By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A year ago, Seaman pulled off a major upset over top seed De Soto in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
The Wildcats gained a measure of revenge in Friday's rematch, building a 28-7 halftime lead and thwarting a second-half Seaman rally to take a 42-28 United Kansas Conference win over the Vikings on Senior Night at Seaman.
Senior Max Huston threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns in Seaman's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto Friday night [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman junior Kaden McKinney scored one of his two second-half TDs in Friday's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"The first half falls squarely on me,'' Seaman coach Jared Swafford said. "I didn't do a good enough job and the kids played hard, the coaching staff did a nice job, it's on me. You play a team of that caliber you definitely can't put yourself in that kind of deficit early.
"Things like that happen. It's sports, that's life, so you've got to be able to move on from it and grow, but I thought our effort in the second half was phenomenal and the kids really bonded together. It would have been real easy to quit and we didn't, so I am proud of the guys from that standpoint and, again, the first half's on me.''
Friday's Viking loss left Seaman, De Soto and Basehor-Linwood all tied atop the UKC standings at 6-1 but the conference does not recognize co- or tri-champions and Seaman was declared the league champion as a result of the conference's tiebreaker formula.
But Swafford said the Vikings' focus now is on getting ready for next week's playoff opener, which Seaman will host. The Vikings are the No. 3 West seed and will host city rival Topeka West (1-7), the No. 14 West seed.
"Let this one soak in a little bit, it won't feel so good, but plenty of learning moments and plenty of opportunities to get better and to grow and I think that's exactly what we'll do and now you get into the playoffs and it's win or go home time,'' Swafford said.
"I think we can still be a very scary team and I think we've shown that throughout the year and now we're at that point.''
Seaman senior Bryer Finley had 145 receiving yards and two touchdowns in Friday's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman, which fell to 6-2 overall, drew first blood on its opening drive of the night, with senior quarterback Max Huston hitting senior Bryer Finley for a 58-yard touchdown (Ethan Geiger kick).
But the rest of the opening half belonged to the Wildcats (7-1), who scored on all four of their first-half possessions.
De Soto senior Jayden Lang scored four touchdowns in Friday's 42-28 UKC win at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Jayden Lang capped De Soto's first drive with a 23-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Drew Parks. The Wildcats then took the lead to stay on a 2-point conversion run from Lang at the 6:29 mark of the first stanza. De Soto lined up to kick the extra point but Seaman jumped offsides to move the ball inside the 2 and the Wildcats opted to go for 2.
De Soto added to its lead with three second-quarter scores -- a 26-yard pass from Parks to Joe Meehan, a 16-yard Lang run and a 7-yard pass from Parks to Will Morton.
Seaman came out firing in the second half, getting within seven points on two occasions (28-21 and 35-28), but an 80-yard Lang kickoff return and a late interception clinched the Wildcats' victory.
Seaman got second-half TDs from junior Kaden McKinney on a 26-yard run, Finley on a 9-yard pass from Huston and a 27-yard pass from Huston.
Huston rushed for 136 yards on 15 carries and passed for 208 yards on a 16 of 24 performance while Finley had seven catches for 145 yards and McKinney rushed for 83 yards on 18 carries and caught three passes for 36 yards.
Lang rushed for 133 yards on 16 carries for De Soto and caught two passes for 56 yards and scored four touchdowns while Parks threw for 120 yards on a 6 of 6 performance.
DE SOTO 28, SEAMAN 7
De Soto (7-1, 6-1) 8 20 0 14 -- 42
Seaman (6-2, 6-1) 7 0 7 14 -- 28
Seaman -- Finley 58 pass from Huston (Geiger kick)
Basehor-Linwood -- Lang 23 pass from Parks (Lang run)
Basehor-Linwood -- Meehan 26 pass from Parks (Hatfield kick
Basehor-Linwood -- Lang 16 run (run failed)
Basehor-Linwood -- Morton 7 pass from Parks (Hatfield kick)
Seaman -- McKinney 26 run (Geiger kick)
Seaman -- Finley 9 pass from Huston (Geiger kick)
De Soto -- Lang 33 pass from Parks (Hatfield kick)
Seaman -- McKinney 27 pass from Huston (Geiger kick)
De Soto -- Lang 80 kickoff return (Hatfield kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- De Soto: Lang 16-133, Chapman 20-92, Parks 14-52, Bailey 1-21, Morton 2-11, Team 1-(minus)-1. Seaman: Huston 15-136, McKinney 18-83.
Passing -- De Soto: Parks 6-6-0, 120 yards. Seaman: Huston 16-24-1, 208.
Receiving -- De Soto: Lang 2-56, Morton 2-22, Meehan 1-26, Whiddon 1-16. Seaman: Finley 7-145, McKinney 3-36, Becker 3-21, Evans 2-7, Kobuszewski 1-(minus)-1.
Punting -- Seaman: Evans 2-26.5.
