Hays High played beyond week nine of the football season for just the eighth in school history on Friday night.  The tenth seeded Indians found themselves taking on the undefeated two seed, Maize South Mavericks.

Hays took the opening possession eight plays for a touchdown lead.  The Indians never faced third down on the drive and needed a little luck to get into the end zone.  Carson Keifer recovered a fumble in the end zone following a completed pass to the one yard line.  The Matt Goodale extra point gave the Indians a 7-0 lead.

Maize South tied the game on their second possession.  The Mavericks took over at the Indian yard line after a short punt and punched the ball in five plays later for a 7-7 game.  Following a short Hays High punt Maize South again got into the red zone but fumbled a pitch that was recovered by Gaven Haselhorst.  The Indians could not successfully move the ball and Maize South scored just two plays into their next drive on a 24 yard pass and a 14-7 lead.

The Mavericks were poised to take a two possession lead when Tucker Veach took away a overthrown pass in Maverick territory.  Hays moved the ball into the red zone and Matt Goodale connected on a 26 yard field goal for a 14-10 deficit for the Indians.  Maize South again threatened to score inside the red zone and again was turned away.  Veach took away a second pass, his fifth of the season, and Hays entered the locker room down 14-10.

Highlights

 

The second half belonged to the home team.  The Indian defense forced a three and out on the first Maverick drive.  Maize South lined up to go for a conversion on fourth and one but the quarterback punted the ball down inside the one yard line.  Hays two plays later threw an interception setting up the Mavericks inside the red zone.  It took seven plays but Maize South made the most of it.  A fourth and goal quarterback run from the three yard line increased the lead for Maize South at 20-10 following a blocked extra point.

The Indians would play the entire second half without their starting quarterback Dylan Dreiling.  Hays never could get much traction for the rest of the game.  The Indians ran just one play across the fifty yard line and gained just 25 yards in the second half.  Maize South scored on three straight possessions and picked up a Indian fumble for a score and a 41-10 win.

Maize South stays undefeated at 10-0.  Hays High ends the year at 4-6.  Tucker Veach intercepted three passes for the Indians.

Coach Tony Crough

 

Hays High traveled to Goddard on Friday night to take on the Eisenhower Tigers for week nine bracket play and the opportunity for their season to continue.

The Indians avoided disaster in the first quarter.  Eisenhower was forced to punt after just three plays to start the game but the ball hit an Indian past the line of scrimmage and recovered by the Tigers hear midfield.  Hays quickly turned the tables.  Trey Adams intercepted a pass on third down to set up the Indians at the 47 yard line.  The first offensive play of the game for Hays was a hand off to Jaren Kanak who went around the left end for 53 yards.  The extra point from Matt Goodale gave Hays a 7-0 lead.

Eisenhower threatened to score several times in the first half.  During the second quarter the Tigers started with the ball inside Hays territory on three straight possessions.  The first resulted in a Eisenhower punt.  Hays muffed the punt inside the ten yard line but recovered the ball.  The Tigers then took over at the Hays 29 yard line and would punch the ball into the end zone on a third down pass from the ten yard line.  Trey Adams blocked the extra point preserving a 7-6 lead.

Hays fielded a pooch kick at the 39 yard line but lost 18 yards on the drive and following a short punt Eisenhower took over at the 26.  The Tigers scored a touchdown on the first play of the drive but was called back for holding.  Three plays later Dawson VonFeldt intercepted pass at the five to keep the score 7-6 in favor of the Indians at the half.

Highlights

The entire second half belonged to the Indians.  Hays took the opening possession of the second half 11 plays that resulted in a career long 42 yard field goal from Matt Goodale and a 10-6 lead.  Eisenhower punted away the ball on the next possession and the Indians took advantage.  Hays drove into the red zone for the first time on the night and eventually scored on a six yard run by Hayden Brown following a pass interference call on an attempted catch by Jaren Kanak.

