Freshman Errol Siemon rushes by an Atchison defender for a touchdown." />
Freshman Errol Siemon rushes by an Atchison defender for a touchdown.
Like our sports coverage? Support Chris so he can travel to away games and donate to us here: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj
The Cardinals soared at Amelia Earhart Stadium in Atchison with a wire-to-wire victory at regionals Friday night.
Eudora played to their strengths scoring six of seven touchdowns on the ground with five players finding the endzone. Senior quarterback Gage Hayden scored three touchdowns and junior running back Octavius Lyles scored two.
Senior running back Brayden Beerbower and Hayden each scored a rushing touchdown in the first quarter giving the Cardinals a 14-0 lead heading into the second. Atchison’s turnover woes in the second quarter didn’t help their cause as they fumbled on consecutive possessions and Eudora capitalized by scoring off of them.
Sophomore Adrion Seals hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass, and Lyles scored his first rush touchdown of the night.
Atchison finally began to get into scoring position late in the second quarter, but junior defensive back Kale Hammerschmidt stalled any momentum they had built with an interception to close out the first half with a 28-0 lead.
“Throughout this season, we’ve gone through a couple of close games and that’s really helped us and we’ve talked about that,” Hammerschmidt said. “We were not worried for the playoffs, and we were ready for it. I was just in the right position and made the play.”
The third quarter was more of the same as Atchison struggled to gain significant yardage and the Eudora offense continued to roll with Hayden scoring a 52-yard rush touchdown and Lyles scoring his second touchdown of the night.
Many of the starters were pulled to start the fourth quarter, and Eudora still found a way to score with freshman Errol Siemon scoring their last touchdown of the night to gain a 50-0 lead with four minutes left. Atchison would score their first and only touchdown of the night with under a minute to go.
“The game plan was to stop their running back. He’s really good,” head coach Sean Hayden said.
“Offensively, it was just to pound the rock and make them defend all phases of the game, and I think we did that. I’m very proud of these kids.”
Eudora (6-4) will host Bishop Miege (4-6) at sectionals Friday.
Reach sports editor Chris Fortune at[email protected].