Mother Nature did her part to disrupt the opening of district play as several games faced delayed start times or had long lightening delays throughout.
The games that did continue as scheduled provided an exciting night in Kansas high school football.
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The Kpreps Game of the Week as voted on by the fans featured a pair of unbeaten teams in Class 3A as Beloit hosted Phillipsburg.
The Panthers led 13-6 at the end of the first quarter, and held leads of 20-6 and 27-12 in the second quarter.
Beloit would respond by scoring 14 points in the final four minutes of the half to pull within 27-26 at the intermission.
Beloit would score mid-way through the third quarter to take their first lead of the game 32-27. The defenses would take over from there as that is when the scoring ended.
Beloit remains unbeaten with a come-from-behind 32-27 win over previously-unbeaten Phillipsburg.
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Maybe the game of the night occurred in Salina where Salina Central squared off against cross town rival Salina South.
Trailing 14-10 late in the game, Salina Central’s Mark Vaughn hit Spencer Schrader on a 9-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to give the Mustangs a 17-14 lead.
Salina South would drive into Central territory with the benefit of a late hit, but faced a fourth-and-1 at the Central 34-yard line with just 48 seconds remaining.
The Cougars would convert, and face another fourth down at the Salina Central 25-yard line with 20 seconds left.
Cameron Wieshaar would then connect on a 20-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime tied at 17.
Salina Central could only muster a Nathan Garlow 21-yard field goal in their overtime series, while South’s Mike Jones broke the line for a short touchdown run and the 23-20 win for the Cougars.
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Manhattan forced three Topeka High turnovers in handing the Trojans their first loss of the season, 27-13.
The majority of the scoring took place in the first quarter as the Indians converted an early Topeka fumble into points when Jacob Holloway scored on a 24-yard run. Eli Weinbrecht answered right back for the Trojans to tie the game at 7.
The two would trade touchdowns as Manhattan’s Darrin Taylor scored from 41 yards out, and Topeka quarterback Raymond Solis his Alec Beatty on a touchdown pass from mid-field.
Manhattan added one more score in the first quarter as Holloway hit Winston Dimel on a touchdown strike to give the Indians a 20-13 lead.
The score would remain the same until the game’s final play when Taylor rushed for his second touchdown of the game after the Trojans turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory.
Taylor rushed more than 100 yards in the game for the Indians. Weinbrecht led the Trojans with 100 yards rushing, while Solis passed for 195 yards
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In the wide open 5A District 4, Blue Valley rallied from down 14-0 and 21-7 to escape Blue Valley Southwest, 28-21.
In the other half of the district, Blue Valley West used the dominant running duo of quarterback Ryan Ralston and running back Conley Wilkins to beat Pittsburg 61-21. T
The Jaguars converted two early Pittsburg turnovers into points as Ralston rushed for a pair of scores in the first quarter. An errant snap backed Pitttsburg up inside their own 10-yard line, and they would fumble on the next play. Ralston and the Jaguars quickly took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.
Pittsburg got as close as 34-14 briefly in the second half as Wilkins returned the ensuing kickoff after Purple Dragon touchdown.
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After a weather delay, Holton had little trouble with Wamego as the Wildcats rolled to a 51-12 win. Drake Ewing rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns for unbeaten Holton.
Wamego quarterback Marshall Wethington completed just 17 of his 32 passes for 240 yards and both Red Raider touchdowns.
Holton will host traditional power Topeka Hayden in Week 8. The Hayden Wildcats improved to 3-4 on the season with a 47-14 win over Royal Valley on Friday night. Two of Hayden’s four losses have been by one point.
Wamego will try and stay in contention for a playoffs spot by hosting Royal Valley.
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It didn’t take long for the first upset in district play. Spring Hill forced five turnovers in shocking 4A No. 5 St. James Academy 41-12 to open District 3 on Thursday night.
The Broncos built a 24-0 halftime lead, and shutout the Thunder until late in the third quarter. Spring Hill improves to 3-4 on the season with the win, while St. James suffered its first loss of the season.
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Osborne outscored Clifton-Clyde 66-56 in a key 8-Man Division I, District 4 game.
The Bulldogs built a 32-16 halftime lead before both offenses got rolling after halftime. Clifton-Clyde outscored Osborne 34-28 in the third quarter to pull within 60-50. Each team added a touchdown in the fourth quarter as Osborne held on for the 10-point win.
Alex Deaver rushed for eight touchdowns in the game for Clifton-Clyde. His eight scoring runs alone totaled 181 yards.
Maverick LeRock rushed for four touchdowns for Osborne, while Kenton Ubelaker added four touchdowns totaling 172 yards.
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Games suspended or postponed due to Friday night’s weather:
· Eurkea at Humboldt – scheduled for Monday
· Osage City at West Franklin – scheduled for Monday
· Chase County at Onaga – to be played Saturday
· Jayhawk-Linn at Christ Prep – Christ Prep was leading 21-14 in the third quarter. It will likely be picked up from that point on Saturday
· KC East at Lebo – cancelled without a date
· Elk Valley at Waverly – postponed until Monday
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