Leading 17-6 Gaven Haselhorst jumped on top of a fumble on the ensuing kick off return by Eisenhower.  Hays again controlled the clock and worked the ball to the 23 yard line. On fourth and one and moving into the wind the Indians went for the conversion.  The play ended in the end zone with a Hayden Brown touchdown and a 24-6 lead.  Dalton Dale intercepted a pass on the next drive inside Eishenhower territory.  The Indians responded with a fake field goal ten yard touchdown pass from Tucker Veatch to Trey Adams the final 31-6 score.

Coach Tony Crough

Hays High will play Maize South next week following the Mavericks 31-0 win over Salina South.  Hays is 4-5 while the second seeded Maverick are 9-0.

Hays improves to 4-1 on the road.

Hays High hosted Salina Central on Senior Night at Lewis Field Stadium.  Twelve seniors were honored before the game.  Matt Goodale, Tavian Creamer, Hayden Brown, Hunter Wellbrock, Dylan Ruder, Drake Summers, Brian Escobedo, Da’Vontai Robinson, Brock Lummus, Jimmie Roe, Luke Fletcher and Gavin Manning each were introduced thirty minutes before kickoff.

Both Hays and Salina Central turned the ball over twice in the first half.  The Mustangs took advantage of the breaks while Hays High did not.  Hays took the opening possession to the red zone but fumbled and Central responded with a ten play 77 yard drive for a 7-0 lead.

A Matt Goodale 32 yard field goal closed the gap to 7-3 late in the first quarter.  Central marched back down the field to the Indian red zone but lost a fumble early in the second quarter.  Hays drove into Mustang territory but backed up five yards on first down on a penalty and drive stalled.  Central drove inside the ten yard line following the Indian’s punt but lost the ball once again.

Hays pushed the ball out their own 23 but was called for holding and backed up inside the fifteen yard line.  One play later Hays fumbled and Salina Central scored on the their first play for a 14-3 lead an advantage they held on to into halftime.

Highlights

 

 

The Hays defense provided two opportunities in the third quarter for a chance at a comeback.  The Indians forced a punt and an interception to keep the score at 14-3.  Hays though was unable to take advantage throwing their own interception and losing the ball on downs on a broken up pass in the end zone.

Salina Central was never really threatened again.  They score 21 second half points on the way to a 35-3 Mustang victory.  Salina Central improves to 5-3 while Hays drops to 3-4.  Unofficially Hays looks to be going on the road to Goddard Eisenhower in week nine.  Official brackets be released by KSHSAA.

Coach Tony Crough

The Hays and Buhler defenses took over the Thursday night show in Buhler during the first half.  Hays punted after just three plays to start the game and Buhler drove down to the Hays seven yard line but was turned away on 4th and 1.  The Indians opened the next drive with a 40 yard run to midfield but stalled following a 17 yard loss on a snap and fumble recovery.

A Hayden Brown punt rolled out of bounds at the 11 yard line.  Three plays later Tucker Veatch intercepted a pass to set up the Indians at the 20 yard line.  The Indians pushed down to the six yard line but could not take advantage of two Crusader red zone penalties and settled for a 23 yard field goal from Matt Goodale and a 3-0 lead.

Buhler fumbled their next drive away but Hays could not score with a drive starting in Buhler territory.  Following punts from both teams the Crusaders hooked up for a 46 yard pass play that set up the game’s first touchdown.  Bradley Neill rolled out to on a four yard pass to Austin Gentry who just broke the goal line for the score and 7-3 lead.

Each team turned the ball over in the final three minutes of the half.  Hays High on an interception in the end zone and Buhler fumbling when Hunter Harris punched the ball out and Trey Adams recovered the ball.  Hays tried to score in the final 31 seconds but got to the 19 yard line before time in the first half ran out.

Highlights

 

 

The Indian defense never did yield in the second half.  Hays intercepted four more passes with the fourth providing some breathing room for Hays.  Tucker Veach grabbed his second interception of the night and raced to the end zone for a 17-7 lead with 7:52 remaining.

