By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
On a night when his team dealt with adversity from start to finish, including the loss of its top two quarterbacks to injury, Washburn Rural football coach Steve Buhler praised the Junior Blues for their fight in Friday's 34-23 loss to Bishop Carroll at Bowen Glaze Stadium.
Senior star Jadyn Baum rushed for 208 yards and 74 and 70-yard TDs in Washburn Rural's 34-23 loss to Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Rural suffered a blow on its third offensive play from scrimmage when senior quarterback Gavin Vantuyl suffered an ankle injury on a 10-yard first-down carry and did not return.
Later in the second half senior backup QB Gabriel Taylor left the game with an arm injury, forcing the Junior Blues to finish the game with sophomore Jaihonis Wallace.
The Junior Blues were also hampered by four turnovers on the night, but thanks in large part to a monster night from senior star running back Jadyn Baum, Rural was still within five points (28-23) well into the fourth quarter before the 3-0 Eagles opened up the final margin with 7:29 remaining.
"They battled all the way to the end, which is what we've been asking for them to do,'' Buhler said. "The put out a lot of effort and played extremely hard and we're still playing to the end and we're still trying to get a score at the end of the game.''
Despite Vantuyl's early injury, Washburn Rural jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
The Junior Blues recovered a fumble at their 5-yard-line after a Carroll scoring threat and struck paydirt three plays after Vantuyl left the game when Baum burst loose for a 74-yard TD run with 6:06 left in the opening quarter (Ryan Austin kick).
Senior Jake Bervert caught a 24-yard touchdown pass in Washburn Rural's 34-23 loss to Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Rural made it a 14-0 game with 1:16 left in the first when Taylor connected with senior Max Bervert for a 24-yard TD (Austin kick).
The second quarter belonged to the Eagles, who got a 50-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jonah Mull to senior Hank Hartman (Hartman kick) and a 5-yard TD run from Mull (Marshall Gregoire kick) as Bishop Carroll tied the game at halftime.
Rural took the second half kickoff but took over at its own 9-yard-line, was unable to move the ball and gave Carroll the ball at the Junior Blue 13 after a bad snap in punt formation forced Austin to throw a desperation incomplete pass.
Two plays later the Eagles got an 11-yard TD run from Harrison King (Hartman kick) to take a 21-14 lead and Carroll scored again 2:02 later on a 14-yard pass from Mull to junior Blake Murphy (Hartman kick) after a Washburn Rural fumble deep in its own territory.
But Baum got his team back in the game with an outstanding 70-yard run (Austin kick) on Rural's ensuing possession and the Junior Blues cut their deficit to 28-23 with 3:01 left in the third when they recorded a safety.
But Carroll recovered the ensuing free kick to protect the precarious advantage.
The Eagles made it a two-possession game when Mull scored from 8 yards out (pass failed) and Carroll made the 11-point margin stand up the rest of the way.
Baum finished the night 208 rushing yards and the two long TDs on 23 carries.
"Everybody played hard, but who makes everything go is Jadyn Baum,'' Buhler said. "Jadyn Baum makes that heck of a run, the offensive line was staying with their blocks, he breaks a couple of tackles, out-runs everybody for a touchdown and just gets everybody going again.
"That's what I love about him. He just competes all the time and he's coming at you all the time and we've got a lot of seniors that are the same way offensively and defensively and that's why I'm excited about the rest of the year.''
The 1-2 Junior Blues will open Centennial League play against Topeka High next Friday at Hummer Sports Park.
BISHOP CARROLL 34, WASHBURN RURAL 23
Bishop Carroll (3-0) 0 14 14 6 -- 34
Washburn Rural (1-2) 14 0 9 0 -- 23
Washburn Rural -- Jadyn Baum 74 run (Ryan Austin kick)
Washburn Rural -- Max Bervert 24 pass from Gabriel Taylor (Ryan Austin kick)
Bishop Carroll -- Hank Hartman 50 pass from Jonah Mull (Hank Hartman kick)
Bishop Carroll -- Jonah Mull 5 run (Marshall Gregoire kick)
Bishop Carroll -- Harrison King 11 run (Hank Hartman kick)
Bishop Carroll -- Blake Murphy 14 pass from Jonah Mull (Hank Hartman kick)
Washburn Rural -- Jadyn Baum 70 run (Ryan Austin kick)
Washburn Rural -- Safety, Jonah Mull tackled in end zone
Bishop Carroll -- Jonah Mull 8 run (pass failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Bishop Carroll: Cooper Herrman 19-97, Jonah Mull 24-79, Aedyn Acosta 7-27, Hank Hartman 1-26, Harrison King 2-6. Washburn Rural: Jadyn Baum 23-208, Gavin Vantuyl 1-10, Riley Lone 1-(minus)-4, Gabriel Taylor 1-(minus)-8, Jaihonis Wallace 1-(minus)-2, Team 3-(minus)-24.
Passing -- Bishop Carroll: Jonah Mull 11-15-0, 113 yards. Washburn Rural: Jaihonis Wallace 2-3-0, 55; Gabriel Taylor 2-8-1, 29; Ryan Austin 0-1-0, 0.
Receiving -- Bishop Carroll: Hank Hartman 3-72, Joey Helten 3-13, Harrison King 3-7, Blake Murphy 1-14, Caleb Ferguson 1-7. Washburn Rural: Isaiah Whiteside 2-53, Max Bervert 1-24, Wyatt Bossert 1-5.
Punting -- Bishop Carroll: Blake Murphy 1-38.0. Washburn Rural: Ryan Austin 4-38.0.
