EMPORIA, Kan.—
Hutchinson is back on top of the Class 5A football world after a 33-21 win over the defending champion Blue Valley Stilwell Tigers. The win was by two scores, but it was far from a comfortable victory for the Salthawks after being ravaged by injuries.
"I wouldn't have cared if it was a half-point win," Hutchinson head coach Randy Dreiling said. "Without our quarterback, without our best running back, we're hobbling trying to kill clock (and) trying to get out of the game."
Hutchinson got out fast against the Tigers with a 29-yard touchdown run by Lucas Munds to put the Salthawks up 7-0. About 90 seconds later, junior quarterback Trevor Turner scampered for 39 yards and a touchdown to extend the lead to 13-0. Turner punched in his second touchdown of the day at the end of the first quarter as the Salthawks took a 20-0 lead into the second quarter.
It was the second frame where the Salthawks resilience would be tested.
After a long touchdown by Stilwell to start the second quarter, Turner broke off a big 31-yard run into Blue Valley territory. During the run, the Salthawk signal caller hurt his knee and did not return to the game.
Hutchinson took a timeout to take stock of the situation and turned to Munds at quarterback and senior Ja'Mon Cotton at running back. Cotton had been battling a hamstring injury and was not expected to play, but Cotton was not going to let his injury keep him from helping the team.
"When Trevor went down Coach said 'we need you' so I just stepped up and did what I could," Cotton said. "We have each other’s backs. If one guy goes down another guy is going to step up. We're always ready."
Hutchinson then proceeded to tread water as the offense was largely ineffective without Turner. Blue Valley was threatening to seize the momentum back, but the Hutchinson defense came up huge.
Hutchinson blocked a Blue Valley punt and Tyler Cox recovered it in the end zone to give Hutchinson a 27-7 lead. The Salthawk defense would continue to come up big and the score was 27-7 at half.
"Our defense, other than a couple of plays, was outstanding," Dreiling said. "That is a potent offense as we well know. I just can't believe the way they contained them for the most part."
Hutchinson's defense held the Tigers to just 68 yards rushing and 280 yards of total offense on the day. The unit also had five sacks of Stilwell quarterback Kyle Zimmerman and forced three turnovers.
Stilwell scored a touchdown in the third quarter to pull within two scores at 27-14, then scored again midway through the fourth quarter to get within six points at 27-21.
Hutchinson's offense got the ball back with 3:18 left in the game with instructions to do what it had not done since Turner went down; move the ball.
The Salthawks turned to their 2,000-yard running back in Cotton to ice the game.
Cotton picked up a first down on third and seven with an 11 yard rush, then had the chance to do the same thing on fourth and two just four plays later.
A first down would put the game out of reach. Cotton got the two yards and much more as he scampered down the right sideline for a 45-yard touchdown run.
"I was more excited about him getting the first down because that is what Dreiling told me; We have to get a first down here," Munds said. "I saw him break it free and I just lost it."
The run put the score at 33-21 as the Salthawks won their seventh state title in eight years.
"We milked every point we could out of that game and we milked every second we could out of that game to hang on for the win," Dreiling said.
Cotton finished with 137 yards on 22 carries. Munds had 26 carries for 117 yards and Turner carried four times for 100 yards before going down. As a team, the Salthawks out gained Blue Valley on the ground 424 yards to 68 yards.
The win caps off an 11-2 season for the Salthawks and sends the 12 seniors out the way they were expected to go out: as champions.
"It is expected of us," Cotton said. "We just like to step up and do whatever we can for the community. Everybody is expecting us to win so we come out here and do it."