Buhler did threaten in the second half.  The Crusaders opened the second half with drive to the Hays 28 yard line but was sacked on third down by Da’Vontai Robinson.  Buhler also drove down to the Hays red zone late in the fourth quarter trailing by ten.  The Hays defense was backed up to their own goal line.  With under two minutes remaining Buhler took a timeout to set up a fourth and goal play from the two yard line.  Gavin Meyers almost intercepted a short pass by plucking the ball off the quarterback’s hand.

Hays held on to a 17-7 victory.

Coach Tony Crough

 

The Hays defense forced seven total turnovers.  Fumble recoveries by Trey Adams and Gavin Nutting.  Hunter Harris forced the fumble that Adams recovered.  Tucker Veach took away two passes while Gavin Meyers, Tavian Creamer, and Gavin Nutting each picked off pass as well.

Hays improves to 3-4 on the year while Buhler falls to 5-2.

The Indians return home for Senior Night next Friday to take on Salina Central.

Dodge City took advantage of an interception on the first play of the game to start a strong first quarter against the Hays High Indians.  The Red Demons scored four plays later on a 29 yard run and then a one yard plunge on the next series following an Indian punt after three plays.

Dodge City posted a 14-0 lead with 7:56 left in the first quarter.  Hays did burst onto the scoreboard on their fourth drive.  Dylan Dreiling scored on an 83 yard run which was the first play of the drive.  The longest play of the season for Hays High brought the score back to 14-7.

The Red Demons wasted little time scoring two plays later.  Quarterback Beau Foster who ran for the first two scores threw to Matt Friess for a 71 yard strike and a 21-7 lead with 3:40 left in the first quarter.  The fireworks would be squelched the remainder of the half.  Hays started three first half drives in Dodge City territory but was turned away on three plays each time.  The Indians advanced to the 19 yard line of Dodge City late in the second quarter but turned the ball over on downs.

The Red Demons threatened to score on the ensuing drive but a 42 yard field goal attempt went awry and resulted in an incomplete pass to end the first half.

Highlights

 

 

The Hays High defense forced a three play and punt drive by Dodge City to open up the second half and the offense struck quickly.  Hays ran the ball on six plays to the 49 yard line then struck for six points on a 51 yard pass play from Dylan Dreiling to Hayden Brown.  The Matt Goodale extra point closed the gap to 21-14 with 9:12 left in the third quarter.

Dodge City struck right back and then added a second touchdown with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.  Both point after attempts failed for the Red Demons leaving the score at 33-12.  Hays would score again in the third quarter.  Hayden Brown returned a kickoff 97 yards for a 33-21 score.  It was the first kickoff return for a score by Brown this season and the third of his career.

Coach Tony Crough

 

Dodge City’s next drive would eliminate most of the comeback chances for Hays.  The Red Demons added 470 pounds of blocking backs into the backfield that helped pave the way to the end zone.  The Red Demons went on a 6:37 drive that was all on the ground and ended with a Beau Foster one yard plunge for his fourth score of the night.  The extra point was the final tally of a 40-21 Dodge City victory.

Hays falls to 2-4 on the year and finishes conference play at 1-3.  Hays will be at Buhler next Thursday.  Dodge City will enter next week’s Hatchet Game with Garden City at 6-0.  The two are each 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference play.

 

The Hays High took to the road and traveled to Wichita on Friday night in an effort to bounce back following a homecoming loss last week.  The Indians found themselves at Wichita South High School to take on the Titans.

The Hays defense set the tone for the first half.  Following a lost fumble to start the contest by the Indians, the Hays defense forced a change of possession on downs from the Indian 21 yard line.  Wyatt Crain kept the defensive train rolling with a 25 yard scoop and score on South’s second possession fumble.  The defense continued to play well through the first half allowing South to cross the 50 just one time while picking up another fumble (Tucker Veach) and an interception (Tavian Creamer.)

