By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Heavy underdog Topeka West had its highlights early in Friday's Class 5A playoff opener, coming up with a fourth-down stop on Seaman's opening drive and tying the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.
But the rest of the night belonged to the host Vikings, who scored the final 58 points to take a 65-7 win on their home field.
Senior Max Huston threw for 210 yards and five touchdowns in Seaman's 65-7 playoff win over Topeka West Friday night [File photo/TSN]
Seaman senior Bryer Finley (1) had 181 receiving yards and five touchdowns in Friday's 65-7 playoff win over Topeka West. [File photo/TSN]
"It's playoff time and they know that, too, and the winner's going to continue on and whoever doesn't is done for the season so they came out with plenty of fire and energy,'' Seaman coach Jared Swafford said of the Chargers. "Coach (Trey) Parker and his staff had them ready to go and I thought our kids responded nicely, especially once we got in the flow of the game.''
No. 3 West seed Seaman (7-2), which bounced back from a 42-28 loss to De Soto in its regular-season finale, will be back at home next Friday for a second-round playoff game against No. 11 West seed Valley Center (3-6), which knocked off No. 6 Goddard, 7-6.
Not surprisingly, Seaman's record-setting senior pass and catch combo of quarterback Max Huston and Bryer Finley, powered the Vikings to the 58-point victory, hooking up for five touchdown passes on the night.
Huston completed 10 of 18 passes for 210 yards while Finley had seven catches for 181 yards, including TD receptions of 41, 4, 27, 25 and 32 yards.
"We've been best friends since kindergarten, something like that, and I love this dude,'' Huston said of Finley. "We've got a great connection right now and hope to keep it going on in the playoffs and keep winning games.''
"Our team played really well tonight,'' Finley said. "We came out and handled business like we were supposed to and we're on to next week.''
Seaman also got an 18-yard TD run from junior Kaden McKinney as well as a pair of scoring passes from backup sophomore quarterback Cale Ketter, who hit junior Noah Kobuszewski for an 11-yard TD and sophomore Jack Esser for a 28-yard score.
Topeka West (1-8) tied the game at 7 on a 6-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Josiah Wilke to senior Trey Barr at the 9:43 mark of the second quarter and was still within a touchdown after an interception from senior Alesecio Batson thwarted a Viking scoring threat.
But Seaman recorded a safety on West's ensuing possession and scored three touchdowns over the final 5:11 of the half to take a commanding 37-7 lead.
McKinney rushed for 142 yards on 14 carries while Huston had five attempts for 54 yards and sophomore backup Grady Piper gained 44 yards on five totes.
West's Wilke completed 12 of 36 passes for 74 yards while junior Gad Munganga caught seven passes for 37 yards and sophomore Damon Webb gained 32 yards on 15 carries.
SEAMAN 65, TOPEKA WEST 7
Topeka West (1-8) 0 7 0 0 -- 7
Seaman (7-2) 7 30 21 7 -- 65
Seaman -- Huston 1 run (Geiger kick)
Topeka West -- Barr 6 pass from Wilke (Wilke kick)
Seaman -- Finley 41 pass from Huston (Geiger kick
Seaman -- Safety, Webb tackled in end zone
Seaman -- McKinney 18 run (Geiger kick)
Seaman -- Finley 4 pass from Huston (Hays kick)
Seaman -- Finley 27 pass from Huston (Hays kick)
Seaman -- Finley 25 pass from Huston (Hays kick)
Seaman -- Finley 32 pass from Huston (Hays kick)
Seaman -- Kobuszewski 11 pass from Ketter (Hays kick)
Seaman -- Esser 28 pass from Ketter (Hays kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Topeka West: Webb 15-32, Barr 4-25, Newman 1-2, Wilke 3-(minus)-12. Seaman: McKinney 14-142, Huston 5-54, Piper 5-44, Tootle 3-8.
Passing -- Topeka West: Wilke 12-36-2, 74 yards. Seaman: Huston 10-18-1, 210; Ketter 3-4-0, 64.
Receiving -- Topeka West: Munganga 7-37, Barr 3-18, Berg 1-15, Webb 1-4. Seaman: Finley 7-181, Kobuszewski 4-56, Esser 1-28, Becker 1-9.
Punting -- Topeka West: Tisdale 2-27.5.
