By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings came in and kicked the door down on Topeka West’s home opener with a 58-14 win on Thursday night at Hummer Sports Park.
The three units for the Vikings played nearly a perfect game to kick off their season in the United Kansas Conference.
Seaman senior Bryson Vawter finds running room in Thursday night's 58-14 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Callen Barta hauls in a pass for Seaman in the Vikings' 58-14 UKC win over Topeka West Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Offensively, Seaman tallied 455 total yards along with six touchdowns. The Vikings also looked dominant on defense, forcing a lot of three-and-outs. On special teams, they were able to return a kickoff for an 85-yard touchdown.
“That’s the unselfish play we needed if we want to be a good team the whole year,” Seaman coach Jared Swafford said. “We challenged our guys after the jamboree. We kept talking about how we needed to improve. We have a lot of work to do, but it was a good win for us to open up the season.”
The Seaman offensive line had an unforgettable night. Seaman’s front five paved the way for the Viking running back committee to have 270 yards and five touchdowns in the first half. In the second half, the backs added 106 more yards on the ground with another touchdown. The seven backs that carried the ball rushed 43 times for 376 yards.
“When you have a young quarterback you need to establish the run,” Swafford said. “We felt good about rolling with three (running) backs. Our offensive line had more knockdowns than we had all camp. We were excited about watching our big guys play with some aggressiveness and get those pancakes.”
Sophomore Max Huston started the year as the starting quarterback for the Vikings. Huston proved on opening night that he is a legitimate dual-threat quarterback.
“I think from the quarterback position we did some good things,” Swafford said. “It was nice to see the offense executing and being efficient for the most part. It was the first time for two of our guys at the quarterback position tonight and we were able to get Dane in later, too. Overall we turned it over too many tmes and that’s a part of the game, especially early on.”
Seaman’s opening drive of the season lasted 5:56 and it ended with a 6-yard read-option from Huston for a touchdown. Huston’s breakaway speed was notable as that would play into the success that he had on Thursday night.
Topeka West would answer back after Seaman put eight points up on the board. Charger quarterback Malachi Berg scrambled out of the pocket, threw it off of his back foot, across his body and found Alex Engel in the end zone for six.
“If (college coaches) are not trying to blow up (Malachi Berg)’s phone and getting on his radar, they’re missing out,” Topeka West coach Russell Norton said. “I thought (Berg) played a heck of a game tonight. Just like a true leader, he wanted to lead from the front.”
Topeka West had a stellar production from Berg, Xavier Alexander, Engel and Kamen Jones.
Alexander carried the ball 15 times for 102 yards while Jones and Engel had a combined nine catches for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
Topeka West’s early touchdown in the first quarter was all the Seaman defense would allow until later in the contest.
Seaman would get in a scary rhythm with the three-headed monster in the backfield. Bryson Vawter, Jaxson Thomas and Jack Bloom would average 10.1 yards per carry after Topeka West’s touchdown in the first quarter.
Vawter’s 6-foot-1, 210-pound frame and former offensive lineman Thomas’ 6-3, 230 power gave the Charger defense headaches. On two different occasions, after being wrapped up for a potential tackle, Vawter and Thomas broke out for 20-plus yard runs in the first half.
“What we did today couldn’t have been possible without how well our offensive line played today,” Vawter said. “Us backs and the offensive line really picked it up after the jamboree last week. A big focus for us was playing sound football. We have some things to work on but overall I thought we ran the ball well.”
The Viking defense showed up and showed out just like the offense did on Thursday night. While the offense put up 40 points before the halftime break, the defense allowed just six. The Viking defensive unit sacked the Chargers nine times, forced a safety, had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and snagged two interceptions.
Cameron Selbach, Aaron Hurla, Tristan Berg, Callen Barta and the rest of the defensive team had a nose on the ball at all times. They had a tough task on their hands with a dynamic Charger quarterback in Berg and a powerhouse in Xavier Alexander with the rock.
Seaman would rest most of the starting group coming out of the halftime break and would manage to put up 18 points while holding Topeka West to just six.
“We have a lot of doubters,” Seaman tackle Logan Cox said. “We came out and showed everyone what we were about. Our coaches really hit us hard with a game plan this week on what we wanted to do. I think we executed perfectly tonight.”
Topeka West (0-1) will host Leavenworth at Hummer Sports Park next Friday. Seaman (1-0) will hit the road next Friday and take on Kansas City-Turner.
SEAMAN 58, TOPEKA WEST 14
Seaman (1-0) – 26 14 6 12 – 58
Topeka West (0-1) – 6 0 0 8 – 14
Seaman – Huston 6 run (Vawter run)
Topeka West – Engel 11 pass from Berg (conversion failed)
Seaman – Thomas 1 run (Bloom run)
Seaman – Safety
Seaman – Huston 3 run (Vawter run)
Seaman – Vawter 5 run (conversion failed)
Seaman – Vawter 7 run (Huston conversion)
Seaman – Bloom 14 run (conversion failed)
Topeka West – Jones 12 pass from Berg (Berg conversion)
Seaman – Merritt 85 kickoff return (conversion failed)
Seaman – Hurla fumble recovery in the end zone (conversion failed)
Individual statistics
Rushing -- Seaman: Vawter 13-94, Huston 7-39, Bloom 7-85, Thomas 6-75, Tootle 6-28, Finely 2-46, Osborne 2-9. Topeka West: M. Berg 19-(minus)-15, Alexander 15-102, Coffman 1-9, Engel 1-(minus)-5, E. Berg 1-(minus)-14.
Passing -- Seaman: Huston 3-5, 73 yards, Finely 1-2, 7. Topeka West: M. Berg 17-29-2, 244; Alexander 1-1 19, E. Berg 1-3 2.
Receiving -- Seaman: Barta 2-73, Tootle 1-7, Vawter 1-(minus)-1). Topeka West: K. Jones 5-114, Coffman 4-66, Engel 4-33, M. Jones 2-20, Janosik-Patch 2-20, Alexander 2-12.
