McPHERSON, Kan. – McPherson High School Football’s season came to an end in the opening round of the playoffs on Friday, Oct. 31 against a red hot Augusta team 33-20.
McPherson’s season ends with a 5-4 record, losing three of their last four games, two of which against Augusta. Augusta moves on to face league foe Mulvane.
The Bullpups found themselves in a bind by halftime, trailing 26-0 at the break following two turnovers. Augusta pushed further in the third quarter, leading 33-0 at the end of three. However, McPherson found life despite time not being on their side.
Brody Milleson put McPherson on the board in the beginning of the fourth quarter, making the score 33-6 Augusta after a missed PAT. After a crazy exchange in which McPherson and Augusta fumbled the ball on back-to-back plays, The Bullpups scored again on a screen pass to Ashton Malm, scoring his 13th touchdown of the season. McPherson converted the two-point conversion on a RB pass by Dane Becker to Malm, making the score 33-14.
McPherson got the ball back soon after, driving down to score on 4th down on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Carter Bengtson to Becker. However, there were only two minutes remaining, which Augusta ran off of the clock to escape with their first playoff win since 2021.
The team graduates 12 seniors, the smallest senior class in the Jace Pavlovich era. A vast majority of the offensive and defensive production was made by underclassmen, including 19 of the 22 total starters on offense and defense combined.
SCORING SUMMARY
Augusta: 12 14 7 0
McPherson: 0 0 0 20
- 7:36 1Q – Augusta: 5-yard TD run by Haskell (PAT Missed, 6-0 Augusta)
- 3:52 1Q – Augusta: 33-yard TD pass Haskell to Albert (PAT Missed, 12-0 Augusta)
- 11:55 2Q – Augusta: 5-yard TD run by Roberts (Roberts 2pt Run Good, 20-0 Augusta)
- 10:52 2Q – Augusta: 72-yard Punt Return TD by Albert (PAT Missed, 26-0 Augusta)
- 1:32 3Q – Augusta: 1-yard TD run by Harris (PAT Good, 33-0 Augusta)
- 11:55 4Q – McPherson: 1-yard TD run by Milleson (PAT Missed, 33-6 Augusta)
- 7:19 4Q – McPherson: 72-yard TD pass Bengtson to Malm (2pt Pass Becker to Malm, 33-14 Augusta)
- 2:06 4Q – McPherson: 20-yard TD pass Bengtson to Becker (2pt run failed, 33-20 Augusta)
STATS
Stats are provided by Charles Chaney, Sports Editor for the Butler County Times-Gazette.
Rushing (Attempts – Yards – TD):
- McPherson – Team: 26-140-0. Becker 11-67. Bengtson 10-34. Milleson 4-40. Malm 1-(-1)
- Augusta – Team: 39-280-3. Roberts 15-105-1. Haskell 13-105-1. Harris 9-65-1. Wills 1-7.
Passing:
- McPherson – Bengtson: 17/26, 171 yds., 2 TD, 2 INT. Ingels: 0/1
- Augusta – Haskell: 9/12, 97 yds., 1 TD
Receiving (Catches – Yards – TD):
- McPherson: Malm 10-107-1. Hoover 2-27. Becker 2-25-1. Barkley 1-8. Ingels 1-5. Milleson 1-4.
- Augusta: Albert 4-53-1. Camac 3-34. Bridwell 2-10.
