Baldwin grounds out football playoff win over Sumner Academy in Kansas

As Saturday's Class 4A regional championship football game with Sumner Academy (Kansas City) loomed, Baldwin coach Mike Berg and his fifth-ranked Bulldog football team set their sights on certain defensive targets up front, and then executed their game plan to near perfection.

The result was 461 yards rushing on 55 carries and a resounding 56-36 thumping of the previously ranked Sabres.

"We knew they had really good athletes on defense, and we had two or three key guys that we were trying to block," Bulldog senior running back Josh Hoffman said moments after the Bulldogs locked up a Class 4A quarterfinal match up at Frontier League foe Paola (8-3) Friday at 7 p.m. "We got them blocked and everything just worked out."

Hoffman teamed up with fellow senior Ryan Rogers to spearhead the strong single-wing ground game, running for 179 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries himself. Rogers churned out 212 yards on 22 carries and reached the end zone twice.

As far as Hoffman is concerned, however, the brunt of the work came from the big guys up front.

"It's just really nice to have my offensive linemen in front of me," Hoffman said. "They're doing a great job so I give all of the credit to them for doing an outstanding job.

"We have a lot of really good athletes so we spread ‘em out on the field. It's not just two or three kids. We've got the whole 11 that go out there on every down and make plays."

Three different players scored for Berg in the game's opening quarter as the Bulldogs bolted out to a 21-6 advantage. Hoffman opened the scoring with a 12-yard run less than two minutes into the game.

Then, following Sumner Academy receiver Vernon Vaughn's 2-yard pass reception from Armand Brisbane to cut the deficit to one point, Asher Hannon returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a score. Landon Ausherman scored from five yards out moments later to give the Bulldogs a little cushion.

Baldwin then built a 35-12 lead midway through the second quarter. But Tyrone Battles scored twice in the final two minutes of the half to pull the Sabres within 35-24 at intermission. Battles scored on a 5-yard run, and then following a successful onside kick, he found pay dirt from 6-yards out.

Each team scored once in the third quarter, before Baldwin tallied back-to-back touchdowns in the fourth on Rogers' one-yard run and Hoffman's 17-yard jaunt to go up 56-30 with 10:05 left in the contest. Benny Parker scored from 45 yards out for Sumner Academy for the game's final points.

Brisbane was hobbled for much of the game, but still managed 291 yards through the air on 25 of 34 passing and three touchdowns. Vaughn caught a pair of scoring aerials from short yardage and Terence Wynn reeled in the other scoring strike from 17-yards away.

Click here to view MaxPreps' Kansas football brackets.

LARGE SCHOOL RALLIES
Shawnee Mission Northwest (6-4) trailed Class 6A No. 7 Shawnee Mission West (7-3) 10-0 at intermission of last weekend's regional championship football game before rallying for a 14-10 triumph. With the win, the Cougars earned the opportunity to travel to East (Olathe) (9-1) Friday for one of four large school quarterfinal contests.

The third-ranked Hawks from East had to rebound from a halftime deficit as well, rallying from a 16-point deficit to Lawrence Free State (5-5) before winning 20-16.

Northwest climbed onto the board early in the second half when Drue White blocked Viking kicker Mark Whitlock's attempt at a 43-yard field goal and Drew Goodger scooped up the loose ball and headed towards the end zone.

Goodger eventually pitched the ball back to Kenny Mings, who finished off the 65-yard special teams romp with 9:56 left in the third quarter. Goodger put the finishing touches on the win when he reeled in a 10-yard aerial from Cougar signal caller Stephen Mangelsdorf with six minutes left in the game.

The Hawks, who knocked off Free State 17-0 during regular season action, trailed 16-0 at intermission. But Brandon Willingham struck quickly in the third quarter, racing 59 yards for the score on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Willingham added the 2-point conversion run to cut the Firebirds advantage in half.

Willingham also scored on a 53-yard run with 7:51 left in the fourth quarter and then toted the ball over the goal line from three yards out with 5:42 remaining to hand the Hawks a 20-16 advantage.

Drew McCullough picked off a Dylan Perry pass with about 1:20 left in the contest to secure the win.

"We were a little bit concerned," Olathe East coach Jeff Meyers admitted to the Kansas City Star after his team trailed Lawrence Free State 16-0 at halftime. "Our kids had their heads down. We haven't been in that situation, where we felt like nothing was going right. I think that they felt like they were more than just two scores down. We had to try to convince them that we've scored more than 16 points in a half many times."

