Hutchinson 42, Salina South 7 – Hutchinson had another strong night running the ball, rushing for 353 yards, as the Salthawks opened the Class 5A playoffs with a comfortable win.
The fourth-seeded Salthawks finished the game with 398 yards of offense, compared to 248 for South.
Kade Smith led Hutch with 189 yards rushing on just 12 carries, plus four touchdowns, including three in the first half. Levi Kepler added a touchdown pass to Mitchell Rice as Hutchinson built a 28-7 halftime lead.
Hutchinson improves to 8-1 and will host fifth-seeded Liberal in the second round next Friday.
Hesston 43, Goodland 34 – Karter Gonzalez’s 71-yard touchdown run with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter pushed Hesston’s lead to two possessions, and the Swathers set up a second-round date at Scott City with a thrilling first-round victory in Class 3A
Goodland’s five-star tight end, Linkon Cure, had a monster game, snagging 11 passes for 255 yards and scoring all five Cowboys touchdowns. But Hesston offset Cure with some massive offensive performances.
Gonzalez carried the ball 25 times for 170 yards, and also caught three passes for 82 yards. He also scored five touchdowns.
Quarterback Jerick Humphreys completed 16 of 20 passes for 284 yards and a score, while Asher Deutschendorf caught seven passes for 159 yards and a touchdown.
Sterling 48, Thomas More Prep 6 – Sterling dominated TMP, opening the game with Zane Farney’s explosive 80-yard touchdown run on the first play. The Black Bears extended their lead in the second quarter with two touchdown passes from Logan Isaac to Boston Ekart, including a 69-yard strike, putting Sterling up 21-0 at halftime.
Sterling scored again early in the third, making it 28-0 before TMP’s quarterback Carson Liles finally found the end zone. However, Sterling capped the night with two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, sealing the 48-6 win.
Farney led Sterling with 18 carries for 166 yards and three touchdowns, while Isaac was a perfect 2-for-2 for 80 yards, both touchdown passes to Ekart. Now 6-3, Sterling advances to face 7-2 Valley Heights in the Regional round next Friday.
Little River 42, Lincoln 40 – Down by four points and at its own 9-yard line with less than 30 seconds left in the game, Little River dialed up a perfect play.
Jared Garrison threw a pass to Logan Renden, who caught the ball near midfield and outraced the Lincoln defense to the end zone for a 71-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game for the winning points.
Little River trailed the entire game until that point.
Renden finished with 100 rushing yards and two receptions for 104 yards and four total touchdowns. Garrison had a touchdown rush to go with his passing score.
Argonia/Attica 70, St. John 20 – Braxton Alpers scored his second touchdown with 9:13 remaining in the second quarter to put the St. John Tigers up 20-14 on the Argonia/Attica Titans on Thursday night in Attica. From there, the Titans took control of the game, scoring 56 straight in a 50-point win.
The biggest stretch from the Titans came in a 55-second span of game time. They got on the board with three straight passing plays as sophomore QB Maddex Hemberger connected with Mac Harnden on a 12-yard pass with 45 seconds left in the first half, then hit Carson Vineyard on a 24-yard pass as the first half expired. Ten seconds into the second half, Hemberger connected with Harnden from 42 yards out and the Titans continued to cruise from there. Hemberger threw for 120 yards and four scores. Vineyard added three rushing touchdowns. The Titans gained 321 yards to 254 for the Tigers. Alpers led St. John with 99 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing.
Plainville 28, Inman 0 – The Inman Teutons saw their season come to a close on Friday night with a 28-0 loss at Plainville in the opening round of the 1A playoffs.
The Cardinals got touchdown passes of 15 and 73 yards from Joey Dintino to Roy Bright, Jr. to take a 14-0 lead at halftime. Draden Puckett added touchdown runs of 67 and 11 yards in the third quarter for the final two scores for Plainville. Puckett ran for 211 yards on 32 carries with the two scores, while Dintino threw for 131 yards on the night.
Inman was held to just 131 yards of total offense. Malachi Brunk had 74 yards on 18 carries in the loss. The Teutons finished their season at 4-5.
Lyons 42, Belle Plaine 13 – Ethan Luck intercepted a pass on the third Belle Plaine play, setting up Lyons with good field position early, and Luck scored on the ensuing drive on a five-yard run.
The Lyons defense forced five turnovers, including four interceptions.
Zander Young rushed for 200 yards for Lyons, a career-best for the freshman, and scored three touchdowns. Lyons finishes their season 2-7.
