The Victoria Knights had to work to make their 8-Man leading 13th consecutive playoff appearance more than one game, but the Knights (9-1) prevail with a 34-20 win in the first round of the 8-Man Division II playoffs in Victoria.
After falling behind 12-0 in the second quarter, the Knights score 20 unanswered points to build a 20-12 halftime lead. After Hoxie tied the game in the third quarter, Victoria responds by scoring the game’s final 14 points.
Junior quarterback Brady Dinkel rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another helping the Knights to their ninth straight win.
Victoria advances to play at Minneola (9-1) at 5pm Saturday. The Wildcats hold off Satanta 44-32 in their opener Tuesday.
The story line of Friday night for Hays High was the Indians needed to beat McPherson by 17 points in order to make the playoffs. When it was announced that the Bullpups starting quarterback was out of the game the odds seemed to tilt in Hays’ favor.
Even after Hays fumbled on their first possession and punted on their second, the Indian defense held. Hays would score on their next two possessions to take a 14-0 lead with 6:02 left before half time. That is when the McPherson offense started to click. McPherson scored on the ensuing possession, cutting the lead down to 14-7. After Hays High lost the next possession on downs at their own 43, McPherson scored with 44 seconds left before half time to tie the game at 14.
McPherson would turn those 14 unanswered points into 21 scoring on their first possession of the second half. Hays answered with a one play drive that featured Alex Delton running for 61 yards to tie the game at 21. McPherson would score twice more on either side of a Hays three and out. McPherson took a 42-21 lead with 6:04 remaining in the game on a 4th down play from the 20 yard line.
Hays would fight back with a touchdown pass from Alex Delton to Keith Dryden. Hayden Kreuzter recovered the onside kick, and scored on a 46 yard pass from Delton to bring the score 42-35 with 3:39 left. Hays would then hold McPherson to a short punt after three plays, but threw an interception to end the game.
Hays finishes the year at 7-2, both losses coming in district play. McPherson wins their seventh straight game, improving to 7-2 and finished as district champs with a 3-0 mark.
Hays ran for 211 yards and passed for 182, totaling 393. McPherson rushed for 207 and threw for 213, totaling 420.
The TMP-Marian volleyball team put up quite a fight at the 4A Division II state volleyball tournament Friday in Salina, but come up short in their bid to advance to Saturday semifinals after going 1-2 in pool play.
The Monarchs opened the day by upsetting No. 2 seed Holomb 2-0 (25-17, 25-22). They lost 2-1 to Baldwin (18-25, 25-22, 11-25) then fell to Hoyt-Royal Valley 2-1 in a close math (25-16, 25-27, 27-29).
TMP-Marian, which won just six matches a year ago, finishes the season 23-16.
The Norton Bluejays used a 32 point first half to put the TMP Monarchs away 42-6 in the final regular season game Thursday night at Lewis Field in Hays. Norton ends their regular season 9-0 and will host Riley County in the first round of the 3A playoffs Tuesday. The Monarchs finish 0-9.
It was a tight 6-0 game after the first quarter but Norton exploded for 26 second quarter points and never looked back.
Bluejay quarterback Jordan Dole ran for three first half touchdowns while running back Jared Tallent ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
A bright spot for the Monarchs was a late touchdown pass from David McFarland to TJ Flax from 27 yards out. The Monarchs lose seven seniors off of this year’s squad.
The TMP-Marian boys soccer team advances to the finals of the 4-1A South Central Regional #1 with a 2-1 win over Wichita Independent Monday afternoon at the Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex. Eduardo Gonzalez scored two second half goals as the Monarchs rally from a 1-0 halftime deficit.
TMP-Marian (9-7-1)will now face top-seeded Rose Hill Friday in Rose Hill. The Rockets improve to 16-1 with a 9-0 shutout of Buhler Tuesday.
The Hays High boys soccer team gave the No. 2 seed Augusta Orioles all they wanted, but in the end, Augusta advances to the 4-1A South Central Regional #2 finals with a 4-3 win Tuesday in Augusta. The Indians end their season 3-12-3 while Augusta improves to 12-4-1.
Augusta scored three goals in the first seven minutes, but Hays rallied over the next 70 minutes to make a game of it. Ethan Nunnery scored in the 13th and 29th minute to pull the Indians within a goal at the half. Nunnery scored his third goal of the match seven minutes into the second half to tie the match 3-3.
The Orioles scored what proved to be the game winning goal in the 26th minute of the second half.
In the 38th minute, Nunnery scored what appeared to be the equalizer but the goal was not allowed because of a foul.
The Hays High boys socder team wins their play-in game to the 4-1A South Central Regional 5-1 over Mulvane Monday at Hays High School. Senior Kyler Leiker scores three goals and freshman Ethan Nunnery two, all in the second half to lift the Indians (3-11-3) to the victory. Hays will now face No. 2 seed Augusta (11-4-1) Tuesday at 6pm in Augusta.
