Miscues don't help Heights' cause in 73-20 loss
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
As if facing the undefeated defending State champions to open the State playoffs wasn’t enough, the Northern Heights Wildcats didn’t do themselves any favors against Silver Lake, as the Eagles capitalized on early miscues by the Wildcats to roll to a 73-20 victory Tuesday night.
In getting outscored 38-7 in the first quarter, Heights contributed to Silver Lake’s cause thanks to a fumble in the end zone and a dropped snap on a punt in the end zone, both of which the Eagles recovered for touchdowns.
Silver Lake eventually led 59-14 at the half, and the Eagles were on cruise control from there.
“They obviously were the better team,” Heights assistant coach Dustin Waters said. “But we also didn’t play to our potential. We just kind of rolled over once they got up big on us.”
The Wildcats did get some offensive production from the two players who provided it all season long, as quarterback Kenneth Bronson finished the night 14-of-32 for 252 yards and a touchdown through the air while running back Michael Glass rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries.
Heights scored in the first quarter on a 75-yard pass from Bronson to Tyler McClellan and again in the second quarter on a 53-yard scamper by Glass.
The Wildcats would not reach the end zone again until the fourth quarter, when Glass ran it in from 16 yards out to cap the game’s scoring.
The loss ended Heights’ season with a 6-4 record. This season, the Wildcats won the Flint Hills League with an undefeated record in league play and made the playoffs by finishing second in their District.
It all made for a successful season, Waters said.
“We had a good group of seniors who stepped up and led the team,” Waters said.
Lyndon 12, Wathena 6
Led by a strong defensive effort, the Lyndon Tigers advanced in the playoffs with a 12-6 victory over Wathena Tuesday night at Wathena.
The Tigers picked up the game-winning score late.
Tied at 6, Lyndon faced a fourth-and-4 on the Wathena 9-yard-line with less than a minute to go.
On a bootleg, quarterback Shea Kirsop found an opening, scrambling nine yards into the end zone for the touchdown with just 50 seconds left.
Lyndon’s defense held from there.
“I’m proud of our effort. We just keep fighting,” Lyndon coach Rod Stallbaumer said. “We’re finding ways to win, and that’s the sign of a good team.”
Lyndon’s defense was the difference, as Wathena rushed 35 times for just 23 yards.
Overall, the Tigers allowed only 46 yards of total offense.
“The defense was dominant,” Stallbaumer said. “As a unit, they played very well.”
Lyndon took the initial lead in the second quarter on a 5-yard TD run by Kade Neilson.
Wathena answered right after on special teams, returning the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a score.
Neilson led the Tigers, rushing 33 times for 142 yards. Keene Niemack added 47 yards rushing, while Quinton Testerman had two catches for 54 yards.
Lyndon (9-1) will travel to play Troy on Saturday.
Marmaton Valley 60, Lebo 42
After playing so hard to make it out of District play, Lebo came out sluggish in its Bi-District opener, falling to Marmaton Valley by 18.
The Wolves fell into a 38-12 hole at halftime and never were able to recover.
“It almost feels like we lost a little bit of momentum or emotion. You’d think that would carry on into playoffs,” Lebo coach Butch Jones said. “We didn’t have that same fire tonight. I would have liked to play this game with the same fire we had in those ballgames against Madison and Waverly.”
Lebo did build up some momentum in the third quarter, as TD passes from Blake Jones to Adam Laflin and Cameron Smith cut the lead to 38-26.
The Wolves looked to have Marmaton Valley quarterback Chad Bruner stopped on a sack on the ensuing possession, but Bruner slipped away and delivered a back-breaking 55-yard touchdown pass to Justin Thompson.
“We were that close,” coach Jones said, “to being back in the ballgame.
Thompson had four touchdowns — two rushing and two receiving — to lead Marmaton Valley. Bruner added five touchdown passes.
Smith paced Lebo with 87 yards rushing and 80 yards receiving. Brandon Speer and Laflin contributed two TDs each. Blake Jones was 8-of-16 for 145 yards passing.
Lebo finished its season with an 8-2 record.
Marmaton Valley 60, Lebo 42
MV 16 22 6 16 — 60
Lebo 6 6 14 16 — 42
First Quarter
MV — Justin Thompson 2 run (Thompson run)
MV — Gavin Cole 62 pass from Chad Bruner (run converted)
L — Brandon Speer 3 run (conversion failed)
Second Quarter
MV — Cole 4 run (run failed)
MV — Josh Deer 15 pass from Bruner (run converted)
MV — Cole 23 pass from Bruner (run converted)
L — Speer 1 run (conversion failed)
Third Quarter
L — Adam Laflin 24 pass from Blake Jones (conversion failed)
L — Cameron Smith 28 pass from Jones (Laflin run)
MV — Thompson 55 pass from Bruner (run failed)
Fourth Quarter
MV — Thompson 34 pass from Bruner (run converted)
MV — Thompson 33 run (run converted)
L — Laflin 5 run (Laflin run)
L — Speer 7 pass from Jones (Smith pass from Jones)
TEAM STATISTICS
Lebo MV
First downs 11 16
Rushes-yards 35-222 57-273
Comp-att 8-16 9-18
Passing yards 145 235
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Lebo: Speer 8-23, Smith 13-87, Jones 10-85, Calvin Perry 1-4, Laflin 3-12.
Passing — Lebo: Blake Jones 8-16 145
Receiving — Lebo: Smith 4-80, Laflin 1-24, Speer 2-18, Gage Milota 1-13.
Records — Lebo 8-2, Marmaton Valley 10-0.
Comments
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Posted by AshtonHandy (anonymous) on November 1, 2007 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
On the Lebo game, why didn't the Gazette give Speer much press like they did Smith? Speer had three touchdowns and not much fan fare against a team that hasn't played a full game all season, because they have out scored their opponents in the first half. If there is going to be a story at least try to make it appear unbias. Speer, Smith, and Jones are all looking and rightfully should be for football scholarships. Jones and Speer were the leaders of the team. Without these two kid's motivation they wouldn't of made it as far as they did.
Posted by mashford (Michael Ashford) on November 1, 2007 at 10:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm sorry, but I do not see where you are coming from on this. Cameron Smith was mentioned twice in the story, Brandon Speer was mentioned once and Blake Jones was mentioned as well.
We rely on the coaches comments after the game to write our stories and get a feel for the game when we can't make it there. I fail to see where we presented a biased outlook of the game.
Michael Ashford
Gazette sports editor
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