McPherson’s Kinnamon does it all in win over Buhler

Buhler was considered a Class 4A-Division I contender this season largely because of the dynamic play of quarterback Jace Williams.

It’s time to reshuffle the rankings, because McPherson has an electric quarterback of its own in senior Kyler Kinnamon, who ran for two touchdowns, threw for three touchdowns, ran for two touchdowns and return an interception 56 yards for a touchdown in a 44-42 win over the third-ranked Crusaders on Friday night.

“I definitely think we showed we belong tonight,” Kinnamon said.

The clash between the two high-powered offenses lived up to its billing, as the teams combined for 973 total yards and kept the game within one score for all but one minute of the game.

Buhler’s offense rose to a new level, as it introduced a new aspect to its already potent offense — the pop pass that is being popularized by Kansas State. It features a read-option where the quarterback rushes to the line of scrimmage and then decides whether to tuck and run or deliver a lob to a streaking receiver down the middle of the field.

And on Friday night, Williams and receiver Dakota Wolfe were nearly unstoppable with the play. The two combined for eight completions for 182 yards, two touchdowns, and a first down every time.

But…

“Some weird things happened,” Buhler coach Steve Warner said. “A dropped pass here, a dropped pass there. We needed to score every time we had the ball on offense in the second half and we didn’t do it.”

It was Kinnamon who made the play on defense that swung the game, giving McPherson a 24-21 lead just before halftime, when he read Williams’ eyes on a roll-out and slipped in front of the throw and turned on a blast of speed to return it 56 yards for a touchdown.

Kinnamon and tailback Ty Hart worked in tandem to set up a running game Buhler had to respect. Because of that effectiveness, it opened up the aerial attack for Kinnamon, who threw touchdown passes of 48, 20, and 45 yards.

“Some people underrate his passing because he runs the ball so well,” said senior receiver Chris Stoppel, who caught two of those touchdowns. “He pulled it out tonight and we showed what we can do throwing it.”

When McPherson reclaimed the ball, down 35-31, it was Kinnamon that pieced together an 11-play drive he capped with a one-yard running score to take the lead and put the pressure on Buhler entering the fourth quarter.

And when Buhler was forced to punt after a critical drop, Kinnamon and the Bullpups delivered another masterful drive, this one lasting just more than five minutes that pushed their lead to 44-35 with 2:14 remaining.

“I’ve got mad respect for Kyler,” said Hart, who finished with 138 total yards. “Mad respect.”

The game-defining play came on 2nd-and-goal from five yards out when Kinnamon decided to pull a read option and tried to reverse the field to the left but was immediately surrounded by five Buhler defenders.

The senior halted, then went on a dead sprint to the corner of the end zone, somehow twisting and diving at the same time to plunge into the end zone for the score.

“I couldn’t even tell you,” Kinnamon said of how he did it. “I just went where I thought people weren’t. I got really lucky on that play.”

Kinnamon racked up 327 yards of total offense, played every snap on offense and defense, and also served as the team’s punter.

McPherson (6-2, 2-0) can’t celebrate yet — the Bullpups still haven’t clinched a playoff berth and have another ranked opponent remaining in Hays (7-1, 1-1).

But for one night, at least, McPherson and Kinnamon could enjoy the moment.

“This is a huge win for our program,” Kinnamon said. “It definitely solidifies that we’re one of the better teams in the state.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2014 at 1:04 AM with the headline "McPherson’s Kinnamon does it all in win over Buhler."