Quick start pushes Hesston past Warriors for playoff berth

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL
Ball control offense and a stingy defense have sent the Hesston Swathers to the state basketball playoffs a number of times.

On Thursday night in Marion, the Swather football team followed that strategy to the state playoffs and ended the state aspirations of the Marion Warriors in the process.

When the final horn sounded, Hesston owned a 21-6 win over the Warriors in the District 12 matchup that decided the district’s second representative along with Southeast of Saline.

“We knew it was going to be a good, solid game all the way around and it didn’t disappoint except for the outcome,” coach Grant Thierolf said. “We just weren’t able to make plays when we got the ball in scoring areas, and their defense stopped us from making plays.”

The Swathers set the tone early with an opening drive that lasted longer than some Hollywood marriages.

Starting at its own 28-yard line, Hesston marched 72 yards in 17 plays-all on the ground-scoring on a one-yard burst by Kevin Roulhac.

The drive melted away 10:39 of the opening quarter as Hesston took a 7-0 with 1:21 left in the period.

“Our biggest fear coming in was that they would try to pound it in on us between the tackles,” Thierolf said. “And that’s basically what they did.”

Marion’s first possession ended much sooner. The Warriors ran three plays, gained eight yards and punted the ball as the first quarter ended.

Starting its next drive on its own 38-yard line, Hesston pounded the ball at the Warriors once again, this time driving to the Warrior 27-yard line.

Facing a second-and-12, the Swathers pulled a halfback pass from the playbook. Jake Wray took the handoff and hit Kelly Linton for a 23-yard gain to the 4-yard line.

From there, Reed Hammond skirted the left side to cap the 10-play drive. With the extra-point kick, the Swathers enjoyed a 14-0 lead with 6:48 left in the half.

Through the first 17 minutes, Hesston ran 27 plays to only three for Marion.

The Warriors seemed to find the spark they needed when Nelson returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the Swather 10.

With first-and-goal from there, Marion sandwiched three incomplete passes around a Casey Nelson run that lost a yard, and Hesston took over at the 11-yard line.

But Marion’s defense rose to the occasion, too. When quarterback Andy Schmidt attempted to sweep the left end, the ball came loose and Marion’s Kyle Hett pounced on it at the Swather 19-yard line.

Four plays later, Josh Kelsey snuck up the middle for an eight-yard touchdown. The extra-point kick was blocked, but Marion had new life at 14-6 with 2:57 left in the half.

“It was a big play and we had all the momentum,” Thierolf said.

But the momentum was fleeting. Taking the ball on a reverse on the kickoff, Hammond darted through the Warrior kickoff team, down the east sideline and into the end zone for an 80-yard score.

Casey Brunk kicked the extra point and the Swathers regained the momentum and their double-digit lead at 21-6 with 2:43 left in the half.

“Right when we got the momentum coming back, that kickoff return just took the life right out of us for a bit,” Thierolf said. “But I can’t criticize our special teams because they’ve been great all year long.

“They probably won us two games this year,” he added. “But their kid (Hammond) is a good football player.”

Marion regrouped, marching downfield as Kelsey connected with Jason Hett for 17 yards and the Swathers were hit with a 15-yard pass-interference penalty.

Suddenly the Warriors were only 30 yards from the Swather goal line, but Hesston intercepted a Kelsey pass in the end zone on fourth down to end the threat.

Even with the Swathers’ 21-6 lead at intermission, Thierolf said he felt the game was still up for grabs.

“I thought we withstood it in the first half,” he said. “We just could never get that one offensive play to break open.”

Prospects looked good for the Warriors when Jason Hett returned the opening kickoff to the Hesston 46-yard line.

The Warriors drove to the Swather 22-yard line before two consecutive fumbles and a quarterback sack ended the threat with 6:16 left in the third quarter.

On the drive, Nelson carried the ball seven times for 18 yards. The senior earned every yard and completed his career with 61 yards on 21 carries.

“We’re going to give credit to Hesston because they’re a fine defensive team,” Thierolf said. “Nobody has run the ball on them all year. Southeast of Saline had 20 yards, Hillsboro had 20 yards. You have to give them credit.

“That’s what we do and what we do well and they shut us down. They’re very solid through the front eight.”

After an exchange of possessions, Hesston seemed to take control when the Swathers blocked a Jeremy Vonkenkamp punt and recovered the ball at the Swather 47-yard line.

But three plays later, Emmanuel Jackson forced Schmidt to hurry a throw and David DeForest intercepted the ball at the 50-yard line as the third quarter came to a close.

The fourth quarter was a battle of field position and neither team penetrated their opponent’s red zone.

“I thought we played as hard as we could in the second half,” Thierolf said. “I’m not going to fault our kids one bit. I just thought their kids were a little bit more physical and a little stronger than our kids.”

The Warrior defense held the Swathers to 62 total yards in the second half.

“We did a fine job of shutting them down in the half,” Thierolf said.

Marion finished with 132 yards of offense compared to 209 for the Swathers. Both teams ran 49 offensive plays.

Nelson’s 61 yards gave him 1,153 yards for the season.

“Casey has run the ball as hard as any back we’ve ever had and he’s had as much success as any back we’ve ever had,” Thierolf said. “Sometimes breaks just don’t go your way.”

Kelsey concluded his career by completing only two of 14 passes for 42 yards while throwing his first interception of the season. For the season, Kelsey threw for 678 yards and rushed for 368.

Michael Brookens led the defense with 15 tackles, giving the senior linebacker 109 tackles for the season. Adam Depler added 10 tackles.

Thierolf said the work ethic shown by this year’s senior class is a model for others.

“Except for the old farmers in town that drive by the stadium at 6 in the morning and the people that see us lifting weights at 6:30 in the morning, I don’t know if people realize how hard these kids work,” he said. “Our senior class has done what I’ve asked them to do virtually for four years and I couldn’t be prouder of a bunch of kids.

“They’re a great representation of Marion High School,” he added. “Every one of our seniors had a 3.0 or better grade-point average in the first nine weeks and you can’t ask for a better group.”

With the loss, Marion concluded the season with a 7-2 record, including its third consecutive league title-one from the Cottonwood Valley League and two by winning the Mid Division of the Mid-Central Activities Association.

More from article archives
DON’T ASK WHY- Maybe Pluto’s problem was its name
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DAVID VOGEL For those of you who are worried-and even...
Read More