Ten Takeaways from high school football Week 7
Campus crushes Hutchinson
Campus doesn’t beat Hutchinson very oftern. On Friday, Campus beat Hutch convincingly Friday, 35-7, the first time the Colts have beaten the Salthawks in the 21st century.
“It helps us change our playoff situation now getting a win late in the season like this,” Campus coach Greg Slade said. “It’s a great win beating Hutch. One thing we’ve really been stressing to our team is to play a complete game and I thought we did that (Friday) on offense, defense, and special teams.”
The game turned when Campus recovered a Hutch fumbled at the Campus 1-yard line, then next play Federico Harvey connected with Braden Haak for a 99-yard touchdown pass and a huge momentum swing.
“Those are the things that make a huge difference,” Slade said. “That was a huge momentum swing for us.”
Harvey completed 15 of 21 passes for 323 yards and three TDs, and ran for the Colts’ other two scores. The Campus defense forced six turnovers.
“Our kids were pretty excited after the game,” Slade said. “It’s a big win and we told them, ‘You’re capable of playing with anybody.’ I think they know that now, but we’ve got to continue to improve and get better every week.”
Kapaun rallies for OT win
Kapaun opted for drama in its 28-27 overtime win over St. James Academy on Frirday night in Lenexa.
KMC trailed 13-0 at halftime, then scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to force overtime. In OT, Kapaun scored first and kicked the PAT. When St. James scored, its kicker (who missed a FG and a PAT earlier in the game) hit a low line drive that was blocked at the line for the walk-off win for Kapaun.
“We needed a payoff day,” Kapaun coach Dan Adelhardt said. “You work and you work and you work and we needed that break, that payoff day. It was a big relief and we definitely had a fun ride home.”
St. James was ranked No. 5 in Class 5A; its only previous loss was to No. 2 Aquinas.
“At halftime I could tell there wasn’t very much air in our balloon, so I just asked the seniors to step up,” Adelhardt said. “I said, ‘This is your football team. You’ve got six quarters left in the regular season. You’re going to have to own this.’ And that’s what they went out there and did.”
Andale tops Buhler in key 4A-I District 7 game
Andale won a Class 4A-I District 7 showdown, beating Buhler 17-6 to remain undefeated.
Andale’s defense kept control of the game, and after it took an 11-point lead to start the fourth quarter Buhler was forced to abandon its running game. Andale intercepted three passes by Ben Epp in the second half.
“The three turnovers was absolutely huge for us,” Andale coach Dylan Schmidt said. “There’s so many big plays in a game like that. There always is, but without a doubt the defense has been stable for us all year.”
Andale’s ability to limit Buhler tailback Dalton Brown was the key to the second-half shutout. Brown carried the ball 24 times for 90 yards and failed to get into the end zone.
“Our plan was to keep him boxed up,” Andale senior linebacker Grant Fairchild said. “If he can’t run the ball, we knew they couldn’t hold us. We just tried to make sure he couldn’t go anywhere.”
Fairchild snagged Andale’s third interception out of the air with under three minutes to play, which sealed the win.
Buhler came into the game ranked No. 3 in Class 4A-I with a 5-game winning streak. Andale extended its undefeated record to 7-0 and 1-0 in district play.
“We’ve got good players too,” Schmidt said. “That’s the thing early in the season I know that we haven’t gotten a ton of recognition for some of our players individually, but I’m telling you our guys can play. Without a doubt I couldn’t be more excited.”
That wasn’t an earthquake, it was Andale trying a field goal
Seth Bugner had never been asked to kick a field goal in a game. It’s Andale. Nobody kicks field goals at Andale.
But coach Dylan Schmidt asked Bugner about his range anyway.
Bugner said he had hit from 50 yards in practice. Smith said he felt comfortable with his team attempting a kick from 30 yards. So at a crucial moment Friday night, Smith put Bugner on the field for a 33-yard field goal attempt.
The kick split the uprights, put Andale ahead by two scores and lifted the Indians to a 17-6 win over Buhler.
As best as anyone in the Andale press box could remember, the last successful field goal by any Andale kicker came in the 2007 state championship game.
“We’re a team that goes for it on fourth down. But we worked on it all week,” Schmidt said.
Bugner said he was a little nervous trotting out onto the field.
“It was a little nerve-racking,” he said, “because this was the first field goal I’ve kicked through my whole high school.”
