As thrilling as Frankfort’s 38-36 win over Thunder Ridge to start this postseason was – the Wildcats needing a late two-point conversion to secure the win after having stopped the Longhorns on a two-point try moments earlier – it was merely a primer.
 
And there was only one way for Wildcat coach Nick Anderson to sum up Friday’s wild 84-74 shootout victory at Marmaton Valley.
 
“It was just crazy,” he said. “Crazy.”
 
Indeed it was. Frankfort fell behind 22-6 in the first quarter and still trailed by as much as 16 in the second quarter. But after getting down eight twice in the fourth quarter, Frankfort finished the game on a 24-6 run to pull out the frenzied win and advance to the Eight-Player Division II quarterfinals for the third straight season.
 
“It was a classic quarterback duel,” Anderson said of the win. “Two great players.”
 
In such a scenario, Anderson certainly likes his odds. His quarterback is not only his son, Wes, but a player who’s been the most prolific passing quarterback in Eight-Player football the past two seasons. A four-year starter at the position, Wes Anderson threw for an eight-player best 2,184 yards and 34 touchdowns as a sophomore and then followed it up last year with 2,696 yards passing and 6 touchdowns.
 
While his passing yardage total has dipped this year, he was on target against Marmaton Valley. He completed 24 of 29 passes for 286 yards and six touchdowns, hitting Porter Colvin for four of those scores and Peyton Adams and Henry Ketter for one each.
 
But as much as Anderson hurt Marmaton Valley with his arm, he was equally dangerous with his legs. Anderson ran for a career-high 189 yards and 4 touchdowns, including a 30-yard TD run late in the fourth quarter that clinched the win after Marmaton had taken a 76-74 lead on Ketter’s 34 TD run and a conversion pass from Anderson to Colvin.
 
That performance was just enough to offset an equally impressive one from Marmaton Valley’s Tyler Lord. A first-year starter at quarterback for the Wildcats, Lord has had a big season in leading them to an 8-1 mark going into the game.
 
Against Frankfort, Lord threw for 392 yards and 7 touchdowns and ran for 215 yards and four more scores.
 
In all, the two quarterbacks combined for 678 yards and 13 TDs passing and 404 yards and 8 TDs rushing – an astonishing total of 1,082 total yards and 21 total TDs.
 
“It was amazing to watch both of them play,” Anderson said. “It was just crazy. But our kids showed a lot of grit and a lot of heart. … We really got after it in the second half and held our composure and gutted one out.”
 
That’s been a prevailing theme for Frankfort this season. Coming off back-to-back 9-3 seasons that ended in the state semifinals against Twin Valley League rival and four-time reigning Division II champion Axtell, the Wildcats were going to have a new look this season. Graduation claimed an outstanding senior class last spring, one that included a trio of first-team All-Division II selections a year ago – versatile back Lane Loiseau, receiver Carter Olson and lineman Trent Hardin.
 
Such losses can be tough to overcome for any program, but at the eight-player level, they can be devastating. And Anderson admits it took a while for he and the team to figure out just how the pieces around Wes would fall into place this season.
 
“We had a lot of question marks and a lot of kids that hadn’t played much varsity football,” Anderson said. “It took us awhile, even as a coaching staff, to find out which pieces would go where. We knew there would be some learning curves and growing pains throughout the year and our tough schedule didn’t help things.”
 
No question that was the case. Frankfort’s opening stretch made figuring things out awfully difficult. The Wildcats opened the season against league rival Clifton-Clyde, which reached the Division I semifinals last fall, and then followed against a veteran Lyndon squad that wound up posting an undefeated regular season. In Week 4, Frankfort met Hanover, which is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Division II this year.
 
Frankfort fell in overtime to Clifton-Clyde in the opener 34-28 and then dropped a 54-44 decision to Lyndon, rallying late in that contest after getting down 28 in the fourth quarter. After beating Solomon 46-0, the Wildcats fell 50-0 to Hanover.
 
“That Clyde one still stings and I think we win that one if Wes doesn’t get hurt in the second half,” Anderson said. “That gets our season off to a different start than what we were hoping. But we competed well against Lyndon and, yeah, the schedule was not our friend early, especially with a young team.”
 
Since the loss to Hanover, however, Frankfort has only lost once – a 60-14 loss to Axtell in district play. The Wildcats won a 44-36 game with Thunder Ridge in the regular season and then had to match up with the Longhorns to start postseason play. 
 
