MHS football photos now posted

Go to our sports gallery now and check out Kendall Shaw’s tremendous photos from Friday’s McPherson High 31-7 football victory over Rose Hill.

See all of his work at his website:

www.outdoorkansas.zenfolio.com

To purchase photos, contact Kendall at 620-242-7232.

Another huge night for area football teams

McPherson’s three 8-man area football teams showed no mercy on Friday.

Moundridge, Canton-Galva and Little River all pounded their opponents and made it an early night.

It was a good night overall as Inman and Hesston also recorded victories, with Smoky Valley the only team to come up on the wrong end.

Moundridge 56, Central Plains 8 – You know what they say about paybacks.

Central Plains is getting paid back 10-fold this season.

The defending state champions suffered another mercy-rule loss as Moundridge sprinted to a 30-8 halftime lead and then put the game away with four third-quarter touchdowns.

The Wildcats pounded away with a strong running game that accounted for six touchdowns. Daniel Kaufman (6 carries, 54 yards) scored three times, Corbin Unruh (7 carries, 94 yards) scored twice and Garrett Doherty (5 carries, 69 yards) scored once as he took the place for the injured Collin Kohl.

Unruh also threw a pair of TD passes, one each to Korbin Wedel and Brady Helms.

Helms was a monster on defense with 2 solo tackles and 12 assists.

The victory pushed the Wildcats back over .500 on the year at 4-3 and they finish their regular season next week at Little River.

Canton-Galva 60, Solomon 0 – The cat is out of the bag for the Eagles as two-way star Tyson Struber is out for the year after having surgery for a broken hand.

But his teammates picked him up as for the sixth time in seven games the Eagles played only to the half.

It was a bit of revenge for the Eagles, who lost to the Gorillas in last year’s state semifinals.

C-G totaled 244 yards on just 19 plays, most of it on the ground.

Brayden Collins charged to 131 yards on just 8 carries and scored on half of his carries. Landon Everett, Andre Patton and Brandon Huff all added rushing touchdowns.

Everett’s only completion of the game went to Kinser Colgin for another score.

C-G also scored 2-pointers after six of its scores. Everett had three, Patton added two and Collins had the other.

Nick Pearson led the defense with 4 solo tackles and 5 assists, while Garrett Maltbie picked off two passes.

The 7-0 Eagles host Herington in an attempt to complete a perfect regular season on Friday.

Little River 60, St. John 0 – The Redskins put up 31 first-quarter points and rolled past winless St. John to improve to 6-1, all their wins coming by the point rule.

The Redskins accumulated 260 yards on just 24 plays, while St. John actually snapped it 46 times, but for just 50 yards.

Braxton Lafferty played a key role in the offense with 139 yards and two touchdowns. Jayden Garrison also rushed for two touchdowns, while scoring one each on the ground were Graham Stephens, Rylan Konen and Corbin Herbst. Stephens also kicked a 33-yard field goal as he has not had many chances to show off his powerful leg.

On 2-pointers, Stephens had two, along with a PAT. Lafferty and Juzdun Mazur also scored deuces.

Stephens was in on 9 tackles to lead the Little River defense, 6 of them solo.

Little River will try to finish the regular season 7-1 for the second straight year when it hosts Moundridge next week.

Inman 19, Meade 0 – The streaking Teutons made it four wins in the last five games as they played only their third home game of the season.

With the win, the Teutons and Sedgwick will meet on Friday for the district title in Inman.

Inman’s defense remained lights-out as it allowed only 162 yards even though the Buffaloes snapped it 64 times.

“Our defense was phenomenal,” Inman coach Lance Sawyer said. “We had guys flying all over the field making tackles. Our coverage was the best it has ever been only giving up one completed pass. Carter Brown, Justin Schroeder and Sam Kleinherenbrink all did some really nice things to lead the defense.”

Brown (3 tackles, 14 assists), Schroeder (3, 13) and Kleinherenbrink (2, 12) were nightmares for the Meade offense.

