Friday’s area football roundup

Hesston 21, Halstead 14 – Sophomore quarterback Jerick Humphreys, thrust into action after senior Reed Friesen broke a collarbone, threw for 164 yards and ran for 23 more, leading Hesston to a win over a Harvey County rival.

Karter Gonzales also had a big game for Hesston, rushing for 87 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns.

Halstead trailed 21-7 at halftime, but stuck around thanks to a strong rushing attack. Joey Millspaugh rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown. The Dragons had the ball at the Hesston 15-yard line on their final drive, but ended up turning the ball over on downs.

Great Bend 28, McPherson 6

McPherson and Great Bend Panthers met for in their season opener for the third year in a row Friday. The Panthers started off on the right foot when sophomore Cooper Ohnmacht returned the opening kick of the game 90 yards to the end zone. The Bullpups did not give in, scoring on their first possession of the game capped off by a three-yard touchdown pass from Carter Allen to Catch Delaney to tie the game.

Those six points proved to be the only points of the game for McPherson after Great Bend ended the first half and into the third quarter, giving Great Bend the 28-6 win over McPherson. The Bullpups start the season 0-1 for the second year in a row and will look to turn it around next Friday for their first divisional matchup against Circle

Inman 15, Trinity Catholic 0

The game was a defensive battle with lots of turnovers. Two late scores would help Inman move to 1-0 with a 15-0 shutout of the Celtics. The Teutons would fumble the opening kickoff, but get the ball right back as Korbyn McClellan would intercept a Drew Dechant pass. The ) first quarter would go scoreless and the only points in the ) first half would come on a fumble pitch in the end zone by the Celtics that Trinity running back Matthew McConnaughy would recover, resulting in a safety. Inman led 2-0 at halftime. The second half would have big defensive plays by both teams, but none bigger than the Teutons forcing a fumble as the Celtics had a first and goal at the Inman 6-yard line. Inman would take over at their own 3-yard line and put together a drive that would chew up the rest of the quarter and into the fourth

The 97-yard drive would end with a Sebastian Martinez 1-yard touchdown run that put the Teutons up 8-0. Inman added a touchdown when Caleb Bigler would hit Korbyn McClellan on a crossing route and McClellan would make two defenders miss on his way to the end zone. Bigler threw for 49 yards and was the leading rusher with 74. Trinity was led by Dechant, who threw for 95 yards, but three costly turnovers

Andover Central 37, Hutchinson 7 – The Salthawks couldn’t keep up with Andover Central’s strong offense, as they were outgained 394-211. Andover Central also had 21 first downs to Hutchinson’s 10.

Kade Smith led Hutchinson’s offense with 100 rushing yards. Levi Kepler completed 6 of 14 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown to Taishhaun Williams.

Beloit 52, Lyons 6

Beloit got off to a fast start, scoring 2 minutes 57 seconds into the first quarter as Joel Rexroat powered 4 yards into end zone and added the two-point conversion to give Beloit the 8-0 lead. Rexroat added 3 more scores on runs of 12, 21, and 38 yards.to end the night with four TD’s plus a pair of two-point conversions. Rexroat had 216 yards rushing on 22 carries to lead Beloit. JJ Sloan added 63 yards rushing and one TD to assist the Trojans in the victory. Lyons lone score came midway in the third quarter when Ethan Luck connected with Quanick Hamilton on a 66-yard TD strike. Hamilton had 71 yards on two receptions.

Sedgwick 42, Sterling 13

The Sedgwick Cardinals opened their season with a victory over Sterling, led by quarterback Corey Crumrine’s five touchdown passes and one rushing score. Sedgwick built a 21-0 lead before Sterling’s Wyatt Newberry scored on a 55-yard run late in the second quarter. The Cardinals extended their advantage to 42-7 in the third quarter. Zane Farney added a late one-yard touchdown for Sterling.

Larned 36, Smoky Valley 24

Despite strong performances by Smoky Valley senior running back, Gavin Stambaugh with 155 yards rushing, and junior quarterback Ty Heitschmidt with three touchdown passes, the Larned Indians defeated the Smoky Valley Vikings in the home opener for the Vikings. Larned scored all four of their offensive touchdowns in the first half, including three rushing touchdowns by senior quarterback Carson Shaver. They also added a 22-yard interception return by junior safety Mason Miller in the fourth quarter to seal the opening night victory in Lindsborg. The Vikings will host Belle Plaine next week.