Still dressed in his uniform and pads but healing from a 57-7 loss to powerful Andale in the Class 3A quarterfinals on Friday, Pratt quarterback Creston Pore reflected on his team’s two-hour struggle against the Indians’ defense.
 
“They just get off the ball so hard,” Pore said after being limited to five completions for 16 yards and running four times for minus-8 yards. “It’s just so hard to get forward because they play so hard.
 
“They play with effort and you have to beat them with effort, and we just didn’t get that done tonight.”
 
Battling top-ranked Andale figured to be a tall order for Pratt despite its nine-game winning streak and stable of quality athletes. The Greenbacks were stymied except for a 5-play, 55-yard touchdown drive late in the third quarter after Andale turned to its reserves with a running clock.
 
That made up the majority of Pratt’s 73 yards of total offense as Andale posted its state-best 24^th consecutive victory to return to the 3A semifinals.
 
“We saw them as a good team, but we’re always going to focus on our rules and how we do things,” said Andale senior linebacker Sam Kuepker, who had two first-half interceptions. “Coach (Tim) Fairchild does an amazing job with our defense. We just knew if we played our butts off, we’d get it done, and I feel like our team did a really good job of that.”
 

After Andale opened the game with a methodical, 12-play, 69-yard drive that ended with Jack Horsch’s 3-yard touchdown run, Kuepker delivered the Indians’ first defensive haymaker, picking off Pore’s pass on a third-and-14 play. Andale’s offense turned the ball over on downs on its ensuing possession, but the tone had been set.
 
Pratt’s next four drives in the first half netted nine yards, but required a 15-yard roughing penalty to get that.
 
“We’ve just gained momentum as the year has gone on, and kept playing better and better and better,” Andale coach Dylan Schmidt said. “They had a lot of weapons, but to take them away the way we did was something. Up front we were so dominant, just getting in the backfield when they tried to throw the ball and stuffing the run so they had to go to the pass.
 
“We made them a little predictable, stuffing them on first down and second down. We had a lot of plays by a lot of guys. The picks were big, but up front it was really impressive.”
 
Kuepker’s second interception came near midfield and gave Andale’s potent offense an extra chance to get a first-half score. Already up 22-0, the Indians needed little more than half of the remaining 1:05 to get it. Lane Parthemer ran for 21 yards on Andale’s second play after the turnover. Then, after a false start, quarterback Sam Harp hit a wide-open Horsch on a wheel route for a 30-yard touchdown.
 
Horsch’s 2-point conversion run gave the Indians a 30-0 halftime lead. And it capped a quick turnaround sequence the Indians work to perfect.
 
“Twice a week, we do a drill called ‘Two Minute’,” said Harp, who ran for 123 yards and three touchdowns, and completed 2 of 5 passes for 59 yards and the Horsch TD. “They’re calling trigger words out and if we have an incomplete ball, one of us has to do push-ups.”
 
Andale got its third interception two plays into the second half, when Horsch snagged a pass by Pratt’s Madden Wilson, a lineman who lined up in the backfield. That ignited a 21-point third quarter for the Indians that included touchdown runs by Harp, sophomore Noah Stanley and Horsch.
 
Andale’s reserves added the final points in the fourth quarter, as Emmett Eck scored on a 6-yard run.
 
Meanwhile, the Indians limited Pratt sophomore Cade Liggett to 38 yards on eight carries. Liggett entered the game with 1,031 yards in nine games.
 
“Our strength is everybody finding the ball,” Kuepker said. “Every single person is flying to the ball every single play.”
 
 
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS QUARTERFINAL STANDOUTS
  
CLASS 6A
 
DERBY 63, WICHITA NORTHWEST 21 – Derby maintained its postseason mastery over Wichita Northwest, improving to 9-0 against the Grizzlies in the 6A playoffs as it rolled up 42 first-half points in a road victory.
 
The sixth-seeded Panthers got three touchdown passes from quarterback Blade Clark, but their running game also played a big part in sending them to the state semifinals for the 11^th consecutive year. Junior Arieus Finley ran 17 times for 203 yards and two touchdowns, and Clark added 132 yards and a touchdown to fuel Derby’s 426-yard rushing effort.
 
Derby needed just four offensive plays to get its scoring barrage started, as Clark connected with senior Davon Morrison on a 28-yard touchdown, the first of two scoring passes between the two. Morrison added an 84-yard kickoff return for a score in the second quarter.
 
The return marked the first of 21 unanswered points by Derby to close the half. Clark hit Michael Castillo on a 68-yard touchdown, then Krystian Dorsey intercepted a pass and raced 86 yards on the final play of the second quarter to put the Panthers up 42-7.
 
Derby finished with 592 yards of total offense.

 
CLASS 5A
 
SALINA CENTRAL 49, SALINA SOUTH 24 – Meeting in the playoffs for the first time in 21 years, Salina Central got 309 rushing yards and five touchdowns from senior Cooper Reves to bookend its crosstown rival’s season with losses to the Mustangs.
 
