Derby clinches 6A playoff spot with victory
Defending Class 6A champion Derby rumbled back into the state playoffs Friday night, outgunning host South 52-14 at Carpenter Stadium.
The Panthers will play host to West next Friday for the Class 6A-District 7 title. The loss eliminated South from postseason contention, and the Titans will face Campus next Friday.
Junior quarterback Brady Rust spearheaded the Derby attack, gaining 102 yards on eight carries and scoring on runs of 19, 25 and 22 yards. Rust and the Panthers’ offense emphasized misdirection and counter plays to thoroughly throw South off balance.
“Every time they’d overpursue, I’d just put my head down and run as hard as I could,” Rust said.
When he wasn’t darting through huge holes created by the Panthers’ offensive line, he was being protected by that same line and rolling up 142 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Even with the lopsided victory, Derby coach Brandon Clark said there is still work to be done.
“Brady did a good job,” Clark said. “We’ve still got to work on a couple of reads, get on the same page. Our defense, we didn’t do as good as we wanted to. We’ve got a couple of areas that we really need to get better at because of injury. But for the most part, we played OK.
“We’ve got to keep getting better; that’s for sure. And our kids have that mentality, which is awesome. Our kids are really listening to us and practicing hard.”
Derby started slowly, fumbling away the ball on its first drive at the South 22. But the Panthers then found the end zone on the next three drives of the first and second quarters and raced to a 42-6 halftime lead.
With Rust at the controls, Derby was relentless, with eight rushers gaining 310 yards.
“He did a good job of making most of his reads,” Clark said of Rust. “And of course it all starts up front with the offensive line. We’ve got some really talented receivers, too.”
But not all of the Panthers’ fireworks came from the offense. Senior Darreon Jackson – who has become a source of dramatic plays this season – picked up a South fumble in the second quarter and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. Earlier in the season, he picked off a Salina Central pass and returned it 48 yards for a score that ignited the Panthers’ 35-14 triumph.
Jackson credited safeties coach Mitch Pointius with putting him in position for the big play.
“He’s always putting me in the right spot, leading me to the right place and doing the right thing at all times,” he said. “Coach Pointius said to stay alert, anything can happen.”
Clark called Jackson “one of the most coachable players I’ve ever coached.”
“He’s a smart football player, and he’s fearless, and he’s fast. So when you put all those together, good things are going to happen,” Clark said.
Derby | 14 | 28 | 10 | 0 | — | 52 |
South | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | — | 14 |
D – Rust 19 run (Moeder kick)
D – Whitten 5 run (Moeder kick)
S – Bell 19 pass from Bishop (pass failed)
D – Rust 25 run (Moeder kick)
D – Tabor 30 pass from Rust (Moeder kick)
D – Jackson 45 fumble return (Moeder kick)
D – Xanders 20 pass from Rust (Moeder kick)
D – Rust 22 run (Moeder kick)
D – FG Moeder 26
S – Crosby 13 run (Neloms run)
Individual statistics
RUSHING – Derby: Rust 8-102, Whitten 11-90, Lemons 4-53, Kooser 4-25, Xanders 2-22, Hayes 5-12, Dawdy 1-4, Palmer 1-2. South: Binkley 7-37, Crosby 3-20, Wells 2-19, Bishop 10-12, Taylor 1-2.
PASSING – Derby: Rust 9-12-0-142; Dawdy 2-2-0-14. South: Bishop 12-21-1-155.
RECEIVING – Derby: Xanders 4-63, Jones 3-19, Whitten 1-30, Tabor 1-30, Hayes 1-11, Nelson 1-3. South: Waters 2-43, Binkley 2-26, Crosby 2-20, Neloms 2-17, Bell 1-19, Taylor 1-18, Wells 1-10, Eden 1-2.S
This story was originally published October 25, 2014 at 12:57 AM with the headline "Derby clinches 6A playoff spot with victory."