By Blake Chadwick
Maize vs. Maize South is that special kind of matchup between crosstown rivals who also happen to be two of the best teams around.
Friday’s game did not disappoint as Maize came from behind to win 42-38 and improve to 6-0. Maize South falls to 3-2.
For the Maize South Mavericks, their offense and defense rose to the occasion. Defense got the stops, while offense put up the points.
Maize South’s Jake Johnson was on the receiving end of two early touchdowns from quarterback Colin Shields.
For the Eagles, not much was going well in comparison to their previous games as they found themselves down 21-10 at half.
Twenty minutes later, the fans of both Maize schools got their money’s worth as senior running back Josh Sanders and the Eagles found their spark.
Sanders finally got on the scoreboard with a 64-yard touchdown and a fancy two-point conversion where he ended up stiff-arming a defender and then throwing the ball into the endzone — showing off his full repertoire.
After a fumble fiasco in the ensuing two possessions where both teams ended up coughing up the ball, the Mavericks were able to put three points up on the board with a little under seven minutes remaining.
Sanders was able to go the distance again off a kick return, while seconds later Maize South’s Byron Fitchpatrick responded by taking the next kickoff back to the house to keep the Mavericks ahead.
But after two quarterback keepers for both teams, the Eagles trailed again with 1:23 remaining. Sanders answered the bell once again, leading the Eagles to a touchdown in two plays.
Northwest proved again it’s a force to be reckoned wit by beating Heights 56-21 to improve to 4-0.
Coming off of a 92-0 win over North last week, Northwest had little problem with a Heights team that had shown it has some potential when in a 16-13 loss to East.
It was Northwest running back Julius Bolden and the vaunted Northwest defense showed why the Grizzlies are one of the favorites to get back to the Class 5A championship game.
Derby football is back from its two-week Covid-19 lay-off.
The backfield of senior Lem Wash and sophomore Dylan Edwards was as good as they have been all year. Wash and Edwards both had three touchdowns as they cruised against their Campus 48-13. The Panthers move to 3-1.
Edwards had 223 rushing yards, while Wash had 80 and freshman Derek Hubbard had 60.
Halstead’s Lakin Farmer captured the state’s attention by rushing for 534 yards and six touchdowns in a 48-34 win over Hesston. Farmer had touchdown runs of 16, 82, 48, 25, 95 and 86 yards.
Collegiate defeated Clearwater in the battle of the undefeateds that was also a battle of quarterbacks. Both Collegiate sophomore Wesley Fair and Clearwater senior Tanner Cash have had outstanding seasons.
But it was the Spartans that came away with the win, 31-19. Collegiate moves to 6-0.
Fair had 177 rushing yards and 84 passing yards.
Hutchinson bounced back against Salina South 42-17. The Salthawks are 5-1.
East moves to 4-0 after a 84-6 win over Southeast on Thursday night.
Andover is 4-2 after beating Valley Center 35-27.
In a battle of the Centrals, Andover Central got t a win over Salina Central 27-7. Andover Central moves to 4-1 one week after losing to Valley Center.
Goddard moves to 5-1 after a 37-17 win over Newton.
McPherson bounces back against Buhler 18-6 to advance to 5-1.
Cheney beats Holcomb 31-28 to stay 6-0.
Conway Springs is 5-1 after a 55-0 win over Sublette. Heath Hilger had 95 passing yards, 145 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Tonight’s scores
Andover 35, Valley Center 27
Andover Central 27, Salina Central 7
Argonia-Attica 26, Moundridge 6
Arkansas City 22, Eisenhower 14
Augusta 41, Winfield 35
Belle Plaine 46, Chaparral 0
Beloit St. John’s-Tipton 36, Onaga 12
Canton-Galva 50, Herington 0
Central Burden 60, Flinthills 14
Centralia 36, Beloit 6
Cheney 31, Holcomb 28
Conway Springs 55, Sublette 0
Cunningham 45, Weskan 16
Derby 48, Campus 13
Garden Plain 14, Kingman 10
Goddard 37, Newton 17
Goessel 56, Fairfield 6
Hillsboro 28, Marion 0
Hutchinson 42, Salina South 17
Kapaun Mount Carmel 56, Garden City 0
Kiowa County 53, Pratt Skyline 34
Larned 56, Bluestem 6
Little River 56, Bennington 6
Madison 60, Chase County 12
Maize 42, Maize South 38
McPherson 18, Buhler 6
Norwich 44, Hutchison Central Christian 20
Oxford 40, Udall 20
Peabody-Burns 38, Caldwell 18
Salina Sacred Heart 20, Independent 12
Scott City 17, Smoky Valley
Stafford 68, South Haven 60
Ulysses 39, Wellington 19
Wichita Collegiate 31, Clearwater 19
Wichita Northwest 56, Wichita Heights 21
Wichita West 53, Wichita North 2
Canceled games
Andale at Trinity Academy
Cedar Vale-Dexter at West Elk
Douglass
El Dorado
Thursday’s game
Wichita East 84, Wichita Southeast 6
