20 loss to Blue Valley.

Receiving
Luke Rampy of Blue Valley caught 7 passes for 175 yards in a 24-20 win over Blue Valley Northwest…Garden Plain’s Antonio Dowdy caught 3 passes for 152 yards and 1 touchdown in a 20-17 win over Scott City…Joe Brown of Bishop Carroll caught 14 passes for 118 yards in a 20-14 loss to McPherson…Centralia’s Ben Steinlage caught 5 passes for 113 yards and 1 touchdown in a 35-28 loss to Pittsburg-Colgan…Stewart Jeck of Pittsburg-Colgan caught 4 passes for 81 yards and 1 touchdown in a 35-28 win over Centralia.

Kansas Quarterfinal Results and Upcoming Contests

Class 6A Quarterfinal Results
Lawrence Free State 10, No. 5 Olathe North 6
No. 4 Blue Valley 24, Blue Valley Northwest 20
No. 2 Junction City 21, No. 6 Wichita Heights 13
No. 7 Derby 55, No. 8 Wichita Northwest 14

Friday’s Semifinal Schedule
Lawrence Free State (8-3) at No. 4 Blue Valley (10-1)
No. 2 Junction City (11-0) at No. 7 Derby (10-1)

Class 5A Quarterfinal Results
No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas 27, Kansas City-Turner 7
No. 4 Gardner-Edgerton 45, No. 5 Mill Valley 0
No. 6 McPherson 20, No. 2 Bishop Carroll 14
No. 1 Hutchinson 28, No. 8 Salina South 0

Friday’s Semifinal Schedule
No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas (10-1) at No. 4 Gardner-Edgerton (10-1)
No. 1 Hutchinson (9-2) at No. 6 McPherson (10-1)

Class 4A Quarterfinal Results
No. 5 Holton 42, Paola 20
Perry-Lecompton 35, Louisburg 23
No. 4 Andale 46, Rock Creek 12
No. 1 Topeka Hayden 37, No. 6 Buhler 13

Friday’s Semifinal Schedule
No. 5 Holton (11-1) at Perry-Lecompton (9-3)
No. 1 Topeka Hayden (11-1) at No. 4 Andale (11-1)

Class 3A Quarterfinal Results
No. 3 Riverton 64, Sabetha 21
No. 1 Silver Lake 7, No. 6 Marysville 6
No. 5 Conway Springs 44, No. 7 Beloit 12
No. 2 Garden Plain 20, No. 9 Scott City 17

Friday’s Semifinal Schedule
No. 3 Riverton (12-0) at No. 1 Silver Lake (12-0)
No. 2 Garden Plain (12-0) at No. 5 Conway Springs (10-2)

Class 2-1A Quarterfinal Results
No. 4 Pittsburg-Colgan 35, No. 9 Centralia 28
No. 6 Olpe 14, No. 7 St. Marys 7
No. 1 Smith Center 32, No. 2 LaCrosse 14
Meade 20, No. 5 Ellis 8

Friday’s Semifinal Schedule
No. 4 Pittsburg-Colgan (11-1) at No. 6 Olpe (12-0)
No. 1 Smith Center (11-0) at Meade (10-1)

Class 8-Man 1 Semifinal Results
No. 1 Baileyville B&B 24, No. 2 Madison 0
No. 8 Clifton-Clyde 48, No. 9 Macksville 20

Saturday’s Championship
No. 1 Baileyville B&B (12-0) vs. No. 8 Clifton-Clyde (11-1)

Class 8-Man 2
No. 3 Hanover 46, Axtell 0
No. 1 Victoria 56, No. 8 Moscow 46

Saturday’s Championship
No. 3 Hanover (11-1) at No. 1 Victoria (12-0)