Tied 22-22 with Thunder Ridge going into the fourth quarter of the playoff contest, Frankfort had to answer twice after the Longhorns took 30-22 and 36-30 leads. But after Anderson came up with a huge tackle to stop the Longhorns’ conversion try on the second of those touchdowns, Frankfort came back down and Anderson hit Colvin with a 6-yard TD to tie it and then found Peyton Adams for the game-winning two-conversion that was pushed back to the 8-yard line after a penalty.
 
“It was a really chaotic week with our girls being at the state volleyball tournament (in Dodge City),” Anderson said. “Our boys were on the school bus for like 18 and a half hours and we traveled all over the state it seemed. It was a very crazy week and then we’d lost Fred Rosequist, one of our most physical payers (to injury), so we had a lot going against us. Finding a way to pull that out most definitely gave us confidence for the long road trip to Marmaton.”
 
Frankfort never led until the fourth quarter and had to pick itself back up after Marmaton Valley broke a 6-6 early tie with two straight touchdowns to lead 22-6 at the end of the period. Marmaton maintained a 16-point advantage throughout the second quarter before Anderson found Colvin for a 15-yard TD at the end of the half to pull Frankfort within 38-28 at halftime.
 
After Anderson hit Colvin for a 35-yard TD pass to start the second half and Ketter ran in a conversion to make it 38-36, the teams traded scores back and fourth until Frankfort got a late stop and put together back-to-back scores for the win.
 
Frankfort now gets a familiar foe, travelling to Axtell to take on the 9-1 Eagles, who had their 58-game winning streak stopped earlier this season by Hanover. While the Wildcats will be heavy underdogs, they also know they have nothing to lose.
 
“It’ll be the third year in a row that we’ve had that mindset going to Axtell in the playoffs,” Anderson said. “We’ll have fun and go play hard and leave it out on the field and see what happens. We were a couple plays last year from making that interesting and I’m excited for the kids and they’re excited as well and will be up to the challenge.
 
“I’m really proud of this team and what we’ve done and overcome. We’re where I thought we could be at the beginning of the year, but I’m not sure all of our kids, especially our younger ones, thought we could get here. It’s been a very enjoyable ride and one that we’re proud of.”
 
Wes Anderson still has an outside chance of becoming Kansas’ all-time passing leader in eight-player football. Entering the season with 6,247 passing yards in his career, he was 2,073 shy of the record of 8,320 set by White City’s Michael Hammersmith. With 1,753 yards this season, Anderson is 320 shy of tying Hammersmith’s mark.
 
He’s also rushed for a career-high 714 yards this season, accounting for 43 touchdowns overall.
 
REGIONAL STANDOUTS
 
CLASS 6A

• Manhattan has gotten healthy and it shows as the Indians jumped all over visiting Wichita Southeast, which was enjoying its best season since 2000. The Indians erupted for 22 first-quarter points and led 45-0 at halftime on their way to a 45-6 victory. Joseph Mortensen had a hand in all three first-quarter touchdowns, rushing for two and throwing a 24-yard halfback touchdown pass to JJ Dunnigan. Dunnigan also returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and Kha’Mario Davis and EJ Massenberg added short TD runs. Manhattan’s defense held Southeast to just 101 yards of total offense.
• Washburn Rural put itself in position to upset Class 6A No. 2 Wichita Northwest, getting a pair of touchdown passes from Gavin Vantuyl to Kellen Roth to take a 28-24 lead early in the second half. But the Grizzlies finished the game on a 28-0 run to take a 52-28 win and end Rural’s season with a 6-4 record.
• Junction City saw its season end with a 28-7 loss to Derby. The game was 14-7 in the third quarter after Lovell Autry returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score after the Panthers had just scored on a pick six. But the Blue Jay offense was completely shut down by Derby, finishing with just 112 yards, including minus-3 on the ground.

 
CLASS 4A

• Facing Buhler for the fourth time in the last two seasons, Wamego got out to an early lead and fought off the Crusaders the rest of the way, taking a 33-27 victory. Logan Fulton burned the Crusaders with both his arm and legs, throwing for 300 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 86 yards and three more scores. Reed McDiffett caught 12 passes for 126 yards, while Dominic Falco snagged both of Fulton’s touchdown tosses and with his 75 yards broke the school’s single-season receiving record, pushing him to 1,110 yards this season.

