Photo Credit: Dean Backes/PrepsKCBlue Valley West scored on its first six possessions Thursday as the Jaguars out dueled Shawnee Mission North 69-35 at home in the first round of the KSHSAA Class 6A state football playoffs.
In most cases, Shawnee Mission North scored enough points to win the game and advance. But there was no keeping up with the Jaguars Thursday.
“Our offense hasn’t been clicking the last couple of games,” Blue Valley West head coach Josh Koerkenmeier said following the contest. “It was nice to come out and finally get things rolling again.
“There were mistakes in all three phases of the game that we have to improve on if we’re going to win some more playoff games.”
Using a balanced attack, the Jaguars put up nearly 600 yards of offense and scored 10 touchdowns on 12 possessions against the Bison.
“Things were clicking pretty well,” Koerkenmeier said. “Our skill kids did a good job of doing their thing and our offensive line did a good job of moving people up front. Any time those things come together, it’s good. It always feels good to score a bunch of points.”
Jaguar senior running back Sage Huffman opened the game’s scoring early in the first quarter when he reeled in a 22-yard Tate Nagy aerial for a touchdown to put Koerkenmeier’s club up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.
Bison standout receiver Jeremiah Looney and Huffman then traded one yard scoring runs. Huffman’s second touchdown of the game put Blue Valley West up 14-7 with six-minutes, 40-seconds left in the opening quarter and the Jaguars never looked back.
Blue Valley West went up 28-7 going into the second quarter when Nagy tossed a 12-yard scoring strike to Tyler Peterson and then hooked up with Crew Myers from 20 yards out with 19-seconds left in the opening quarter.
Bison senior receiver Liam Dalley helped Shawnee Mission North crawl back into the contest when he hauled in Alex Casares’ six-yard strike for a score to cut the deficit to 28-14 with 8:51 left in the half.
Huffman scored on a three-yard run ahead of Casares’ four-yard scoring romp that pulled the Bison within 35-21 with less than two minutes left before halftime. Kaden Sheline then latched onto a one-yard scoring strike from Nagy to double up the Bison 42-21 with 20-seconds left until intermission.
After stopping the Jaguars for the first time in the game early in the third quarter, Shawnee Mission North pulled within 42-28 when Casares and senior receiver Jourden White connected for a 73-yard scoring strike on the possessions’ only play with nine and a half minutes left in the quarter. Four plays later, the Jaguars went up 49-28 when Nagy connected with Crew Myers for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Shawnee Mission North then began its next possession at its own 36. Following an incomplete pass and a run for no gain, disaster struck for the Bison.
Casares was sacked at his own 15-yard line when he recovered a snap that sailed over his head, forcing Shawnee Mission North to punt. Jack Cook blocked the punt and Lawson McGraw recovered it in the end zone for the score and a 55-28 Jaguar advantage with 6:44 left in the third quarter.
Following a Bison punt, Blue Valley West chewed almost four minutes off of the clock by driving 60 yards in eight plays to the Shawnee Mission North one.
After a penalty gave the Jaguars first and goal from the three, Andy Walter’s club held Blue Valley West to an incomplete pass, a run of two yards and back-to-back runs for no gain to take possession there.
Bison junior running back Skylar Young then capped a nine-play, 99-yard drive, that took 3:11 off of the clock, when he scored from 29 yards out to pull Shawnee Mission North within 55-35 with a little under 10 minutes left in the contest.
Ninety-eight seconds later, Nagy and Peterson capped a four play, 53-yard drive by hooking up for 13 yards to go up 62-35. Filling in for Huffman who was injured in the third quarter, Jaguar senior running back Tyler Bono raced 40 yards for the game’s final score with a little over two minutes left in the contest.
For the game, Nagy completed 18 of 25 passes for 264 yards and six touchdowns while also running the football for 59 yards on six carries. Huffman finished with 142 yards and a pair of scores on 22 carries and caught three footballs for 32 yards and a score.
Bono came up just short of the century mark when he finished the game with 97 yards and a score on 12 carries. Crew Myers, meanwhile, latched onto eight receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns and Peterson caught two footballs for 25 yards and a pair of scores.
The Jaguars ran the football for 311 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries and completed 18 of 25 aerials for 264 yards and six more scores.
With the 34-point win, Blue Valley West (4-5) will face the east bracket’s No. 2 seed Olathe North (8-1) in the regional round of the playoffs next Friday. The Eagles knocked off Shawnee Mission West 56-10. Shawnee Mission North concludes its season at 2-7.