Leading 7-0 the Hays offense kicked into gear.  Brock Lummus recovered an offensive fumble in the end zone for a score to take a 14-0 lead.  Hays scored twice on one play drives on a Hayden Brown 69 yard run and a Dylan Dreiling to Jaren Kanak 39 yard strike.  Sandwiched in between those two scores Brown added a nine yard run out of the quarterback position.  Hays scored on four of five possessions to push their advantage to 35-0 by halftime.

Highlights

 

The Indians pushed the game high advantage to 38 points following the first field goal attempt in Matt Goodale’s short (two game) career.  Goodale split the uprights down the middle on a 35 yard attempt and a 38-0 lead early in the third quarter.  South scored on the next drive for the first of three Titan scores.  Hays did run one more in during the third quarter as the Indians pull away for a 45-20 victory.

The Hays coaching staff was able to allow several players to get into the game throughout the fourth quarter and get their chance at playing the varsity of a different team.

Coach Tony Crough

 

Hays moves to 2-3 on the year while Wichita South falls to 3-2.  Dylan Dreiling threw for 183 yards.  His favorite target was Jaren Kanak who hauled in six receptions for 112 yards a touchdown.

Hays heads back out on the road for their final Western Athletic Conference game on the season in Dodge City.

Hays High hosted Garden City for their homecoming game Friday night at Lewis Field Stadium.  The Hays High defense started out with a stop and the offense made the most of it.  The second play of the game for the Indians resulted in a 73 yard touchdown run by Roy Maroni.  Soccer player, and new football kicker, Matt Goodale nailed the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Garden City got on the scoreboard for the first time thanks to a snap that went 16 yards backwards for Hays and into the end zone and was recovered by the Buffaloes.  Hays responded immediately with a 65 yard Dylan Dreiling touchdown run to start the second quarter.  The extra point from Hays missed but Garden City had missed theirs leaving Hays with a 13-6 lead.  Garden City scored to close the gap down to one but again missed the extra point.

Roy Maroni struck again in the first half with a 33 yard score to put Hays up 20-12 following an successful extra point.  Garden City fumbled the ensuing kickoff but retained the ball at the 14.  Their drive then went 11 plays 86 yards and took over four minutes.  Following a Carlos Acosta four yard touchdown run and a two point conversion pass tied the game up at 20 for halftime.

Highlights

 

 

Garden City struck first in the second half on a 51 yard pass from Carlos Acosta to Lane Durst.  Trailing 27-26 Hays answered right back on a Hayden Brown six yard touchdown rush.  The drive was set up by a long kickoff return by Brown into Garden City territory.  Garden City drove into the Hays redzone but was turned away on a Tucker Veach interception that was returned to the Garden City 25.

Hays did not score on the following drive.  The defense forced the Buffaloes back to their own nine yard line.  A six yard punt put Hays starting at the Buffaloe 15 yard line.  It took until fourth down but running back Hayden Brown threw a touchdown to Dylan Ruder in the back of the endzone for seven yard score.  The two point conversion failed keeping the score at 32-27.

Garden City drove seventy yards on their next drive to take a 35-32 lead.  During the drive Garden City senior quarterback left the game with an apparent knee injury.  Running back Josh Janas finished off the drive on his 34 carry and his second touchdown rush then the two point conversion.

Coach Tony Crough

 

 

Hays had four minutes and two timeouts left to navigate 56 yards to win the game.  The Indians received 15 yards on a Garden City penalty and used the momentum to take the ball down to the ten.  On the following play Hays was called for a 15 yard penalty themselves.  On 3rd and 22 and 4th and 22 the Indians heaved two passes for the end zone.  The first was ruled incomplete at the one. The second pass fell incomplete following contact in the end zone on Hays receiver.

