By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's offense ran a little hot and cold Friday night against Topeka High, coming up with some big plays, but missing out on some other scoring opportunities.
But the Viking defense was a constant, posting its second shutout of the season in a 20-0 Centennial League win over the Trojans on Senior Night at Seaman.
Seaman, which improved to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the league, limited Topeka High (2-5, 2-4) to just 53 yards of total offense while limiting Trojan senior star Tylan Alejos, who had a 400-yard, eight-touchdown game two weeks earlier, to just 55 yards on 25 carries.
"We treated it just like it was anyone else,'' Seaman senior Braden Colley said. "We knew we could dominate, we could stop the run. We knew we could do it and we weren't worried. We weren't scared at all.
"I thought we played really well. Any time you can keep a doughnut on the board of course you played well. We stayed pretty sound with minimal mistakes and we had a good game.''
Seaman coach Jared Swafford agreed.
"When you watch film you know what (Alejos) is capable of and they've got a big offensive line that does a nice job,'' Swafford said. "He's a heck of a runner and he runs hard and we knew we needed to rally to the ball and we put extra emphasis on that.
"We knew he's a big part of what they try to do and we wanted to take that away.''
Camden Barta .
Topeka High came up with some big defensive plays of its own and the Trojans were still very much in the game into the fourth quarter, trailing by just a 10-0 margin before Seaman broke the game open with a 44-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Camden Barta to senior Brody Gormley with 11:13 remaining.
Viking senior Gavin Wilhelm added his second field goal of the night, a 26-yarder, later in the fourth to account for the final margin.
Seaman turned the ball over on downs to end its first possession of the game after getting as deep as the High 24-yard-line, but the Vikings got on the board midway through the second quarter after a Topeka High mis-play in the punt game led to a 39-yard Wilhelm field goal with 7:07 left before halftime.
Wilhelm's field goal came after Topeka High punted the ball into the back of a Trojan blocker, allowing Seaman to take over at the High 32.
The Vikings got to the Trojan 15, but High's defense stiffened at that point, forcing Seaman to settle for the field goal.
After forcing a High punt, Seaman used a 31-yard pass play from Barta to senior Casen Stallbaumer and a 27-yard pass from Barta to senior P.J. Vargas to set up the game's first touchdown, a 9-yard Barta run with 3:20 left in the half (Wilhelm kick).
The score remained 10-0 through the third quarter as the Vikings missed a pair of field goal attempts, but Seaman put the game out of reach with the Gormley TD.
Barta completed 15 of 24 passes on the night for 158 yards and a TD while Stallbaumer had eight catches for 63 yards. Barta rushed for a team-high 29 yards on nine carries.
Seaman will travel to Washburn Rural to face the 6-1 Junior Blues next Friday while Topeka High will take on USD 501 rival Topeka West at Hummer Sports Park.
SEAMAN 20, TOPEKA HIGH 0
Topeka High (2-5, 2-4) 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Seaman (5-2, 4-2) 0 10 0 10 -- 20
Second quarter
Seaman -- Gavin Wilhelm 39 FG
Seaman -- Camden Barta 9 run (Gavin Wilhelm kick)
Fourth quarter
Seaman -- Brody Gormley 44 pass from Camden Barta (Gavin Wilhelm kick)
Seaman -- Gavin Wilhelm 26 FG
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Topeka High: Tylan Alejos 25-55, Isiah Kincade 1-5, Dadrien Montgomery 1-2, Clarence Ross 1-0, Peyton Wheat 4-(minus)-15, Team 1-(minus)-8. Seaman: Camden Barta 9-29, Jack Bloom 13-26, Cameron Selbach 8-22, Casen Stallbaumer 2-6, Team 2-(minus)-4.
Passing -- Topeka High: Peyton Wheat 2-7-0, 14 yards; Clarence Ross 0-1-0, 0. Seaman: Camden Barta 15-24-0, 158.
Receiving -- Topeka High: Elijah Kincade 1-9, Elijah Williams 1-5. Seaman: Casen Stallbaumer 8-63, P.J. Vargas 4-41, Brody Gormley 1-44, Braden Colley 1-6, Cameron Selbach 1-(minus)-6.
Punting -- Topeka High: Peyton Wheat 6-27.5; Tylan Alejos 1-35.0; Jaziah Mack 1-21.0. Seaman: Brody Gormley 3-34.0.
