By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Friday night's Class 6A playoff opener certainly didn't start like Washburn Rural envisioned, with the Junior Blues losing standout senior tight end Lukas Hanks with a serious arm injury on their second play from scrimmage.
But although the Junior Blues were obviously shaken by Hanks' injury, which came on a 5-yard pass reception, Rural quickly regrouped on the way to a 36-0 shutout over Dodge City at Bowen-Glaze Stadium, improving to 7-2 with their fourth straight victory.
Washburn Rural junior quarterback Branton DeWeese (left) threw for four touchdowns and 214 yards and senior Ma'kenttis Adams ran for 193 yards in the Junior Blues' 36-0 Class 6A playoff win Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural seniors Ty Weber (left) and Wyatt Conklin (29) celebrate a big defensive play in Friday's 36-0 Class 6A playoff win over Dodge City. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"It's a heartbreaker, seriously,'' Washburn Rural junior quarterback Branton DeWeese said of Hanks' injury. "He's a senior, a starter and for that to happen on the first drive of the game that brings the momentum down a little bit, but we did it for him.
"He was in our minds and all these seniors were in our minds today. We wanted to leave it all out on the field for them.''
With Friday's win the Junior Blues advanced to a second-round playoff game next Friday night at Garden City, which took a 35-14 first-round win over Campus.
Hanks' injury resulted in a lengthy delay before he was carted off the field as Washburn Rural's entire team stepped out onto the field to honor their teammate.
"That's a big loss and prayers out to him and his family,'' senior Wyatt Conklin said. "Hopefully, he is OK, but we had to move on and we had to play for him, keep him in the back of our mind but you can't let it affect how you play.''
The rest of the Junior Blues did their part on the field, with DeWeese throwing for 214 yards and four touchdowns, three to junior Titan Osburn, and Rural rushing for 328 yards, including 193 yards on 24 carries from senior Ma'Kenttis Adams.
Defensively, Rural came up with a huge goal-line stand while nursing a 2-0 lead late in the opening quarter and the Junior Blues held Dodge City (4-5) in check the rest of the night, holding the Red Demons to 80 total yards, including minus-10 rushing as Conklin and senior Ty Weber came up with several big plays to lead the charge.
Washburn Rural scored the only points it would need at the 6:10 mark of the first quarter when Dodge City senior quarterback Austin Schulte was tackled in the end zone for a safety after a bad snap from center.
Rural followed with a miscue of its own, however, fumbling the ensuing free kick, with Dodge City recovering at the Junior Blues' 46.
The Demons got to the 1-yard-line on two different plays, but Rural came up with a stop, by inches, on a 4th-and-1 play and the Junior Blues answered with a 99-yard scoring drive, capped by a 60-yard touchdown pass from DeWeese to Osburn with 9:34 left in the first half. Rural, which had missed a 30-yard field goal earlier in the half, missed the extra point, but still led 8-0.
"That was a big confidence-booster,'' Conklin said of Rural's big stop. "When they got that fumble recovery our team needed something to turn it back around in our favor so we had to step up and we did what we needed to do. We came up big.''
Rural made it a 16-0 game with a 7-yard TD pass from DeWeese to Osburn and DeWeese connected with junior Calvin Hayes for the 2-point conversion.
The Junior Blues added a 1-yard TD run from DeWeese with 48 seconds left in the half to put Rural up 22-0 and the hosts added third-quarter scores on a 10-yard pass from DeWeese to Hayes and a 50-yard TD strike from DeWeese to Osburn. Senior Rishi Sandir, who will play for Rural's soccer team in next Tuesday's 6A state quarterfinal, booted the extra points after both of the Junior Blues' final scores to give Rural its 36-0 margin.
"We played better as the game went on, which is a good sign,'' Rural coach Steve Buhler said. "We just need to quit trying to win the game in the first five plays, which I think is part of our issue. They're just trying so hard, they want to do so well and a lot of our mistakes early are just things where they're making too much effort.
"Once we settled in and realized it was a long game, we got better.''
WASHBURN RURAL 36, DODGE CITY 0
Dodge City (4-5) 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Washburn Rural (7-2) 2 20 14 0 -- 36
Washburn Rural -- Safety, Schulte tackled in end zone
Washburn Rural -- Osburn 60 pass from DeWeese (kick failed)
Washburn Rural -- Osburn 7 pass from DeWeese (Hayes pass from DeWeese)
Washburn Rural -- DeWeese 1 run (run failed)
Washburn Rural -- Hayes 10 pass from DeWeese (Sandir kick)
Washburn Rural -- Osburn 50 pass from DeWeese (Sandir kick)
