The Kansas state high school football playoffs are under way as Class 4A, 3A, and both eight-man divisions kicked off action on Tuesday night. Check the playoff brackets on the home page at Kpreps.com
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Perhaps the biggest surprise on Tuesday night occurred in Class 4A where Louisburg (5-4) went into Fort Scott (9-0) and beat the fifth-ranked Tigers 17-0.
Louisburg led 14-0 at halftime thanks to two Nate O’Brien touchdown passes. O’Brien hit Will Garza on an 88-yard strike in the first quarter, and connected with Hayden Guetterman on a 9-yard touchdown just before halftime.
The only scoring of the second half came on a Jason Danciak 33-yard field goal.
Louisburg won the battle in the trenches and handed Fort Scott its first loss of the season.
Fort Scott played without senior quarterback Jonathan Stark who sat out after being dinged up in Thursday’s win over Chanute.
Louisburg advances to host Coffeyville on Saturday. The Golden Tornado posted a 57-26 win over Frontenac on Tuesday night.
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The most notable performance of the night went to Hiawatha’s Denzel Chilcoat who rushed 36 times for 411 yards and five touchdowns as the Red Hawks beat Nemaha Valley 50-36.
Nemaha Valley had defeated Hiawatha 27-21 in Week 5 during the regular season.
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Elsewhere in Class 3A, St. Mary’s Colgan picked off three Neodesha passes –including two for touchdowns – to beat the Bluestreaks 34-20.
Neodesha led 20-14 at halftime as quarterback Justice Baird and running Hayden Dierks each ran for over 100 yards in the first half. But Colgan responded in the second half by holding the duo to less than 20 yards.
The Panthers’ ability to stuff the run forced Neodesha to put the ball in the air. Colgan’s Luke Marquardt, Austin Commons and Drew Dawson each picked off Baird passes in the second half. Marquardt returned his for a 42-yard touchdown, while Commons’ pick was brought back for a 55-yard score.
Colgan running back Conner Dayton had about 100 yards rushing and just under 100 yards receiving.
The Panthers will host Humboldt on Saturday.
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The game of the night may have taken place in 8-Man, Division-I where Pretty Prairie scored with 15 seconds remaining to pull out a 36-32 win at St. John.
Pretty Prairie quarterback Alex Mains threw two first-quarter touchdown passes, and ran for two scores in the second quarter as the Bulldogs built a 24-16 halftime lead. Pretty Prairie’s Stetson Broce ensured his team would take the lead into halftime with an interception of Tiger quarterback Spencer Nusser at the 1-yard line late in the second quarter.
St. John scored to tie the game at 24 at the end of the third quarter as Nusser hits Zuriel Reyes on a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Justin Haflich regained the lead for Pretty Prairie with a 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
But St. John would respond.
Nusser again struck with a 29-yard touchdown pass and the two-point converstion gave the Tigers a 32-30 lead with just 2:40 remaining in the game.
Pretty Prairie’s final drive was filled with adversity. A fumble and an intentional grounding penalty left the Bulldogs facing a fourth-and-21 with just over two minutes remaining. Mains’ pass to Broce was incomplete, but St. John was whistled for pass interference giving the Bulldogs a first down.
Pretty Prairie later converted a fourth-and-10 on the drive as Mains connected to Broce.
Finally with just 15 second left on the clock, Mains hit Jacob Welker on a 22-yard touchdown pass to give Pretty Prairie the four-point win.
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In 8-Man, Division-II, third-ranked Waverly lost for the first time to a Caldwell team that entered tonight just 5-4 on the season.
Caldwell outscored Waverly 20-0 in the fourth quarter to overcome a 36-30 deficit.
The Bulldogs committed eight turnovers in the game and fell 50-36 to the Blue Jays.
Caldwell’s reward will be to host top-ranked Baileyville B&B on Saturday.
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Elsewhere, Colony-Crest won a shootout at South Barber 66-50.
Crest led 16-14 after the first quarter, and extended that lead to 38-20 late in the second quarter.
That’s when the Chieftains woke up.
South Barber scored 22 points in the final two minutes of the first half to take a 42-38 lead into the break.
Crest would respond by outscoring the Chieftains 28-8 in the second half en route to the 66-50 win.
Saturday’s Playoff Games:
4A
KC Piper (8-2) at Baldwin (7-3)
Girard (9-1) at Chanute (6-4)
Tonganoxie (5-5) at Eudora (9-1)
Coffeyville (8-2) at Louisburg (6-4)
Holton (10-0) at Wichita Collegiate (9-1)
Andale (9-1) at McPherson (9-1)
Mulvane (9-1) at Maize South (9-1)
Concordia (8-2) at Buhler (7-3)
3A
Silver Lake (10-0) at Hiawatha (8-2)
Caney Valley (9-1) at Wellsville (6-4)
Rossville (9-1) at Sabetha (5-5)
Humboldt (8-2) at St. Mary’s Colgan (7-3)
Garden Plain (10-0) at Conway Springs (9-1)
Scott City (10-0) at Sacred Heart (9-1)
Sedgwick (9-1) at Hillsboro (10-0)
Holcomb (9-1) at Beloit (10-0)
8 Man-I
South Haven (10-0) at Madison (9-1)
Mankato-Rock Hills (9-1) at Marmaton Valley (10-0)
Hodgeman County (8-2) at Solomon (9-1)
Ness City (10-0) at Pretty Prairie (8-2)
8 Man-II
Baileyville B&B (10-0) at Caldwell (6-4)
Colony-Crest (6-4) at Hanover (8-2)
Thunder Ridge (9-1) at Otis-Bison (9-1)
Fowler (9-1) at Sharon Springs-Wallace County (9-0)
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