TMP-Marian is the No. 6 seed and opens at home with Wichita Independent Tuesday afternoon at 4pm. The Monarchs are 8-7-1 while Independent is 7-8.
The TMP-Marian volleyball team is the No. 7 seed at the 4A Division II state tournament in Salina and will face Holcomb, Baldwin and Royal Valley in pool play Friday.
The Monarchs (22-14) play Holcomb (29-7) to open pool play then take on Baldwin (27-11) at 11:30am. They close out pool play against Holt-Royal Valley (23-14) at 12:30pm.
The top two teams from each pool advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
The Monarchs defeated Larned and Smoky Valley this past Saturday at the Larned regional to advance.
The TMP-Marian volleyball is headed to the 4A Division II state tournament after a pair of wins at the Larned regional Saturday. TMP defeated Larned (25-13, 25-7) then knocked off Smoky Valley (26-24, 25-21) in the title match.
Kayle Vitztum led TMP with 14 kills, Madyson Koerner recorded 24 assists and Bailey Hageman 22 digs.
It wasn’t easy…nor should it have been. Hays and Abilene were each coming off their first loss of the season and met up in week 2 of district play, both needing a victory to keep the best picture of the playoffs in front of them.
Things did not start well for Hays High as Abilene took the first play of the game 68 yards for a touchdown by quarterback Hartley Hazlett. Trailing 7-0 Hays reponded with a nine play 77 yard drive capped by a three yard Isaiah Blackmon run. The Indians missed the extra point and trailed 7-6.
Neither team could grab a first half stop. Abilene scored on a Tanner Hoekman 1 yard run answered by a Isaiah Blackmon 2 yard scoring run and with a two point conversion tied the game at 14.
Abilene took the lead again on a Hazlett touchdown pass to Hoekman from 76 yards out. Only to see Hays tie the game at 21 with a Alex Delton one yard quarterback sneak.
Abilene had the ball to end the first half and scored on a one yard dive by Hoekman to take a 27-21 lead after the Indians blocked the extra points.
Hays got the ball to begin the second half, but threw an interception just four plays into their drive. Abilene drove inside of the Indian’s five yard line, but lost the possession downs following a Brendan Ibarra tackle for loss on fourth down. The very next play Hays tied the game up on a 90 yard touchdown run by Delton. The extra point though hit the left upright to leave the game tied at 27.
Abilene scored on the ensuing drive again on a touchdown down pass from Hazlett to Hoekman. Hays again though blocked the extra point leaving Abilene with a 33-27 lead with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter.
The ensuing drive by Hays High looked to be stalled until Delton found Garrett Pfannenstiel for his first career reception. It was a 12 yard catch on 4th and 9. Delton capped off the 4:45 drive with a 17 yard run. Kyler Leiker extra point just made it past the cross bar to give Hays High their first lead at 34-33 with 8:38 remaining in the game.
Abilene drove to the Hays 23 yard line but couldn’t convert on 4th and 10. Hays took over and 12 plays later ran out the clock for the 34-33 win.
Alex Delton led the Indians on the ground with 257 yards and three scores on 24 carries. Isaiah Blackmon rushed for 40 yards and two touchdowns. Connor Rule ran for 41 yards and Hayden Kreutzer finished the game with 57 yards rushing. Hays ended the game with 484 yards of offense. Abilene totaled 402 yards. Hays was 9 for 10 on third downs and converted on the one fourth down they faced. Neither team punted in the game.
Hays with the win moves to 7-1 on the year and 1-1 in district play. Abilene is 6-2 and 0-2.
There are many scenarios that are set up for Hays to potentially make the playoffs, but it all comes down to winning. If Hays wins by 17+ points at McPherson and Buhler beats Abilene, the Indians are playoff bound. If Abilene beat Buhler, Hays only needs to beat McPherson by any margin to become district champions. McPherson moved to 2-0 in district play with a 44-42 in over Buhler. Hays lost to Buhler last week 55-21.
TMP opened up play on Friday night with a 55 yard touchdown scoring drive to take an early seven to nothing lead. The Monarchs wouldn’t find the endzone again until late in the fourth quarter in a 24-17 loss, keeping TMP winless through eight games in the 2014 season. Cameron Fouts accounted for both TMP touchdowns. The first a 40 yard strike to Jared Schumacher in the first quarter and the next a late 14 yard connection with Chase Romme at the 5:20 mark of the fourth quarter. His last pass was intercepted in the red zone with under 2 minutes to play in the game that sealed TMP’s fate.
Russell used the playmaking ability of junior Reshean Holloway who returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown and also threw 2 passes for scores. The Broncos are now two and six on the season and will travel to Beloit next Thursday. TMP is oh and eight and will finish the season at home on Thursday against Norton.
