MANHATTAN, Kan. – On Tuesday, K-State senior Dalton Schoen fielded questions about the depth of the Wildcats’ receiving corps, hinting at a balanced effort rather than relying on a go-to guy for production. In Saturday’s Purple/White Spring Game, K-State showed a little of both. Fifteen different receivers caught a combined 44 passes – including six for touchdowns – as the Purple outlasted the White, 31-28, under rainy conditions and temperatures in the low 40s at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
In quantity, K-State racked up a combined 515 yards – 293 from the Purple and 222 from the White – and saw four different players catch five or more passes for either side, including a game-high nine catches from Landry Weber, who split duties between the two squads. Chabastin Taylor nearly led the White team to a win, hauling in five catches for 118 yards, including two impressive touchdown grabs in the first half to give the White team a 21-14 halftime edge. On the Purple side, Adam Harter nabbed seven passes for 60 yards and a score and Zach Reuter caught five balls for 75 yards and a game-best two scores.
The guys getting them the ball weren’t bad either as Alex Delton – 21-of-28 for 201 yards – and Skylar Thompson – 15-of-22 for 204 yards – threw TD strikes for both sides and accounted for five of the six total TD passes thrown in the contest.
On defense, White team defensive back Brock Monty tallied 14 stops, including 11 solo tackles, to lead all players and was one of four players from the defensive secondary among the top four leading tacklers on either side as the offenses aired it out. Purple defensive back Wayne Jones logged the only interception of the afternoon, ending the White team’s opening drive of the second half prior to the game-tying scoring drive.
For a second-straight year, the White team opened the scoring in the game with an 11-play, 78-yard drive that was capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass from Delton to Taylor with 5:12 left in the first quarter. Delton found Taylor open at the 12 -yard line and the redshirt freshman spun off a quartet of defenders at the eight before scooting in for an impressive score.
The quarterbacks traded teams the next possession and, after a Purple drive ended on a missed field goal, Thompson drove the White team 69 yards in four plays that ended when he hit Weber on a 14-yard pass in the front left corner on the end zone to extend the score to 14-0, 44 seconds into the second quarter.
Alex Barnes zig-zagged through the line and second level for a 13-yard scamper near the midpoint of the second quarter to put the Purple side on the board. It was part of a 94-yard day, the highest tally of any back in the contest, for K-State’s returning leading rusher.
Taylor pushed the White lead back to two scores with another stunning grab, this time over the top of a defender at the five to complete a 45-yard pitch-and-catch from Hunter Hall with a little more than six minutes left in the first half.
The Purple team wouldn’t be denied before half as Delton connected with a streaking Zach Reuter over the middle with less than 20 seconds before the break to pull Purple within seven at 21-14 at half.
In the second half, Purple continued their surge when Jones intercepted Hall to end the White’s opening drive, then Thompson unleashed a 50-yard strike to Schoen to move deep into White territory. It would take eight more plays to move into the end zone, but the quick-strike-turned-methodical-drive found paydirt when Thompson hit Harter for an 11-yard strike in the flat, a ball the big man caught with one hand off his back shoulder before diving across the goalline to even the tally at 21-21.
On the ensuing drive, White was looking for a fresh set of downs, and handed off to Luke Sowa facing fourth and two, but the community-college transfer fullback hit the hole and scooted up the middle for a 39-yard score, the second of just two rushing scores in the game. That score pushed the White ahead again, 28-21, with 5:33 left in the quarter.
Purple pulled even at the close of the third quarter when Delton again found Reuter, this time from 18 yards out to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive.
In the fourth quarter, the Purple defense forced the first three-and-out and the game’s first punt, then Blake Lynch connected on 44-yard try – the first successful try by three different kickers – to push Purple ahead, 31-28, with 10 minutes to play.
Purple’s defense toughened up again near midfield on the next drive. It took the White three tries from the 50 to get the yard needed for a first down, then a sack on the next play and a short pass gave White a third-and-long. A screen pass following a timeout went incomplete and White had to punt again.
Delton and Harter ran out the remaining 4:21 with the help of the Purple side to walk off with a 31-28 victory.
(Kansas State Sports Information)