Dylan Dreiling ran for 125 yards and a touchdown.  Roy Maroni ran for 164 yards and two scores on seven carries.  Hays falls to 1-3 and 1-2 in the WAC.  Garden City is now and 1-0 in conference play.

Hays travels to Wichita to take on the South Titans next Friday.

Following at 0-2 start to the season at home the Hays High Indians took off for Liberal on Friday in search of their first road contest of the season.  Liberal entered the game at 2-0 with 69-0 and 55-18 victories under the belt.

Hays and Liberal played to a scoreless stalemate for the first 23:19 of the first half before the Indians broke the tie.  An eight play 86 yard play drive capped off by a 21 yard touchdown pass from Dylan Dreiling to Hayden Brown made the score 6-0.  The extra point failed with :41 left before the half.

The two defenses ruled the field in the first half.  Liberal twice drove in to the Hays red zone and once to the 22 yard line but was turned away twice on downs and once on a interception by Dawson VonFeldt.  The Liberal Redskin’s defense did not allow Hays inside the forty yard line before the Indian’s scoring drive at the end of the first half.

Highlights

Neither team moved the ball much in third quarter and Hays continued to lead 6-0 going to the fourth quarter.  The Indians drove down to the Liberal 13 yard line but could not score to take a two possession lead.  Liberal took over at their own fifteen following the Indian’s stall and put together their best drive of the night.  Liberal went 85 yards and tied the game at six points with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter.  Like Hays the Redskins missed the extra point.

Neither team was able to move the ball in the final six minutes leaving overtime to decide the fate of the game.

Hays moved down to the one yard in overtime on the first drive.  On fourth down and one the Indians were penalized five yards before the play.  Dylan Dreiling found a leaping Hayden Brown in the back left corner of the end zone for a touchdown.  The extra point from Gavin Meyers just snuck over the crossbar inside left upright for a 13-6 lead.

Liberal scored on just two plays by 210 pound Alex Esparza.  Esparza received the ball on the two point conversion for the win but was turned away by several of the Indian’s defense.

Coach Tony Crough

Hays moves to 1-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference.  Liberal drops to 2-1 and 0-1.

Hays returns to Hays next week for a homecoming date with 0-3 Garden City.  Hays has won 10 of their last 11 games against Liberal.

Hays High football opened their second season under coach Tony Crough by hosting Junction City on Friday night at Lewis Field Stadium.

Hays scored on the first drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead.  Hayden Brown scampered 44 yards on third down to take the first lead of the season.  Junction City went to a strong air attack throughout the first half.  The Blue Jays scored on their first two drives of the game taking a 14-7 lead.  Andrew Khoury threw for a score on one of those drives and set the other score up with a pass down to the one yard line.

The two teams entered a stalemate for most of the remainder of the half.  Hays went three play and out over their next six drives losing a total of eight yards.  One of those six drives started in Junction City territory but faltered on a penalty on first down.  Junction City punted on their next three drives but eventually found the pay dirt on the second quarter.  The Blue Jays converted a fourth and thirteen play for 26 yards that eventually led to a touchdown.  The extra point missed for a 20-7 Blue Jay advantage.

Junction City drove to the Hays High two yard line at the end of the second quarter but were turned away as time expired.

Highlights

Hays held Junction City to three plays and punts on the first two possessions of the second half.  The second of the two punts featured the flash of what Jaren Kanak provides to the Indian football team.  Kanak received the punt at the twelve yard line, bounced of a tackle, the outraced the Blue Jays for a touchdown.  The extra point closed the gap down to 20-14 with 8:18 left in the third quarter.

Junction City scored the next 22 points of then Carson Kiefer for a 33 yard strike.  Hays fell in end 48-30 to the Junction City Blue Jays.

Junction City piled up 497 yards, 332 of which came through the air.  Hays ends the game with 263 yards.

Coach Tony Crough

Hays falls to 0-1 to start the year.  Junction City improves to 1-0.  Hays stays home to take on 1-0 Great Bend next week.