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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

Having been blown out in the first meeting with Hayden, Jefferson West gave the Wildcats a fight in the Class 3A quarterfinal matchup Friday at Hayden. The Tigers closed to within seven points in the fourth period before ultimately falling, 43-29.

Hayden hoists the trophy after Friday's 43-29 Class 3A quarterfinal playoff win over Jefferson West Friday at Hayden. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]

Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika celebrates a touchdown in Friday's 43-29 Class 3A quarterfinal win over Jefferson West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

The Wildcats blasted Jefferson West 42-0 in the final week of the regular season. But the Tigers followed that loss with two playoff victories to set up a rematch. The Tigers were more physical and more efficient in the second meeting, a spirited contest marred by numerous personal fouls and some bickering both during and after the game.

Leading by just seven points with 9:39 left, the Wildcats rose to the challenge, scoring twice in the final six minutes to hold Jefferson West at bay.

“That’s a good team right there,” Hayden junior Mason Becker said of the Tigers. “Last time we played them, we beat them by a little bit. But they fight hard all the way to the end. They have great coaching and great players.”

Hayden caught the Tigers with a quick strike to open the contest. On just the second play from scrimmage, Hayden quarterback Connor Hanika uncorked a bomb to Becker that resulted in a 71-yard score.

Hayden senior Jude Krentz ran for a pair of touchdowns in Friday's 42-29 Class 3A quarterfinal win over Jefferson West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

At the close of the first period, Hanika beat the defense on a nine-yard race to the right pilon to give Hayden its second touchdown. Jude Krentz added the Wildcats’ third score early in the second period, and a rout similar to the one that occurred in late October appeared imminent.

But when Hayden turned the ball over on downs midway through the second period, life was breathed into the Tigers, who appeared on the ropes trailing 22-0.

Jefferson West freshman quarterback Brixton Schwinn, unable to get the passing game going in the first meeting, suddenly found his rhythm. A pass to Crayton Holman went for 41 yards, moving the visitors into Hayden territory for the first time on the night. Four plays later, Schwinn hit Holman for the Tigers’ first score in six periods played against Hayden this season.

The Tigers got another break when Hayden senior back Kade Mitchell came out of the locker room for the second half with his right knee tightly wrapped and packed with ice. The senior has accounted for over 1,400 yards from scrimmage and 21 touchdowns on the season, but he would make no more contributions in this suddenly competitive battle.

Shifting to running back on certain sets and producing a spark on the ground was Becker, who typically lines up on the perimeter.

“Kade went out and someone had to step up,” Becker said. “We all had to step up. I came in and was just going to give my all for the dude next to me.”

Senior Xander Blasing had a big night on both sides of the ball in Friday's 43-29 Hayden Class 3A playoff win over Jefferson West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Quickly after the break, Hayden added another score on a 30-yard pass from Hanika to a leaping Xander Blasing. The 29-8 lead looked safe.

But Schwinn and the Tigers benefitted from a couple of Hayden penalties to get into the red zone again. The freshman quarterback connected with his junior brother, Brody Schwinn, combining for their 18th touchdown pass of the season.

Then early in the fourth period, the Tigers capitalized on a turnover deep in Hayden territory for another score, this time a short run by the younger Schwinn. Hayden’s lead was cut to 29-22 with 9:39 remaining.

“They throw the ball all over the place,” Hayden coach Bill Arnold said of Jefferson West. “They spread you out. They get a little bit of a mismatch here and there, but I thought our kids played well.”

Hayden responded with a drive that culminated with a 16-yard scoring run by Krentz. Next, Hayden’s Logan Power picked off a Schwinn pass to set up a 3-yard touchdown by Jackson McGivern and finally Hayden could rest easy. A late touchdown by Jefferson West only narrowed the final score to 43-29.

“I felt like we played pretty good,” Arnold said. “We had to make some adjustments when Kade didn’t come back out in the second half. I thought our kids played hard. We made some mistakes. (Jefferson West) made some good plays as well. But in the end, it’s survive and advance.”

Hayden will host yet another playoff game next Friday, this time against 11-0 Santa Fe Trail, which held off Holton 28-26.

Becker produced an impressively versatile stat line on the night. In addition to the 71-yard scoring reception, he added 78 yards rushing on nine carries. He booted each of his kickoffs out of the end zone, converted all five extra point kicks he attempted, and his two punts averaged 44.5 yards.

Jefferson West’s freshman quarterback Schwinn threw for 292 yards and also rushed for 61 yards. His brother, Brody, caught eight passes for 114 yards.

The Tigers completed their season with an 8-3 record, one of the best in the school’s recent history.