 
CLASS 3A

• East No. 1 seed Hayden knocked Wellsville out of the playoffs for the second straight year and third time in four years, rolling to a 42-0 victory. Kade Mitchell scored all three touchdowns as the Wildcats jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and finished the night with four touchdowns of 36 or more yards – rushing for scores of 36 and 68 yards and catching TD passes of 62 and 63 yards. Mitchell ran for 131 yards and had 149 yards receiving while Connor Hanika threw for 211 yards.
• After winning its first postseason game since 2019 a week ago, Jefferson West backed it up with perhaps its most impressive win of the season, going on the road to knock off one-loss Prairie View 49-14. The Tigers fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter as Prairie View got a pair of touchdown runs. But West flipped the game in the second quarter as Brixton Schwinn threw TD passes to Crayton Holman and Dalton Foster to tie the game 14-14 at halftime. Schwinn then went off in the third quarter, throwing four TD passes – two each to Foster and Brody Schwinn. Brixton Schwinn finished with 287 yards passing and 6 touchdowns, while Foster had a career-best game with 79 yards and 3 TDs while Holman had 114 yards receiving and Brody Schwinn had 86.
• Santa Fe Trail continued its undefeated season with a dominant 28-0 win over Girard, moving to 10-0 – the most wins for the program since 1996 and double the Chargers’ win total a year ago. Rigley Sleichter completed 5 of 7 passes for 103 yards and three touchdowns, two going to Xavier Davis and the other to Kain Tantaros. Sleichter also ran for 172 yards and a touchdown and the Charger defense was led by Jack Gragg’s eight solo and 9 assisted tackles.
• Holton pulled off its second straight road playoff win, knocking off one-loss Frontenac 14-6. Andrew Shupe’s 55-yard touchdown run was the lone score of the first half and after the Raiders cut the lead to 7-6 in the second half on a 35-yard run by Brogan Smith late in the third, Holton got a clinching 5-yard TD run from Cael Frazier with 1:30 left. Shupe finished with 145 yards and Holton held Frontenac to just 198 total yards.
• Undefeated Rock Creek got all it wanted from visiting Hesston, rallying from down 13-7 in the second quarter to take a 17-13 victory. Tate Smith threw a pair of TD passes to Jacob Perkins, the first a 73-yarder to start the scoring and the second a 15-yarder which proved to be the game winner late in the first half. Perkins finished with 116 yards receiving and Zion Bell ran for 133 yards. Wade Rottinghaus led the defense with 4.5 sacks and Jaxon Pendall’s 31-yard field goal was the lone score in the second half for either team.

 
CLASS 2A

• In a rematch of last year’s state semifinal, Nemaha Central broke free from a scoreless first quarter with Council Grove, scoring 14 points in the second and third quarters on its way to a 34-12 victory. The Thunder led 28-0 after three quarters. Carter Hajek ran for 247 yards and 4 touchdowns and also threw for 100 yards and a score, going over 7,000 career rushing yards in the contest. Luke Stewart threw for 218 yards and a touchdown for the Braves.
• Better late than never, Sabetha’s offense finally found its footing in the fourth quarter of its showdown with Big East League rival Silver Lake, propelling the Bluejays to a 28-16 victory. Silver Lake led 7-0 at halftime on the strength of a 22-yard TD pass from Kipton Kruger to Dayne Johnson and then got a 22-yard field goal from Mason VanVactor early in the fourth quarter to break a 7-7 tie after Micah Lang had scored on a short TD run in the third quarter for Sabetha. The Bluejays then dominated the final quarter with Will Voos sandwiching TD runs of 4 and 38 yards around a 4-yard score from Lang for 21 straight points to take control. Kruger threw a TD pass in the final minute for the Eagles and finished with 284 yards passing. Voos ran for 155 yards and Sabetha got all 238 of its yards on the ground, not attempting a pass in the game.
• Osage City led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and 53-0 at halftime en route to a 60-7 blowout of Atchison County. Reed Silver threw TD passes to Dylan Theel and Quenten Stark and also ran for a touchdown in the first quarter and Theel then ran for two TDs in the second quarter. Silver hit Stark for another TD and Tate Smith ran for a 25-yard TD and returned an interception 55 yards for a score in the second as well. Silver finished with 138 yards and 3 TDs passing and Osage City ran for 199 yards as a team and held the Tigers to just 142 total yards.
• Defending champion and unbeaten Southeast of Saline fell down 6-0 early to visiting Russell but bounced back quickly, scoring the next 30 points on its way to a 44-12 victory. Grady Gebhardt’s 64-yard touchdown run got the Trojans going and he added a second TD run after Tiernan Ptacek had scored on a pair of runs as well. Gebhardt finished with 341 yards and 4 TDs and the Trojans ran for 454 yards as a team.

