By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Friday was Homecoming for Topeka High as the Trojans would play host to the red hot Emporia Spartans, who had outscored their previous two opponents, 102-6, in a battle of 2-1 football teams at Hummer Sports Park.
Sophomore Ricardo Dowd rushed for 83 yards and a TD in Topeka High's 13-12 win over Emporia. [File photo/TSN]
The Centennial League opener for both schools went down to the wire, with Topeka High hanging on for a 13-12 win.
The game would get started with the Spartans receiving the ball and turning it over on downs before forcing a quick Trojan three and out.
That would give the Spartans the ball back and help get them on the board, with freshman quarterback Cael Claibourn finding sophomore Oliver Kline for a 2-yard touchdown pass (conversion failed).
The Trojans would get the ball back and go for a field goal to cut their deficit to three but the Spartans would find a way to block the field goal.
Topeka High would force a quick Spartan three and out and the Trojans would drive down the field on the legs of sophomore running back Ricardo Dowd, who would gain 45 of his team-high 83 yards on the drive and would punch it into the end zone with a 1-yard run.
Emporia blocked High's extra point to leave the game tied at 6-6 at halftime.
Topeka High coach Jason Filbeck on Dowd's performance: “Absolutely not shocked at all, he is the right kind of kid. He works hard, he gets good grades and he just does everything right and he has alot of talent. He can be really special down the road. He is only a sophomore and he is already toting the rock how you should.
"I mean, he runs through arm tackles and protects the football and he has done a good job. I am not surprised at all. We saw it last year before he got hurt , that he was going to be good.”
Trojan quarterback Zane Smith on Dowd: “He does his magic, but with the help of the team. He’s young, but he has great eyes, he has older eyes then what he is. He finds a hole and he hits it and then just makes guys miss, he is truly special.”
The Trojans would then strike again as Smith would find junior Courtney Sanders on a 11-yard pass to get into the end zone.
The biggest play of the night would come on a Spartan touchdown with four minutes to go to get within 13-12.
Emporia would go for the 2-point conversion to get the lead, but the Trojan defense would stuff the Spartans at the goal line and take the ball and the lead.
The Trojans are 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the league with the strength of the schedule coming up with games against Washburn Rural, Manhattan, Junction City and Pittsburg.
“We need to execute on offense to start the game,'' Filbeck said. "We got it going a little bit later tonight, but we can’t come out and lay a goose egg for a quarter against good teams that we are about to play. I think our defense will be schemed up and have chances to get stops for us, but we’ve got to cash in more often on offense when we see opportunities there.
"I mean we still missed a couple throws, dropped a touchdown. Like there are things that we need to clean up, we were down on the 2-yard-line and missed a field goal. So all those things, you know you can’t afford to just leave those on the field when you play the good teams of the league.”
The Trojans will next be in action next Friday at crosstown rival Washburn Rural.
TOPEKA HIGH 13, EMPORIA 12
Emporia (2-2, 0-1) 6 0 0 6 — 12
Topeka High (3-1 1-0) 0 6 7 0 — 13
Emporia — Kline 2 pass from Claibourn (Run failed)
Topeka High — Dowd 1 run (kick blocked)
Topeka High — Sanders 11 pass from Smith (Villegas kick)
Emporia — Claiborn 1 run (run failed)
Individual statistics
Rushing — Emporia: Crowell 21-167, Claibourn 5-16, Gardner 3-11, Collins 2-3. Topeka High: Dowd 16-83, Strayhorn 2-14, Smith 7-6, Tibbs 2-6.
Passing — Emporia: Claibourn 1-3-0, 12 yards. Topeka High: Smith 5-8-0, 85.
Receiving — Emporia: Kline 1-12. Topeka High: Murph 1-35, Dowd 1-25, Sanders 1-12, Aldridge 1-9, Stewart 1-4.
