Picture courtesy of Tanner Colvin

Griffin Hall’s two pair of second-quarter touchdown passes gave Salina Central a halftime cushion, but it was his defensive play with just over a minute left that finally secured the Mustangs’ first-round Class 5A playoff victory Thursday at Salina Stadium.

With Andover Central down seven points and driving, Hall intercepted a pass deep in his own territory as the Mustangs escaped with a 17-10 victory to keep its 5A title defense alive.

“Finding a way is a great statement for this group, and probably finding a way through No. 7 (Hall) is even better,” Central coach Mark Sandbo said of his quarterback, who was inserted defensively on the final drive. “Making plays offensively and defensively, he had a chance to go win it with his arm and he missed the kid (King Anderson), which he doesn’t do very often.

“So, he just decided to go win it with a pick.”

With the victory, Central improved to 6-3 and will face Friday’s winner between West No. 2 seed Kapaun-Mt. Carmel and No. 15 Newton next Friday. The Mustangs are seeded seventh, and if Kapaun advances it would set up a match between the defending champions in 5A and 4A.

Salina Central appeared to be in control after breaking a 3-3 tie in the second quarter on scoring strikes of 27 yards to Anderson and then 31 yards to Jaxson Leonard on a fourth down with 23 seconds left in the half.

But Andover Central came back after a scoreless third quarter on a quick 62-yard scoring drive to pull within a touchdown when Dan Whitehead found Cooper Mason for 17 yards with 7:25 to play.

The Mustangs had a chance to ice the game with 2:05 left when Hall overthrew an open Anderson on fourth down, giving Andover Central one more opportunity. The Jaguars had a first down at the Salina Central 21-yard line after a late hit penalty on the Mustangs, but that’s when Hall came up with the interception on a deep ball down the right side from Whitehead.

It was the second interception of the game for the Mustangs, who also got one from Abram Perez late in the first half to set up the touchdown pass to Leonard.

The Mustangs scored first on a 41-yard Ethan Gragg field goal in the first quarter, but Andover Central tied it early in the second on a Connor Scriptor 27-yarder.

Salina Central outgained Andover Central 296 yards to 243 for the game, rushing for 202 yards. Hall had 28 carries for 134 yards and Mato Benoist 13 for 68, while Hall completed 9 of 18 passes for 94 yards, including five for 47 yards to Anderson.

For Andover Central, Jaxson Green had 136 of the Jaguars’ 148 rushing yards on 25 carries, while Whitehead completed 11 of 24 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Cooper Mason was the leading receiver with four catches for 53 yards.

Salina Central was penalized 11 times for 115 yards with all but 5 yards coming in the second half. Andover Central had eight penalties for 95 yards.