For 11 straight seasons Topeka Hayden has made the playoffs. Now for the first time in a long time they won't be advancing past the first round. For the first time in the school's history Maize South won a playoff game, beating Topeka Hayden 14-7.
After a scoreless first quarter it was Maize South that made the first big move. Wildcats' quarterback Jacob Tetuan (the fifth of the Tetuan brothers) rushed up the middle but got chased down by Wes Phillips who forced a fumble. Kale Bulloch recovered it for the Mavericks. A couple of plays later Chase Bell found a gap and ran 30 yards for the first down. Then Phillips finished it off, catching a short pass from Bell, escaping a defender and turning it into 6 points and the game's first score.
In the final minute of the first half Hayden was in the middle of a solid drive inside Maize South territory. Tetuan rolled out and went up top to find Brogan Barry. Barry was well-covered by DeSean Washington but he somehow caught the tipped pass and bounced off of Washington to fall into the end zone for the touchdown. At the half the game was tied at 7.
The second half was full of turnovers on both sides of the ball. Hayden recovered a muffed punt on the opening kick of the second half only to fumble it away on their ensuing posession.
The Mavericks made the Wildcats pay for their mistake when Alex Orth took a pass from Bell, managed to keep his footing, and went 20-plus yards to the house. That gave the Mavericks a 14-7 lead with just over 8 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter.
DeSean Washington and his fellow defensive backs were playing brilliant defense on the night and forced a Hayden punt. However, on third down Phillips tried to go downfield and he was intercepted by Barry who took it an extra ten yards into Maverick territory.
Hayden was poised to score but Tetuan's pass was tipped by a Maverick defender and picked off by Phillips.
That took the game into the fourth quarter with Maize South looking for insurance. Chase Bell found Ridge McDonald downfield but McDonald fumbled the ball just before he got his knee down. Hayden recovered the fumble and took over with time winding down in the fourth quarter.
Hayden had a first and goal at the Mavericks' five yard line but were unable to get into the end zone on their first three tries. Backed up to the 10 because of penalties, Hayden passed on fourth down only to come up short once more. Phillips teamed up with Mac Evans to take down the receiver at the two yard line to take over on downs with 4 minutes left to play.
Maize South ran down the clock and punted from inside their own end zone giving Hayden the ball with about 2 minutes remaining in the game. The Wildcats didn't have any timeouts so they were forced to go to the air. The Mavericks' defense was holding strong eventually forcing a 4th down for Hayden with just 6 seconds left on the clock.
Tetuan sent up a Hail Mary to his big receiver Barry, who came up with the touchdown earlier in the game, but DeSean Washington was there on the coverage and this time Maize South came up with the stop. The ball was batted out of the air and the Mavericks won 14-7.
Maize South advances to face Mulvane this coming Saturday in the second round of the state playoffs.