 
CLASS 1A

• Two weeks after losing 14-7 to Centralia, Riverside got immediate revenge on the Panthers with a 41-28 playoff victory. The Cyclones doubled their point total from the first game in the first quarter, jumping out to a 14-0 lead on a short TD run from Chase Hewins and TD pass from Beckam Griffin to Ty’Zell Harrington. After Centralia cut it to 14-6 on 48-yard run by Quentin Alderfer, Riverside answered immediately with a 60-yard kickoff return touchdown from Hewins and added another TD run before half to lead 27-6 at the break. That TD run came from Elijah Moore, who added two more in the second half to finish with 187 yards and the 3 TDs. The last victory for the program at Centralia came well before the consolidation of Wathena and Elwood with Wathena’s last win there coming in in 1970 and Elwood’s in 1972.
• No. 1 Jackson Heights got a big-time scare from Olpe, surviving when the Eagle’s potential game-winning two-point conversion attempt in overtime fell incomplete, allowing the Cobras to escape with a 21-20 OT win. Drake Mellies ran for 41 and 3-yard touchdowns in regulation for Heights, while Olpe countered with a 71-yard pass play from Brayden Lienemann to Ko’Rel Robinson and a 3-yard TD run from Lienemann. In overtime, Mellies hit Austin Zeller for a 5-yard TD and the Cobras converted the PAT. Olpe then got a 2-yard TD run form Lienemann, but Eagle coach Chris Schmidt went for two and the win but Lienemann’s pass was off the mark and the Cobras held on.
• Rossville got out to a 33-0 lead on visiting Jefferson County North and cruised to a 53-18 victory. Canann Mitchell accounted for the Bulldawgs’ first three touchdowns, throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Andre Johnson and rushing for scores of 2 and 7 yards. Mitchell added TD runs of 10 and 43 yards in the second half and Johnson had scoring runs of 18 and 24 yards. Mitchell finished with 137 yards rushing and 127 passing and the Bulldawgs had 453 yards of total offense.

 
EIGHT-PLAYER DIVISION I

• Locked in an 8-6 battle with undefeated Lyndon at the end of the first quarter, Little River exploded for 22 second quarter points to take control of the game, finishing with a 52-20 victory in a battle of ranked teams. Jaxson Konen keyed the win for the Redskins, rushing for 193 yards and 4 touchdowns in the contest. Jaren Garrison and Jhet Ewertt also added TD runs and Konen threw a TD pass to Ty Janette. Little River finished with 347 yards rushing in the game.

 
EIGHT-PLAYER DIVISION II

• Four-time defending champion Axtell extended its postseason winning streak to 22 straight with a convincing 46-0 win over one-loss Rural Vista. Wyatt Detweiler hit Joe Lybarger with a 50-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring and then found Collin Shaughness for a 23-yard score as the Eagles led 24-0 at the end of the first quarter. Detweiler threw for 230 yards and 5 TDs overall with Lybarger and Shaughnessy catching two each. The Eagles also held Heat standout tailback Kole Riedy to just 52 yards.
• No. 1 Hanover avenged a playoff loss to Burlingame a year ago with a 64-8 blowout win, leading 40-0 at the end of the first quarter. Kadrick Cohorst threw three TD passes in the first quarter to three different receivers and finished with 145 yards passing on 6-of-7 accuracy. He was won of four Wildcats with a rushing TD as well.
• After getting its first postseason win in nearly 30 years last week, Linn made it two in a row with a 46-0 victory over Lebo, continuing the program’s best season since going 8-4 in 1998. Conrad Winter ran for three first-quarter scores and the Bulldogs had five of their six rushing touchdowns go for 18 or more yards.

 
SIX-PLAYER

• Peabody cruised past Southern Coffey County 54-0 on Wednesday, setting up a showdown in the quarterfinals with Tescott. The meeting will be the eight for the two schools in the past four years with the Trojans winning six of the previous seven.