Adam Clay
Hiawatha World
The Hiawatha Red Hawks traveled to Perry Lecompton on Friday evening, taking on the Kaws, who entered the game just ahead of the Hawks in their Class 3A District. With both teams slated to start on the road in the upcoming State playoff tournament, Hiawatha could not claw their way into the better seed, as the Kaws overcame a big second quarter for the Red Hawks to earn the 34-20 win.
Hiawatha was often able to move the ball, but only found their way into the end zone in the second, and turned the ball over twice. An early touchdown gave Perry Lecompton an 8-0 lead that lasted through the first, but Hiawatha came out firing in the second, with Bradyn Newell connecting with Michael Jensen for a 20 yard score with 9:17 to go in the half, with the score 8-6 after a failed two point conversion. A controversial missed fair catch on the ensuing kickoff went from a negative to a positive for the Red Hawks, as Alex Pyle ripped the ball free to give Hiawatha the ball. The Hawks could not convert, and Perry capitalized by adding a quick score to go up 14-6.
Taking the ball with under seven minutes in the half, Hiawatha marched down the field, converting for first downs again and again, and punching it in from the two yard line, as Bradyn Newell snuck into the endzone behind the fullback to bring the score to 14-12, but a reverse that turned into a pass on the two point conversion was enough to even up the game at 14-14. The Kaws were pushing the ball down the field, turning to the passing game to try to get a quick score before the half, but the strategy worked against them, as what looked like a solid completion popped out of the receiver’s hands and straight to Ethan Morton, who snagged the ball out of the air and sprinted down the field to score the go ahead touchdown to take the 20-14 lead into halftime.
Unfortunately for Hiawatha, the second half was all Perry Lecompton, as the Kaws ran off 20 consecutive points to earn the 34-20 win and hold onto their third place ranking in the District. Hiawatha took the loss to fall to 2-6 on the season and secure the 4th seed in the District. The loss had massive implications, as the Kaws, despite playing on the road, will be taking on the 4-3 Santa Fe Trail Chargers, while the Red Hawks will also hit the road, where they draw a rematch with the 7-1 Hayden Wildcats, who laid a 49-0 beating on Hiawatha just under a month ago. Hiawatha has turned things around a bit since that time, however, and the team has been competitive in every contest the rest of the way, so if the Wildcats think they are facing the same Hiawatha squad, they might have another thing coming.