HAYDEN 43, JEFFERSON WEST 29

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Details

Created: 13 November 2025

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAMES

CLASS 3A

JEFFERSON WEST (8-2) at HAYDEN (10-0)

Connor Hanika, Hayden

Kade Mitchell, Hayden

Hayden, the No. 1 East seed in Class 3A, has outscored its first two playoff opponents by a huge 112-7 margin, including a 42-0 romp past Wellsville last Friday night. Friday's state quarterfinal game is a rematch of the Week 8 Hayden-Jefferson West district matchup, with the Wildcats taking a 42-0 win over the Tigers in that game. Jefferson West advanced to Friday's game with a 49-14 win over Prairie View. Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika has completed 88 of 146 passes for 1,422 yards and 20 touchdowns with just one interception while senior Kade Mitchell has carried the ball 89 times for 900 yards, caught 19 passes for 410 yards and has scored 21 total TDs. Wildcat senior Jackson McGivern has carried the ball 55 times for 378 yards and scored nine TDs while recording 65 tackles (41) on defense with seven tackles for loss. Senior Jude Krentz leads Hayden with 89 tackles (47 solo) and six tackles for loss while rushing for 317 yards on 49 attempts. Senior Xander Blasing has 66 stops (48 solo) and seven tackles for loss and has caught 18 passes for 230 yards while senior Makhi Kidd has caught a team-high 26 passes for 277 yards. Jefferson West freshman quarterback Brixton Schwinn has completed 150 of 255 passes for 2,101 yards and 29 touchdowns while senior Crayton Holmes has 55 receptions for 689 yards and eight TDs and junior Brody Schwinn has 47 catches for 883 yards and 17 TDs. The winner of Friday's game will move on to a 3A sub-state game to face the winner of Friday's game between Holton (6-4) and Santa Fe Trail (10-0). Game time: 7 p.m.

Xander Blasing, Hayden

Jackson McGivern, Hayden

CLASS 1A

ROSSVILLE (9-1) at PITTSBURG-ST. MARY'S COLGAN (10-0)

Canann Mitchell, Rossville

Cameron Miller, Rossville

Rossville, the No. 4 Class 1A East seed, is coming off a 53-18 home win over Jefferson County North last Friday while Pittsburg Colgan remained undefeated at 10-0 with a 56-0 win over Troy. Rossville senior quarterback Canann Mitchell has completed 87 of 127 passes for 1,311 yards and 16 touchdowns with just one interception and has rushed for 821 yards and 15 TDs on 101 attempts. Senior Cameron Miller has 30 catches for 502 yards and eight TDs while senior Jack Donovan has 34 grabs for 426 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Conner Bush has rushed for 656 yards and 10 TDs on 61 carries while senior Andre Johnson leads the Bulldawgs with 85 tackles. Junior Charlie Chance has registered 40 stops, including 12.5 tackles for loss. Colgan has yet to give up a point in postseason, outscoring its opponents by a 119-0 margin. The winner of Friday's game will advance to the state semifinals to face the winner of Friday's game between Riverside (8-2) and Jackson Heights (10-0). Game time: 6 p.m.

Jack Donovan, Rossville

Andre Johnson, Rossville

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural's girls golf coach Jared Goehring is stepping down after a 15-year run that included four Class 6A state championships, two runnerup finishes and three thirds while qualifying for state as a team 14 times.

Jared Goehring is stepping down as Washburn Rural's girls golf coach after leading the Junior Blues to four Class 6A state team championships and nine top-three state finishes in 15 seasons. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Goehring, who informed his Junior Blues girls team of his decision on Thursday, plans to continue as the head boys coach at Rural in the spring but cited family factors as his major reason for turning over the reins of the girls program.

Goehring's daughter, Preslee, is a freshman three-sport athlete at Rural and he said that it was hard to juggle all the schedules, particularly with volleyball in the fall.

"I missed a couple of games this year and I don't want to do that,'' Goehring said. "That definitely played a huge factor in this decision, one that I've been kicking around for the last couple of years. With Preslee being in high school now I wanted to be a part of her successes and watch her play and family's the most important thing and continuing to spend time with my immediate family and help out where I can.''

But although Goehring knew he needed to step away from his fall coaching duties, he said he still struggled with the decision .

"I did,'' Goehring said. "I was probably 80 percent certain I was going to do this a year ago and this year's senior class is kind of what ultimately made me decide to come back. Plus, I wanted to see how my daughter adapted to high school and what she fell in love with as far as activities go.

"She's definitely on the right path and we finished on a strong note this year with this senior group, so it's time for a change.''

Goehring's son, Peyton, will be a senior for the Junior Blues' boys team next spring and Jared, who led Rural to the 2015 boys state title and will be entering his 20th season, said he plans to remain in that role for the foreseeable future.

"Springtime is a little bit more relaxed and continuing on in the springtime will fit my schedule a little bit better,'' he said.

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