By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OK, so not everything went Seaman's way in Friday's second-round Class 5A home playoff game against Valley Center.
The Vikings were hit with nearly 100 yards in penalties, turned the ball over twice, had punts and field goals blocked, gave up a 65-yard pass play and had to deal with intermittent rain throughout the contest.
Seaman senior quarterback Max Huston ran for 117 yards and four TDs and passed for 272 yards and a TD in the Vikings' 43-16 win over Valley Center. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But those things were little more than an annoyance as Seaman opened up a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter on the way to a decisive 43-16 victory over the Hornets, earning a 5A regional title and advancing to the state quarterfinals for the second straight season.
"That's playoff football at its finest,'' Seaman coach Jared Swafford said. "It would be great if every game was perfectly clean and everything went the way you wanted it to, but the kids handled plenty of adversity and did a nice job.
"Give (Valley Center) credit, they're a tough team, but I'm really proud of our guys for finding a way to do enough to get a win.''
Now 8-2 on the season, No. 3 West seed Seaman will travel to Goddard next Friday to face No. 2 seed Eisenhower, a 37-26 winner over Maize South on Thursday night.
Seaman junior Kaden McKinney rushed for 114 yards and a TD in Friday's 43-16 Class 5A playoff win over Valley Center. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Max Huston (7) celebrates one of his four TDs with Bryer Finley (1) in Friday's 43-16 Class 5A regional playoff win over Valley Center. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman senior quarterback Max Huston had a huge night for the Vikings, completing 16 of 25 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown and carrying the ball 14 times for 117 yards and four TDs while junior Kaden McKinney also went over the 100-yard mark with 114 yards and a TD on 28 attempts.
Valley Center (3-7) kept Seaman senior receiving star Bryer Finley relatively in check for much of the night, but Finley still had five catches for 95 yards.
Junior Cameron Brian (6) celebrates a big defensive play in Seaman's 43-16 Class 5A playoff win over Valley Center. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Defensively the Vikings forced three Hornet turnovers and came up with three fourth-down stops while holding the visitors to 50 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
While happy with the win Huston said there's still plenty of room for improvement as the Vikings move on in the playoffs.
"I thought we did pretty good, not our best yet, not even close to our best yet,'' Huston said. "We had way too many penalties and mistakes that we could fix as we keep going in the playoffs.
"I would just say I'm proud of my guys and we're going to keep going.''
Seaman never trailed after driving 80 yards in nine plays on its opening drive for a 1-yard Huston TD run (Ethan Geiger kick).
The Vikings made it a 14-0 game at the 5:13 mark of the first quarter on a 39-yard TD strike from Huston to junior Jayden Evans (Geiger kick) and went up 21-0 at the 9:38 mark of the second quarter on a 51-yard gallop from Huston (Geiger kick).
Valley Center got on the scoreboard midway through the second stanza on a 27-yard TD pass from senior Connor Meyer to sophomore Ray J Logan (CJ Gonzalez kick) and cut its deficit to 21-10 on a 33-yard Gonzalez field goal at the 5:12 mark of the third quarter.
But that's as close as the Hornets would get as Huston scored on 4 and 8-yard runs to put Seaman in command 35-10 with 5:22 remaining.
Valley Center used a 65-yard pass play from Meyer to Logan to set up a 5-yard TD run from junior Rylan Bailey (conversion failed) before Seaman got its final TD of the night on a 8-yard McKinney run after a 42-yard pass completion from Huston to Finley. Junior Kevin Moe ran for the 2-point conversion after a mishandled snap on the extra point try to give the Vikings their final margin.
SEAMAN 43, VALLEY CENTER 16
Valley Center (3-7) 0 7 3 6 -- 16
Seaman (8-2) 14 7 0 22 -- 43
Seaman -- Huston 1 run (Geiger kick)
Seaman -- Evans 39 pass from Huston (Geiger kick)
Seaman -- Huston 51 run (Geiger kick)
Valley Center -- Logan 27 pass from Meyer (Gonzalez kick)
Valley Center -- Gonzalez 33 FG
Seaman -- Huston 4 run (Geiger kick)
Seaman -- Huston 8 run (Geiger kick)
Valley Center -- Bailey 5 run (pass failed)
Seaman -- McKinney 8 run (Moe run)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Valley Center: Bailey 14-45, Meyer 6-4, Outley 2-3, Boone 1-(minus)-2. Seaman: Huston 14-117, McKinney 28-114, Tootle 3-8, Team 2-(minus)-6.
Passing -- Valley Center: Meyer 11-29-1, 204 yards. Seaman: Huston 16-25-2, 272.
Receiving -- Valley Center: Logan 5-147, Chavez 3-45, Needham 1-8, Outley 1-4, Bailey 1-0. Seaman: Finley 5-95, Kobuszewski 4-34, McKinney 3-49, Evans 2-49, Becker 2-45.
Punting -- Valley Center: Gonzalez 4-31.5. Seaman: Evans 2-16.5.
