Hutchinson 33, Liberal 13 – Hutchinson moved on to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2016 with another comfortable win thanks to another dominant ground attack.
The Salthawks, the fourth seed in Class 5A West, rushed for 406 yards, led by Kade Smith’s 245 yards and one touchdown.
Perhaps most encouraging for the Salthawks was the passing game. Levi Kepler completed 4 of 7 passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns, to Terrell King and Taishaun Williams.
The Salthawks handed Liberal its worst loss of the season, holding Liberal to 275 yards on 57 plays.
Hutchinson will host No. 9 seed Hays next week.
Medicine Lodge 22, Trinity Catholic 20, OT – The Medicine Lodge hex on Trinity Catholic happened again in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs in Medicine Lodge.
For the fourth time in 13 months, the two squared off in Medicine Lodge. For the fourth time, it was a close game. For the fourth time, Medicine Lodge won.
Trinity trailed 8-0 at halftime on the sloppy, muddy field. But on fourth and 6 from the Medicine Lodge 33-yard line in the third quarter, Drew Dechant connected with Sam Vogel for a 33-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion tied the game.
The teams exchanged fourth-quarter touchdowns, sending the game to overtime. Kade McElgunn scored after a Trinity penalty from 15 yards out. But the two-point conversion failed, giving Medicine Lodge a chance to win the game.
Ke’veon Ruiz scored on the Indians’ first play, and Jack Schreiner scored on the two-point conversion.
The Celtics finish their season 4-6.
Hoisington 24, Haven 14 – Despite jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, Haven gave up 24 unanswered points as Hoisington picked up a 10-point home win in the second round of the 2A playoffs.
Grant Patry had a 22-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Nash Wray added a 1-yard score in the second to put the Wildcats up two scores. However, the Cardinals got on the board on a 15-yard TD run by Jason Robinson and he added the two-point conversion to get Hoisington within 14-8 at half. Two safeties and touchdown runs of 2 yards from Robinson and 1 yard from Teron Kraft rounded out the second-half scoring for the Cardinals.
All of Hoisington’s 291 yards came on the ground. They improved to 6-4 and will face Southeast of Saline next Friday in the 2A quarterfinals. Haven finished the season at 8-2. They were held to 180 total yards with 170 on the ground.
Scott City 9, Hesston 7 – A 27-yard rifled goal from Jackson Rumford with 40.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter provided the decisive points for Scott City.
Karter Gonzalez opened the scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run for Hesston, but Kelton Cook answered for Scott City on a 7-yard touchdown run. The extra-point kick failed, however, and Hesston led 7-6 at halftime.
Gonzalez led Hesston with 109 yards rushing. The Swathers finish the season 8-2.