Salina South defeated Central 21-14 in overtime on its way to the 2004 5A title, but the Cougars weren’t able to extend a Cinderella run this time. After postseason upsets at Andover and Liberal, the 5A West’s 14^th seed fell victim to a Central rushing attack that generated 438 yards.
 
Still, Salina South, which finished 3-8, led 17-14 at halftime and 24-21 in the third quarter after touchdown passes from sophomore Izzy Telles to Jaxton Kitchener and Jaxon Myers. But Reves countered with an 8-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, and added two more scoring runs in the fourth as Salina Central scored the game’s final 28 points.
 
Junior quarterback Griffin Hall also ran for two touchdowns, giving the Mustangs seven TDs on the ground. The victory moved Central into the state semifinals for the first time since 2007 and marked its first 10-win season since capturing the 2005 5A title with a 13-0 mark.
 
 
CLASS 4A
 
KAPAUN MT. CARMEL 64, WELLINGTON 0 – Class 4A’s top-ranked Kapaun continued to steamroll through the postseason, avenging its 2024 season-ending loss to Wellington with its third consecutive shutout.
 
After defeating El Dorado 63-0 in Week 9 and last year’s state champion Andover Central 62-0 in the second round, Kapaun quickly spoiled Wellington’s third consecutive 4A quarterfinals appearance with three first-quarter touchdowns. Junior Ken Huff, who ran 25 times for 151 yards, scored on a pair of 3-yard runs and senior Cal Purvis added a 6-yard TD.
 
The duo sandwiched second-quarter scoring runs around Wyatt Sullenger’s 10-yard touchdown as Kapaun built a 43-0 halftime lead. Sullenger, who added a 50-yard scoring run in the third quarter, finished with 14 carries for 133 yards.
 
Purvis, senior Preston Hamilton and junior Reid Stuhlsatz intercepted passes for Kapaun, which limited Wellington to 145 total yards. Purvis finished with a team-high eight tackles and a sack for Kapaun (10-1), which avenged a 20-19 second-round loss to Wellington from last November.
 
 
CLASS 2A
 
HOISINGTON 36, GARDEN PLAIN 7 – Senior Mason Martin threw for two touchdowns and ran for a pair to continue host Hoisington’s unbeaten season and earned the Cardinals a postseason matchup with Southeast of Saline for the fourth consecutive year.
 
Hoisington (10-0) improved to 4-0 against Garden Plain in the state quarters under coach Zach Baird and snapped the Owls’ seven-game winning streak. Martin opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run, and the advantage stretched to 14-0 on Taylen Morales’ 1-yard run and 2-point conversion pass to Brody Pfannenstiel in the second quarter.
 
Garden Plain (9-2) answered with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Eli Eck to Carter Baker, but Hoisington took a 20-7 lead at the break after a 61-yard pass from Martin to Pfannenstiel.
 
Martin, who finished 4 of 9 for 121 yards, added a 17-yard scoring pass to Carson Mason, then punctuated the victory with an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter. Hoisington limited Garden Plain to 110 total yards, including 76 rushing yards on 25 carries.

 
CLASS 1A
 
STERLING 44, HUTCHINSON TRINITY 42 – Sterling’s unbeaten season was put in serious jeopardy, but the host Black Bears denied Trinity on a 2-point conversion pass with 28 seconds remaining to fend off their Heart of America League rivals for the second time this season.
 
Sterling (11-0) got 128 rushing yards from quarterback Logan Isaac and 120 from senior Wyatt Newberry. But the Black Bears didn’t take their first lead until the 5:27 mark of the fourth quarter, when Isaac connected with Jacob Lewis on an 18-yard touchdown pass and added a 2-point conversion run to make it 44-36.
 
Trinity, which lost 34-12 to Sterling on Oct. 24, closed the gap on quarterback Drew Dechant’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Roberto Guerrero. The Celtics tried a conversion pass to Dechant, but Sterling’s defense hindered the play to get the victory.
 
Sterling’s Zane Farney was held to 56 yards on 17 carries – well below his 180-yard season average – but the Black Bears still rushed for 344 yards. Luke Kerns finished with 12 carries for 189 yards for Trinity, which finished 8-3.

 
SIX-PLAYER
 
CUNNINGHAM 46, OTIS-BISON 0 – Cunningham stayed on track for its fourth championship game in four seasons of KSHSAA six-player football, using four touchdown runs from junior Stephen Kerschen and two from senior Skyler Thimesch to defeat visiting Otis-Bison for the second time this season.
 
The Wildcats matched their score from a 46-0 victory over Otis-Bison on Oct. 3, as Kerschen ran for 150 yards on 11 carries and Thimesch added 101 yards on nine attempts. Sophomore Brody Bock kicked five extra points – each worth 2 points in the six-player game – to give Cunningham the victory at halftime by the 45-point mercy rule.
 
Bock and freshman John Paul Kerschen intercepted passes for the Wildcats, who played for the first time since defeating Tescott 58-12 on Oct. 24. Senior Logan Kinsler had a team-high 11 tackles.
 
The victory earned Cunningham a rematch with Tescott in Friday’s semifinals.