Kansas high school football roundup: Derby, Northwest, Andale, Collegiate all advance

Area high school football teams punched their ticket to the Kansas high school state semifinals with playoff victories on Friday. Here’s a recap of all Wichita-area teams.

Back to Derby football, Panthers dominate No. 1-ranked Lawrence

When’s the last time a Derby win has been considered an upset?

That was the case on Friday when Derby built a 34-point lead and won 40-20 at Lawrence to end the undefeated season of the state’s No. 1-ranked team. While this was the first Derby team to lose two regular-season games since 2011, the Panthers (7-2) could still play in a sixth consecutive Class 6A championship game.

“The last three weeks I’ve really seen this team jell and it’s been so fun to watch them start to get more physical,” Derby coach Brandon Clark said. “I think we’re playing a more physical brand of football. We’re back to playing Derby football. These kids earned every bit of this win because Lawrence is a really good team.”

Clark credited several players for helping Derby return to its physical ways, like Andon Carpenter on the defensive line, Tanner Knox at safety, Alex Key on the offensive line, Reid Liston at wide receiver and Lem Wash at quarterback.

After falling behind 6-0 against Lawrence, Derby scored 40 unanswered points against what many believed was the best team in the state. Dylan Edwards scored three touchdowns, including an 85-yard kick return.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a team,” Clark said. “We’ve had to go through so much adversity this season. These kids just kept bouncing back. I could tell they’re not letting outside distractions get in when we’re in our sanctuary on the field. They’re coming together and playing for each other and having a blast playing football. With everything bad that’s going on in the world, this is something good and something that brings smiles to all of our faces.”

Derby (7-2) will travel to Junction City (9-1) next Friday in the 6A semifinals after Junction City survived a 49-42 shootout with Wichita East. It was a heart-wrenching loss for the Blue Aces (7-2), who had their most successful season since 1983.

East had rallied to tie the score at 42-42 after Daylan Jones, who threw for 305 passing yards in just his fourth game at quarterback, connected with A.J. King on an 11-yard touchdown and East converted a two-point conversion with 8:33 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Blue Aces went three-and-out late in the quarter, and a long punt return by Junction City allowed the Blue Jays to score the game-winning touchdown with 1:40 remaining.

Northwest overcomes slow start to beat Kapaun

It took until the state quarterfinals for Northwest to face a deficit this season, but the Grizzlies responded like a veteran team and delivered a 26-14 victory over Kapaun Mt. Carmel on Friday.

Kapaun stunned the Grizzlies when their smash-mouth offense scored on the opening drive, then George Traglia returned an interception for a touchdown to put Northwest in a 14-7 first-quarter deficit.

Northwest hasn’t been tested all season, but showed why the Grizzlies (9-0) are the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A that has played in the last two state championship games by scoring 19 unanswered points and advancing to next Friday’s showdown against Bishop Carroll.

“I saw 25 seniors leading our football team like they’ve been in that situation before,” Northwest coach Steve Martin said. “They didn’t flinch. I thought Kapaun came out and really threw some haymakers and tried to get up on us early and our guys didn’t flinch. They just trusted the process and pulled it out.”

Northwest’s defense successfully shut down Kapaun’s ground game, limiting the Crusaders to 157 rushing yards — nearly half of their average. The offense did the rest, powered by a workhorse performance by senior Julius Bolden, who handled 29 carries and rushed for 210 yards.

For the fourth straight year, the Grizzlies will play in the state semifinals.

“Ever since this senior class were freshmen, these guys have only seen substate and state football,” Martin said. “They watched us lose a heartbreaker to Derby in ‘17, then got in the weight room in ‘18 and ‘19 and grinded their way back. I was really proud of the way they showed their mettle (Friday).”

Arkansas City continues improbable run with another goal-line stand

Arkansas City finished the regular season with just two wins, but the Bulldogs now find themselves one win away from playing for a state championship.

The improbable run through the Class 4A playoffs continued on Friday, once again with Ark City’s defense making a goal-line stand in the final minute to secure a victory, this one a 21-20 win at Wamego.

Faced with a seven-point deficit late in the fourth quarter, Wamego drove 88 yards to score a touchdown and opted to go for a two-point conversion and the win. But Ark City’s defense stonewalled the runner short of the goal line, sending the Bulldogs to their first semifinal since 1988.

Ark City (5-6) will travel to top-seeded McPherson (10-1) after the Bullpups defeated Buhler 28-21 in a league rivalry rematch on Friday. Jayden Dukes provided the key interception in the fourth quarter for McPherson, which gave the Bullpups a short field and allowed Sky Schriner to break a 21-21 tie and score the game-winning touchdown with 6:49 remaining.

McPherson, which has lost in the state semifinals the last two seasons, has never been to a state championship game, while Ark City has not been since 1986.

Andale, Collegiate will meet again in the 3A semifinals

It would have been easy for Collegiate to crumble in the fourth quarter when it allowed a 13-point lead to slip away, as Southeast of Saline rallied to take a one-point lead with 4:06 remaining.