Fourth-ranked North (Olathe, Kan.) (9-1) played with fire as well, leading Shawnee Mission North (2-8) just 28-21 at intermission. The Eagles pulled away in the second half, however, winning 48-21. No. 6 Shawnee Mission East (8-2) wasn't so lucky. The Lancers fell to No. 10 South (Olathe) (7-3) 28-24. The Falcons have won 7 of their last 8 games.

On the west side of the 6A bracket, everything went as projected. Top-ranked Heights (Wichita) (10-0) bumped Garden City (5-5) 49-7; eighth-ranked Junction City (8-2) beat up Wichita Northwest (5-5) 51-17; No. 5 Dodge City (10-0) belted Wichita Campus (3-7) 42-14 and second-ranked Manhattan (10-0) outscored Derby (5-5) 47-28.

EARLY EXITS
8-Man 1 top-ranked Pretty Prairie (10-1) experienced an earlier-than-expected, or desired, exit when the Bulldogs fell to third-ranked Osborne 50-40 Saturday. The other No. 1 squads in their respective classifications are still in the hunt for the gridiron hardware.

They are: Heights (Wichita) (Class 6A), Gardner-Edgerton (Class 5A), Hayden (Topeka) (Class 4A), Conway Springs (Class 3A), St. Mary's-Colgan (Pittsburg) (Class 2-1A) and B & B (Baileyville) (8-Man 2).

Defending champions Olathe North (Class 6A), Hutchinson (Class 5A), Centralia (2-1A) and Hanover (8-Man 2) have all survived the brackets in their respective classes to this point of the postseason. Gone from the playoffs, however, are defending 4A king Bishop Miege, which moved up to 5A in 2010; Class 3A champion Wichita Collegiate and last season's 8-Man 1 winner Quinter, who didn't qualify for the state playoffs this season.

Bishop Miege rallied from a 35-14 third quarter deficit and had a chance to take the lead. But Bryant Reber intercepted Max Shortell's two-point conversion pass attempt and the Tigers held on to upend the Stags (6-4) 35-34. Third-ranked Collegiate (9-2) fell to sixth-ranked Hutchinson Trinity 26-8 Saturday.

KANSAS PLAYOFF FOOTBALL BESTS
RUSHING
Tanner Fisher of Buhler rushed for 340 yards and 5 touchdowns on 41 carries in a 39-7 win over Abilene…Hutchinson's Ben Heeney ran the ball 23 times for 333 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 55-42 win over Salina Central…Terrell Lane of Norton scored 5 times and ran for 320 yards on just 10 carries in a 68-14 win over Cimarron…Thunder Ridge's (Kensington) Joel Struckhoff ran the ball for 270 yards and 5 scores on 27 carries in a 76-42 win over Wallace County…Kyle Hammond of Crest (Colony) rushed for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns on 23 carries in a 52-36 win over Cedar Vale-Dexter…Wichita Heights' Dreamius Smith scored 3 times and ran for 267 yards on 14 carries in a 49-7 win over Garden City.

PASSING
Bo Savage of Central (Burden) completed 23 of 29 passes for 339 yards and 6 scores in a 54-8 win over St. Paul…Rossville's Mitch Buhler connected on 24 of 35 passes for 308 yards and 3 scores in a 40-22 win over Atchison County…Hunter Pittman of Pretty Prairie was good on 12 of 27 aerials for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 50-40 loss to Osborne…Caldwell's Braden Lebeda connected on 14 of 20 passes for 248 yards and 4 scores in a 71-22 win over Waverly…Austin Eckert of Atchison County (Effingham) completed 18 of 31 aerials for a touchdown and 234 yards in a 42-24 win over Marysville…Macksville's Seth Filbert threw for 233 yards and a pair of scores on 16 of 37 passing in a 70-24 loss to Hodgeman County.

RECEIVING
Ky Biddle of Central-Burden caught 10 passes for 199 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 54-8 win over St. Paul…Baldwin's Josh Hoffman hauled in 3 passes for 142 yards and a pair of scores in a 26-7 win over Blue Valley Southwest…Jp Lohrentz of Buhler reeled in 5 aerials for 140 yards and a couple of touchdowns in a 55-21 win over Hugoton…Macksville's Adam Oak caught 10 passes for 138 yards and a score in a 70-24 loss to Hodgeman County…Ethan Scott of Veritas Christian (Lawrence) reeled in 4 aerials for 118 yards and scored 3 times in a 52-6 win over Flint Hills Christian…Central-Burden's Kolton Price latched onto 11 aerials for 106 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 54-8 win over St. Paul.