First, the good news.
Blue Springs High School, the No. 1 ranked Class 6 team in the state, had two 100-yard rushers and three interceptions in a harder-than-expected 37-21 victory over Suburban Big Seven opponent Lee’s Summit Friday night at Peve Stadium.
Now, the bad news.
“When we beat (the former No. 1 team in the state) Rockhurst last week, we had two penalties for 10 yards,” Wildcats coach Kelly Donohoe said.
“What did we have tonight? I don’t even know if I want to know.”
The Wildcats were penalized 18 times for 138 yards – with two big penalties keeping Tiger scoring drives alive.
“That’s just unacceptable,” Donohoe said, shaking his head. “We played tonight like a team that had been paying more attention to all the extra things going on this week than our opponent. And it almost cost us.
“Every day, someone is coming out to give us some kind of award, and I saw very little focus tonight. Like I told the guys, they will be focused when we go to Raymore-Peculiar next Friday and we will cut down on the penalties.
“I guarantee that.”
The Wildcats weren’t the only team to suffer through a penalty-filled game.
Lee’s Summit lost two touchdowns because of penalties and were flagged 10 times for 90 yards. One cost explosive return man Ladarrius Whitehead his second kickoff return for a score.
“Special teams were a problem tonight – a problem that will be addressed,” Donohoe said.
The win gives the Wildcats a 4-0 overall record and 2-0 Big Seven mark. Despite a valiant effort, coach Mike Spiegel’s Tigers fell to 1-3 and 0-2.
“They brought us down to earth tonight,” said Blue Springs defensive end/fullback Gus Toca, who had a sack for minus-19 yards and a 1-yard touchdown run. “I know we all thought we’d come in and win this game easy, and we didn’t. We weren’t focused at all. That’s a good Lee’s Summit team, a real good team.”
Blue Springs got on the scoreboard first as Darrian Miller scored his first of three touchdowns on a 2-yard carry to cap an opening 63-yard drive.
“Right there, we thought we were going to have an easy night,” said Miller, who finished the game with 138 yards on 24 carries. “We were wrong. I don’t know what it was, we just never seemed to get it together.”
The Wildcats drove 50 yards on their next series, with Toca scoring from the 1, and it appeared the rout was on.
But Whitehead took the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. The Tigers then drove 84 yards on their next series with Darryl Slaughter scoring on a 20-yard pass from Korbin Berkstresser to knot the score at 14-all.
“We knew we had to forget about all the stuff that had been going on all week, but we weren’t expecting Lee’s Summit to be so good,” said wide receiver/tailback/defensive back Keeston Terry, who rushed for 118 yards on just seven carries and had two receptions for 35 yards.
Miller nodded in agreement.
“That’s a good team – a GOOD team,” Miller said. “We watched all kind of tape on them, and they never looked as good as they did tonight. Maybe we got tape of them on an off night, because they didn’t have an off night tonight.”
Miller’s 18-yard run gave the Wildcats a 21-14 lead at the half.
Blue Springs came up with a key defensive stand late in the second quarter, stopping the Tigers on a fourth-and-four from the 4-yard line. Slaughter carried the ball and came within inches of the goal line.
“That was huge,” Toca said.
Ricky Ortiz had two interceptions for the Wildcats and his second set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Terry to make it 28-14.
But Slaughter scored on a 3-yard run to keep the Tigers in the game.
Following that score, the Wildcats marched 74 yards, with Miller scoring from the 1, and Brady Letchworth forced Berkstresser to throw a pass from the end zone and the Tigers quarterback was called for grounding. That resulted in a safety and accounted for the final score.
|
|
|
First, the good news.
Blue Springs High School, the No. 1 ranked Class 6 team in the state, had two 100-yard rushers and three interceptions in a harder-than-expected 37-21 victory over Suburban Big Seven opponent Lee’s Summit Friday night at Peve Stadium.
Now, the bad news.
“When we beat (the former No. 1 team in the state) Rockhurst last week, we had two penalties for 10 yards,” Wildcats coach Kelly Donohoe said.
“What did we have tonight? I don’t even know if I want to know.”
The Wildcats were penalized 18 times for 138 yards – with two big penalties keeping Tiger scoring drives alive.
“That’s just unacceptable,” Donohoe said, shaking his head. “We played tonight like a team that had been paying more attention to all the extra things going on this week than our opponent. And it almost cost us.
“Every day, someone is coming out to give us some kind of award, and I saw very little focus tonight. Like I told the guys, they will be focused when we go to Raymore-Peculiar next Friday and we will cut down on the penalties.
“I guarantee that.”
The Wildcats weren’t the only team to suffer through a penalty-filled game.
Lee’s Summit lost two touchdowns because of penalties and were flagged 10 times for 90 yards. One cost explosive return man Ladarrius Whitehead his second kickoff return for a score.
“Special teams were a problem tonight – a problem that will be addressed,” Donohoe said.
The win gives the Wildcats a 4-0 overall record and 2-0 Big Seven mark. Despite a valiant effort, coach Mike Spiegel’s Tigers fell to 1-3 and 0-2.
“They brought us down to earth tonight,” said Blue Springs defensive end/fullback Gus Toca, who had a sack for minus-19 yards and a 1-yard touchdown run. “I know we all thought we’d come in and win this game easy, and we didn’t. We weren’t focused at all. That’s a good Lee’s Summit team, a real good team.”
Blue Springs got on the scoreboard first as Darrian Miller scored his first of three touchdowns on a 2-yard carry to cap an opening 63-yard drive.
“Right there, we thought we were going to have an easy night,” said Miller, who finished the game with 138 yards on 24 carries. “We were wrong. I don’t know what it was, we just never seemed to get it together.”
The Wildcats drove 50 yards on their next series, with Toca scoring from the 1, and it appeared the rout was on.
But Whitehead took the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. The Tigers then drove 84 yards on their next series with Darryl Slaughter scoring on a 20-yard pass from Korbin Berkstresser to knot the score at 14-all.
“We knew we had to forget about all the stuff that had been going on all week, but we weren’t expecting Lee’s Summit to be so good,” said wide receiver/tailback/defensive back Keeston Terry, who rushed for 118 yards on just seven carries and had two receptions for 35 yards.
Miller nodded in agreement.
“That’s a good team – a GOOD team,” Miller said. “We watched all kind of tape on them, and they never looked as good as they did tonight. Maybe we got tape of them on an off night, because they didn’t have an off night tonight.”
Miller’s 18-yard run gave the Wildcats a 21-14 lead at the half.
Blue Springs came up with a key defensive stand late in the second quarter, stopping the Tigers on a fourth-and-four from the 4-yard line. Slaughter carried the ball and came within inches of the goal line.
“That was huge,” Toca said.
Ricky Ortiz had two interceptions for the Wildcats and his second set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Terry to make it 28-14.
But Slaughter scored on a 3-yard run to keep the Tigers in the game.
Following that score, the Wildcats marched 74 yards, with Miller scoring from the 1, and Brady Letchworth forced Berkstresser to throw a pass from the end zone and the Tigers quarterback was called for grounding. That resulted in a safety and accounted for the final score.