Instead, the Spartans rallied to a 27-21 victory behind big plays from Wes Fair and Jacob Chugg. Chugg caught passes of 20 and 27 yards on the final drive, then Fair, who threw for 120 yards and ran for another 122 yards, scored from seven yards out for the game-winning touchdown with 59 seconds left.

“This group just doesn’t panic,” Collegiate coach Troy Black said. “There was no panic in their eyes. They weren’t mad or pointing fingers after we gave up our lead. We had four minutes to go and they were determined that they could do it. And they went out there and executed. They have this belief about them like they know they’re just going to find a way.”

Collegiate (10-1) ended the undefeated season for Southeast of Saline (9-1) and will now try to end another perfect season in the Class 3A semifinals where it will face an Andale (10-0) team coming off a 42-0 trouncing of Riley County on Friday.

Andale piled up more than 400 yards on the ground, as Eli Rowland and Noah Meyer combined for 388 rushing yards alone and accounted for five of the team’s six touchdowns. The Indians have won 23 straight games and are motivated to win back-to-back state championships.

“I’ve been super impressed with our level of intensity and focus,” Andale coach Dylan Schmidt said. “One of our keys has been up front. We’re just dominating the line of scrimmage and guys are running to the football and flying around.”

Collegiate has been motivated by the potential rematch with Andale, which won the league rivalry game 43-14 on Oct. 23.

“We know Andale is the best team in the state, hands down,” Black said. “We knew if we handled our business, then we would get another chance to play them. They really wanted another chance to prove that they can play with those guys. I’m real proud of my guys to get to this point. They achieved one of their goals and now they want to achieve another.”

Inman crushes Conway Springs to advance to 1A semifinals

Inman had been looking for a signature victory for its program and found one on Friday with a 46-6 thrashing over traditional powerhouse Conway Springs.

The defense held Conway Springs’ potent rushing attack to just 161 yards, which forced the Cardinals out of their element throwing the ball more and Inman came away with three interceptions. Kendyn Blank led Inman with 167 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.

Inman (9-2) will travel to Oakley (9-2) next Friday in the Class 1A semifinals.

“We talked about that in practice that this could be that kind of a statement game,” Inman coach Lance Sawyer said. “If we played like I knew that we could, we could make some eyebrows raise. I knew we could compete with them, so to be able to do that against a tradition-rich program like Conway Springs who is a very well-coached team, that was impressive.

“If you would have told me (we would win by 40), I wouldn’t have expected it. But our kids got on them early and we didn’t let up.”

In the Class 2A playoffs, both area teams lost as Haven saw its best season in school history come to a heart-breaking conclusion in a 32-26 double-overtime loss to Beloit at home and Garden Plain fell short, 42-28, at undefeated Hoisington.

Derby 40, Lawrence 20

L—Neal 1 run (kick failed)

D—Edwards 85 kick return (kick failed)

D—D. Thatcher 4 pass from Wash (kick failed)

D—Wash 1 run (Simmons kick)

D—Wash 5 run (Simmons kick)

D—Edwards 1 run (Simmons kick)

D—Edwards 62 run (Simmons kick)

L—Neal 6 run (kick)

L—Neal 65 run (kick)

Rushing—Derby, Edwards 19-158, Wash 16-62, Hubbard 4-3, Zerger 3-(-2), M. Thatcher 1-(-3), Liston 1-(-9).

Passing—Derby, Wash 4-4-0-52.

Receiving—Derby, Liston 2-34, Edwards 1-14, D. Thatcher 1-4.

Junction City 49, Wichita East 42

Rushing—East, Nelson 29-146, Standifer 1-7, Jones 7-(-2); Junction City, Giddens 28-136, Wilkey 14-99, Khoury 2-(-11).

Passing—East, Jones 24-39-3-305; Junction City, Khoury 12-24-2-252.

Receiving—East, Patterson 6-108, King 7-83, Nelson 5-69, Pearson 1-20, Standifer 1-12, Hart 1-8, White 1-3, Robinson 1-2; Junction City, Wilkey 6-134, Bussey 3-76, Taborn 2-29, Goggins 1-13.

Wichita Northwest 26, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 14

KMC—Stuhlsatz 30 pass from Gimino (kick failed)

NW—Moore 96 kick return (Arndt kick)

KMC—Traglia 20 interception return (Anciaux pass from Gimino)

NW—Wheeler 2 run (Arndt kick)

NW—Arndt 37 field goal

NW—Arndt 27 field goal

NW—Phillips 10 run (run failed)

Rushing—Kapaun, Bates 12-66, Curtis 14-40, Gimino 15-36, Elias 2-12, Kunz 1-3; Northwest, Bolden 29-210, Phillips 5-58, Moore 12-44, Wheeler 3-15, Coleman 1-1, Ross 2-(-4).

Passing—Kapaun, Gimino 5-13-1-76; Northwest, Ross 7-16-1-89.

Receiving—Kapaun, Stuhlsatz 2-55, Jones 1-15, Ancieux 1-3, Ackerman 1-3; Northwest, Coleman 3-63, Moore 3-27, Diaz 1-(-1).

