By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's Kade Mitchell fumbled on his first carry of Friday's home Class 3A regional playoff game against Wellsville.
But that would be the only negative of the night for the 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior star, who powered the 10-0 Wildcats to a 42-0 win over the Eagles with four touchdowns and more than 100 yards rushing and receiving.
Hayden senior Kade Mitchell scored four touchdowns on the night -- two rushing and two receiving -- as the Wildcats advanced to the Class 3A quarterfinals with a 42-0 win over Wellsville. [File photo/TSN]
"You just have to stay level-headed,'' Mitchell said of the fumble. "I knew my guys have got me, they're going to back me up. I trusted them all night and it's all thanks to them. They picked me up right away and I love these guys.''
Hayden led 21-0 at the half, with Mitchell scoring all three touchdowns for the Wildcats.
After the two teams traded turnovers on their first two possessions, Mitchell capped an 8-play, 80-yard drive with a 36-yard TD run (Mason Becker kick) with 3:37 left in the opening quarter after the Wildcats got an interception from junior Logan Power.
After Wellsville had a TD wiped out by a holding penalty on its ensuing possession, Becker came up with Hayden's second interception of the game, ending the Eagles' scoring threat.
Six plays later Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika found a wide-open Mitchell for a 62-yard TD (Becker kick) at the 7:45 mark of the second quarter.
"I was a little free and Connor threw a great ball and I just had to walk in,'' Mitchell said. "It was a great night, it was fun.''
Then, after a Wellsville punt Hanika and Mitchell hooked up again, this time for a 63-yard score (Becker kick) with 2:01 left before halftime.
Wellsville (6-4) drove into the red zone twice in the opening half but came up empty both times.
Senior Jackson McGivern scored from 4 yards out (Becker kick) to put Hayden up 28-0 midway through the third quarter and senior Jude Krentz scored on a 9-yard scamper 28 seconds into the fourth stanza (Becker kick).
Mitchell then put the capper on his big night with a 68-yard run (Becker kick) to account for the final margin.
Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns Friday night as the Wildcats improved to 10-0 with a 42-0 Class 3A playoff win over Wellsville. [File photo/TSN]
Mitchell rushed for 131 yards on just seven carries and caught three passes for 149 yards while Hanika completed 10 of 13 passes for 211 yards and the two TDs to Mitchell.
Krentz added 72 rushing yards on seven totes.
"Wellsville's a good team,'' Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. "They came out and they played hard. I think we had a situation where maybe some of our formations messed them up a little bit and we got some good mismatches out there.
"I was pleased with our kids' effort. I thought Jackson McGivern played a heck of a game on defense and played really well. It was a team effort. We're not going to be bigger than anybody up front, but we do play hard and that's what I like about this group.''
Senior Armond Graves led Wellsville with 131 rushing yards on 29 carries while junior quarterback Pete Dorsey added 66 yards on 20 attempts.
With Friday's win Hayden advances to next week's 3A quarterfinals to face Jefferson West, which advanced with a 49-14 win over Prairie View.
The Wildcats beat the Tigers, now 8-2, 42-0 in Week 8, but Mitchell said Hayden will need to be at its best in the rematch.
"It's hard to beat a team twice, so we're going to come out level-headed and treat them like one of the best teams in the state,'' Mitchell said. "We're going to come out physical and compete.''
"It really doesn't make any difference what happened in the past,'' Arnold said. "It's all about this game right now.''
HAYDEN 21, WELLSVILLE 0
Wellsville (6-4) 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Hayden (10-0) 7 14 7 14-- 42
Hayden -- Mitchell 36 run (Becker kick)
Hayden -- Mitchell 62 pass from Hanika (Becker kick)
Hayden -- Mitchell 63 pass from Hanika (Becker kick)
Hayden -- McGivern 4 run (Becker kick)
Hayden -- Krentz 9 run (Becker kick)
Hayden -- Mitchell 68 run (Becker kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Wellsville: Graves 29-131, Dorsey 20-66, Otwell 11-36, Harter 1-(minus)-1. Hayden: Mitchell 7-131, Krentz 7-72, McGivern 6-32, Hanika 3-13, Becker 1-3.
Passing -- Wellsville: Dorsey 0-5-2, 0 yards. Hayden: Hanika 10-13-0, 211.
Receiving -- Hayden: Mitchell 3-149, Kidd 3-28, Power 2-19, Krentz 1-11, Blasing 1-4.
Punting -- Wellsville: O'Neil 3-35.3. Hayden: Becker1-11.0.