Carroll closes in on City League title
Carroll and Heights were locked in a defensive struggle, starting the second half tied 7-7.
Then Carroll’s defense put Carroll’s offense in can’t miss range. Carroll senior Luke Evans intercepted a pass at the Falcons 8 only a minute into the third quarter. Zachary Roth scored on an 8-yard run on the next play, the first of four straight Carroll touchdowns on the way to a 35-14 win.
“That got us rolling,” Carroll coach Dusty Trail said. “Field position played a big part. We had some short fields in the third quarter, and I think it kind of snowballed on Heights a little bit.”
Roth’s interception was the final play of the night for Heights standout quarterback K-Vonte Baker, who was hobbling on an ankle he injured last week against Kapaun. Baker completed 3 of 8 passes and was held to 29 rushing yards.
The victory clinched a share of the City League title for Carroll (6-1), which can win the crown outright against Kapaun Mount Carmel.
“The ‘Holy War,’ here we go,” Carroll senior quarterback Braden Howell said.
Conway Springs, Cheney set up showdown
Trnton Jones carried 22 times for 263 yards and three scores as Conway Springs controlled the ball and the game in its 26-6 win over Garden Plain.
Conway Springs outgained Garden Plain 420-191 and scored a touchdown in each quarter.
It’s a big first step in the tough Class 3A District 10 race. Conway Springs will play host to Cheney on Friday. Cheney beat Chaparral 39-14 on Friday as Micah Grover passed for two TDs and ran for another, and Riley Petz ran for two TDs.
One win leads to another for Eisenhower
Eisenhower no longer has to find comfort in the idea that it was the best 0-5 team in the state – Eisenhower has won two straight after beating Andover 35-21, a week after a 28-point win over previously unbeaten Valley Center.
“My coaching staff did a great job preparing our team for a couple different looks we thought we might get and we were able to do some things against them,” coach Marc Marinelli said. “I thought our o-line played extremely well and our backs did what they did. I thought our entire team played great.”
Winning makes everything better.
“Any time you can get the ball rolling, it’s a lot easier to teach kids and focus on the game instead of keeping them together like we did in the 0-5 start,” Marinelli said. “We’re getting closer. We didn’t play a perfect game, but we’re taking the right steps to getting closer to that. We always felt this team was extremely talented and now they’re beginning to play great football.”
Eisenhower will finish the regular season with a shot at a third straight win at Arkansas City (1-6).
Class 6A race still tight
The logjam at the top of the Class 6A West standings eased only slightly Friday when Campus handed Hutchinson its second loss.
Free State, top top team in the west standings, remains the lone unbeaten team in 6A, though it had to rally in the fourth quarter Friday for 38-31 win over Olathe East. Free State wraps up the regular season against crosstown rival Lawrence.
Northwest tops a list of five 6-1 teams vying for the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds in the west in a race that will almost certainly be decided by the points tiebreaker. Northwest (72), Topeka (71), Manhattan (69), Derby (61) and Garden City (39).
Northwest plays Southeast on Friday. Derby will be at Campus.
The top four seeds are guaranteed a second home game in the playoffs.
Campus (4-3) is in the No. 8 spot, and has an 11-point edge on West (4-3) in the tiebreaker. West plays Southeast this week and could move up to No. 8 with a win combined with a Campus loss to Derby. The Nos. 5-8 seeds get a first-round home game.
Class 5A standings update
Goddard (7-0) continues its march toward the top seed in Class 5A West as the only unbeaten team in the west, and has a 21-point edge in the tiebreaker. Goddard plays host to Newton this week.
The current Nos. 2 and 3 teams face tough tests in the final game before the playoffs. Carroll (6-1) plays Kapaun (5-2), and Maize (6-1) plays 6A Hutchinson.
Heights (4-3) slipped to the No. 8 spot after Friday’s loss. The Falcons play at South on Thursday.
Key district matchups ahead
Several area schools will be playing Friday for the chance to be the lone 2-0 team in its district standings:
4A-I District 5: Mulvane at Wellington
4A-I District 8: Wamego at McPherson
4A-II District 5: Collegiate at Nickerson
4A-II District 8: Pratt at Holcomb
3A District 11: Hutchinson Trinity at Halstead
This story was originally published October 14, 2017 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Ten Takeaways from high school football Week 7."