McPherson 28, Buhler 21

M—Labertew 1 run (Hoover kick)

B—Elliott 8 run (Neill kick)

M—Powell 52 pass from Rinker (Hoover kick)

B—Elliott 2 run (Neill kick)

M—GUmm 82 pass from Rinker (Hoover kick)

B—Elliott 1 run (Neill kick)

B—S. Schriner 4 run (Hoover kick)

Rushing—Buhler, Elliott 28-135, Neill 3-7, Campbell 1-6, Rolland 4-2, McCurdy 1-(-2); McPherson, Gumm 19-81, S. Schriner 6-22, Labertew 1-1, Team 3-(-15), Rinker 4-(-27).

Passing—Buhler, Neill 10-21-1-126; McPherson, Rinker 12-19-1-257.

Receiving—Buhler, VanBruggen 2-46, Elliott 5-39, McCurdy 2-28, Moier 1-5; McPherson, Powell 3-99, Gumm 1-82, Buckbee 6-42, Ruddle 1-32, Becker 1-8.

Andale 42, Riley County 0

A—N. Meyer 9 run (run)

A—Spexarth 2 run (run failed)

A—Koehler 24 pass from N. Meyer (run good)

A—Rowland 11 run (run failed)

A—Rowland 33 run (pass failed)

A—N. Meyer 47 run (run good)

Rushing—Andale, Rowland 25-212, N. Meyer 20-176, J. Meyer 3-15, Ungles 2-9, Parthemer 1-7, Spexarth 2-4, Keeter 1-3, White 1-2, Seck 1-1; Riley County, Allen 19-70, C. Holle 3-16, Harmison 3-(-3).

Passing—Andale, N. Meyer 1-1-0-24, Spexarth 2-4-0-21; Riley County, C. Holle 4-11-1-39.

Receiving—Andale, Koehler 1-24, Ungles 1-12, N. Meyer 1-9; Riley County, A. Holle 2-21, Hopper 1-16, Koenig 1-2.

Beloit 32, Haven 26 (2 OT)

H—Roper 30 run (run failed)

B—Berndt 50 run (pass failed)

B—Thompson 16 pass from Eilert (run failed)

H—Roper 73 run (pass failed)

B—Walker 11 pass from Eilert (pass failed)

H—Roper 15 run (pass failed)

B—Henke 10 run (Henke run)

H—Roper 10 run (Schmidt run)

B—Henke 1 run (run failed)

Rushing—Beloit, Berndt 30-132, Henke 18-64, Eilert 2-(-8); Haven, Roper 17-224, Schmidt 25-123, Weve 1-(-1).

Passing—Beloit, Eilert 4-10-1-35; Haven, Roper 8-16-0-103.

Receiving—Beloit, Walker 2-26, Thompson 1-16, Prochaska 1-(-7); Haven, Wilhite 2-37, Galloway 2-26, Shingleton 3-23, Loop 1-17.

Hoisington 42, Garden Plain 28

H—Hanzlick 5 run (Hanzlick run)

H—Mason 3 run (run failed)

GP—Adelhardt 2 run (J. Haukap kick)

GP—Scheer 29 pass from Daerr (J. Haukap kick)

H—Steinert 44 run (Hanzlick pass from Haxton)

H—Hanzlick 3 run (pass failed)

Rushing—Garden Plain, Adelhardt 9-21, Daerr 12-19, Nowak 2-5, Rockers 2-(-4); Hoisington, Hanzlick 24-204, Steinert 8-88, Morris 2-11, Mason 2-8, Foltz 1-7, Moore 1-3, Haxton 10-(-5).

Passing—Garden Plain, Daerr 8-10-1-130, Rockers 2-7-0-18; Hoisington, Haxton 2-5-0-59.

Receiving—Garden Plain, Scheer 3-97, C. Haukap 2-23, Nowak 2-15, Adelhardt 3-13; Hoisington, Richards 2-59.

Inman 46, Conway Springs 6

I—Heckel 46 run (kick failed)

I—Blank 21 run (run failed)

I—Blank 40 run (Brown kick)

I—Heckel 10 run (Brown kick)

CS—Wright 2 run (kick failed)

I—Doerksen 11 run (kick failed)

I—Blank 26 run (Brown kick)

I—Brunk 7 run (Brown kick)

Rushing—Inman, Blank 14-167, Heckel 7-99, Brown 8-29, Doerksen 3-27, Brunk 3-18, Konrade 4-11; Conway Springs, Hilger 15-62, Wright 16-45, Schulte 12-35, Smith 4-19, Barnes 1-0.

Passing—Inman, Doerksen 6-11-0-66; Conway Springs, Hilger 4-12-3-49.

Receiving—Inman, Brunk 1-39, Brown 1-10, Blank 1-7, Johnson 1-5, Heckel 1-4, Konrade 1-1; Conway Springs, Wright 3-42, Schulte 1-7.

This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 6:00 AM.

Taylor Eldridge

The Wichita Eagle

316-268-6270

Wichita State athletics beat reporter. Bringing you closer to the Shockers you love and inside the sports you love to watch.