Picture courtesy of Tanner Colvin

FINAL: 

MAIZE 50

SALINA SOUTH 0

Before Friday night’s game, all Salina South seniors associated with fall sports were celebrated, as students lined up with their families and peers across the entirety of the field at Salina Stadium.

After the opening ceremony, attention turned to the matchup on the field. The second ranked team in all of Kansas, the Maize Eagles,  flew into Salina Stadium determined to finish the regular season as undefeated league champs.

The first three drives of the game showed how Maize has managed to average over 43 points per game. The Eagles scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and made the effort to showcase all of their offensive weapons.

Maize senior quarterback Brayden Myovela targeted his top two receivers, Pearce George and Malachi Leichner, as the talented duo combined for three touchdowns on the night.

Myovela also showcased his duel threat ability running the football for first downs and benefited from handing it off to his runnings backs Shannon Jones and Demarye Smith.

Meanwhile, Salina South took chances but missed on early deep passes down field that were either dropped or off target.

Sophomore quarterback Izrael Telles was under relentless pressure all game, forcing even short and intermediate throws to come out quickly. The pressure from Maize kept Telles in a broken pocket and forced him to rush throws before his receivers could develop their routes.

Trailing 22-0 in the second quarter, the adjustment for South was to throw closer to the line of scrimmage and while they found success at times, it wasn’t enough to put together a scoring drive.

The closest the Cougars came to finding points was after the only Maize turnover. A fumble forced and recovered on a kick return gave the Cougars the ball inside Maize territory.

Several plays later, Salina South had first and goal-to-go from the 8-yard line but committed back-to-back substantial penalties which pushed them all the way back to the 33-yard line.

Penalties were one of the more glaring issues Salina South dealt with during this week’s loss.

Turnovers came in bunches late in the second quarter as well, Telles threw a season-high four interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

While it wasn’t the memory South wanted for its seniors final game at Salina Stadium, the team will be playing to keep those upcoming graduates in the green and gold for as long as possible.

Salina South finished the regular season 1-7 for the second straight year, while Maize finished undefeated at 8-0.

The Cougars now look forward to a first round meeting with Andover on Halloween night.