It was a 13-0 game at the half as Kendyn Blank caught a 25-yard scoring pass from Jace Doerksen, who also connected for a 15-yarder with Mason Carter. Kolby Blank dashed to a 51-yard score in the second half for insurance.

“I was impressed by our guys tonight,” Sawyer said. “We were able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. We were able to get some blocking tonight from our running backs to break some long runs.  Jace Doerksen had his best game of the year. He threw some really nice passes when we needed to and he had the block of the night which broke Kolby free on his 51-yard touchdown run.”

Blank finished with 123 yards on 12 carries and Schroeder furnished 66 on just 7 tries.

Sawyer said he’s looking forward to seeing how his team matches up with undefeated Sedgwick. 

“We are excited to be back in the district championship next week against Sedgwick,” he said. “Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now. It will be a fun matchup.”

Inman takes a 4-3 record into the contest.

Hesston 43, Chapman 32 – The Swathers took a big step toward a runner-up finish in their district as they won a shootout from the Fighting Irish.

Hesston, now 6-1 overall, goes to Clay Center next week. The Swathers are 3-1 in the district, while Clay Center and Rock Creek are 2-2.

A 14-0 first-quarter lead was the difference as the teams were practically even after that. Hesston led 28-12 at the half and 28-18 going into the fourth quarter.

Max Arnold ran for 112 yards and Jacob Eilert threw for 117 as Hesston actually was outgained 410-344 and the Irish also ran more plays, 73-54.

Eilert ran for two scores and threw TD passes to Brady Cox and Ben Bollinger. Arnold also ran for two scores.

Jared Nelson kicked five PATs and Eilert ran for a 2-pointer.

Halstead 49, Smoky Valley 0 – The Dragons remained undefeated and sent the Vikings to their fifth straight loss.

Smoky Valley, now 1-6, hosts Rock Creek on Friday in the regular-season finale.

No game information was reported.

MHS' Allen, Bruce advance to semis

PITTSBURG – McPherson High’s undefeated doubles team of CeAnna Allen and Taylor Bruce are two victories away from perfection.

After finishing fourth in the state tennis tourney last year, they return this year armed with the No. 1 overall seed as they entered Friday’s Class 5A clambake with a 31-0 record.

Make that 33-0 now as they recorded two victories to move into Saturday’s semifinals.

The Bullpup twosome opened with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Gabby Searl and Sabrina Searl of Kapaun and then had to go three sets before outlasting Andover’s Central’s Jazzmyn Williams and Hilary Tallman, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

They are matched against Carroll’s Hope Lubbers and Heidi Lubbers in the semifinals. The other semi pits Arkansas City’s Jacey Arnett and Ellie Messenger against St. James’ Molly Book and Madi Blondo.

Also in doubles, MHS’ Rachel Carlson and Patty Huerta advanced out of the first round with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Emily Ashford and Sofia Bowman of Bonner Springs. That had to be considered a mild upset as the Bullpup team was a No. 5 regional finisher and the Bonner Springs duo was fourth at De Soto.

But they lost to Ark City’s Arnett and Messenger 6-3, 6-3, then lost their consolation match 9-6.

Meanwhile, MHS singles player Perrin Schneider sent shockwaves through the field early on Friday. After making quick work of Pittsburg hometown standout Emily McGowan (6-3, 6-1), Schneider pulled off the upset of the tournament taking out No. 3 overall seed, Megan Ward of St. James, in a pulsating tiebreaker (2-6, 6-3, 10-5). Ward entered the tournament after winning the De Soto regional last week.

Schneider came into the tournament having finished fifth in last week’s regional.

She then lost to Kapaun’s Reagan Boleski 6-1, 6-0, but remains alive in the consolation bracket.

MHS’ other singles player, Sydney Achilles, lost 6-1, 6-2 to Emma Sinclair of Andover in her opening match. Achilles had finished sixth in the regional last week and Sinclair was third at Emporia. She also lost her consolation match 9-6 to end her season.