Hays 28, Hutchinson 0 – The Hutchinson Salthawks saw their season end Friday at Gowans Stadium, as their normally stout rushing offense was held in check.
Hutchinson’s defense held Hays to just 275 yards and 14 first downs, but Hutch managed just 124 yards and eight first downs. Kade Smith was also held in check, rushing for 69 yards.
Hays, the No. 9 seed in Class 5A West, benefitted from several short field. Three of the Indians’ four touchdown drives measured 36 yards or less.
The Salthawks finish the season 8-3.
Andale 52, Cheney 14 – Andale got its revenge on Cheney, which beat Andale twice last season, stopping Andale’s long winning streak and run of four straight Class 3A state championships.
Sam Harp had three first-half rushing touchdowns, including one from 87 yards that pushed Andale’s lead to 36-0 late in the second quarter.
Andale led 36-7 at halftime. Last season, Cheney won both games after falling behind 20-0 and 24-0. There was no comeback this time, as Andale held Cheney on the Cardinals’ first third-quarter drive, and followed up with a touchdown run from Landon Harp, one of his two.
Andale improved to 11-0 and will host Holcomb in the state semifinals next week. Cheney ends the season 9-2.
Victoria 70, Central Christian 28 – On a windy night in western Kansas, the Central Christian Cougars saw their season come to a close with a 70-28 loss at Victoria.
After Victoria took advantage of an early turnover to go up 6-0, Piercen Huff returned the ensuing kickoff 69 yards to tie the game just a minute and 48 seconds into the first quarter. From there, though, Victoria never trailed again. The Cougars got within 28-22 midway through the second quarter, but the Knights scored two touchdowns before halftime and held Central Christian to just one second-half score.
Victoria finished with 414 yards of total offense to 248 for Central Christian. Senior quarterback Nate Reed led the Cougars with 169 yards and three touchdowns passing. For Victoria, their quarterback Wyatt Griffin ran for 115 yards and three touchdowns, while Weston Scherrer scored five touchdowns for the Knights with two on the ground, one through the air, a punt block for a touchdown and a fumble recovery for a score.
Victoria is now 11-0 and moves on to the 8-Man DII semifinals, while Central Christian finished their solid campaign at 9-2.
Central Plains 38, Little River 32 – In a classic rematch, Central Plains defeated Little River for the second time this season.
Central Plains scored first to lead 8-0. Little River then scored twice to lead 16-8 but Central Plains added another score late in the half but missed the 2-point conversion.
Little River led 16-14 at halftime. The Redskins fumbled on the first play from scrimmage but the Oilers could not capitalize. Then, Little River turned it over again on its next possession as Hurley had a key interception. From there, the teams traded touchdowns. Central Plains scored to lead 22-16. Little River then took the lead 24-22 to close the third quarter.
The Oilers then scored to lead 30-24 only to have Little River score to regain the lead at 32-30 with 1:02 remaining. But Central Plains would get the final TD with 4:54 remaining as Hurley scored his third touchdown in the second half. Eli Hurley led the Oilers to the victory, scoring four of the five Central Plains touchdowns on runs of 23, 2, 3, and 1 yards. Hurley had 205 yards rushing on 31 carries and was also the leading receiver with three receptions for 49 yards. Logan Renken of Little River scored 3 rushing touchdowns of 3, 5, and 60 yards and he threw a TD pass to Kyler Bergkamp covering 50 yards.
Central Plains advances to 9-2 and will host Clifton-Clyde next Friday. Little River finishes their season at 8-3
