Hutchinson 42, Maize South 20 – The Salthawks fathered 381 yards of offense, led by 181 rushing yards and three touchdowns from Kade Smith, as the Salthawks vaulted up to No. 4 in the Class 5A West standings.
Four different Salthawks scored in the first half, as they raced to a 28-14 halftime lead. Levi Kepler had a rushing and passing touchdown, to Taishaun Williams, while Smith and Terrell King also had touchdown runs.
The win was the first this year where the Salthawks did not shutout their opponent, but they still held a good Maize South offense to just 265 total yards, including 18 on the ground.
Hutchinson will open the 5A playoffs at home next Friday against Salina South, which Hutchinson beat 47-0 earlier this season.
Moundridge 13, Inman 8 –Â Playing their first game since 2017, the McPherson County rivals played a tight game that Moundridge won in the final minutes for a third straight game.
Moundridge, which had played eight-man football the last previous six seasons, trailed 8-7 late, but Henry Hecox found Kaizer Kanitz for a 21-yard touchdown with 3 minutes 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
That touchdown answered Inman’s sole touchdown, a 12-yard run from Malachi Brunk, with 8:11 left in the fourth quarter. Brunk’s two-point conversion reception gave Inman the lead.
Kanitz had the only score in the first half, a 72-yard touchdown catch. Kanitz finished with 203 receiving yards on 10 catches.
Moundridge finishes the regular season 7-0 and the Class 1A District 6 champion. Inman fell to 4-4 and 1-3 in district play.
Halstead 54, Lyons –Â Halstead clinched a playoff spot, as the Dragons scored in the first minute on a 3-yard run by Braxton Creed, and they scored on six of their eight first-half possessions.
Halstead amassed 386 rushing yards and another 104 through the air. Joey Millspaugh led the Dragons with 158 yards rushing on 10 carries and one touchdown.
St. John 30, Macksville 28 – The St. John Tigers battled for a wild comeback win over the Macksville Mustangs. It was all Macksville early as Keven Holguin returned an opening onside kick attempt 37 yards for a touchdown. A safety and two 1-yard touchdown runs from Orion Guevara put the Mustangs up 20-0 early in the second and they took a 28-0 lead on a 6-yard TD run by Morgan Grippin.
St. John took over from there, scoring on a 45-yard pass from Braxton Alpers to Wyatt Mawhirter to cut the lead to 28-8 at half.
Jace Reyes returned the opening kick of the second half 71 yards for a touchdown and Alpers had runs of 5 and 44 yards, with the latter tying the game at 28 and a pass to Juan Ibarra gave St. John the 30-28 lead and eventual win, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Mustangs.
Alpers finished with 105 passing yards and 82 rushing yards. For Macksville, Guevara ran for 92 yards on the night.
