By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Hayden broke into the win column with a much-needed 31-21 victory over Baldwin Friday night after starting the season winless in four tries.
Hayden senior Jace Wolff scored a pair of touchdowns and came up with a big fourth-quarter defensive play in Friday's 31-21 district win over Baldwin. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Wildcats avoided starting 0-5 for the first time since 1989 by holding off Class 3A District 3 foe Baldwin.
Hayden's backs were against the wall and it took a gritty effort on a sloppy field behind a backup quarterback to get the job done.
“You know, a lot of programs at 0-4 would just fold the tent and say, ‘We’re done.’ But these guys came out and they fought really hard tonight,” Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. “Now we’ve still got some mistakes to clean up, but I’m very proud of them tonight. It was hard fought. Baldwin is a good team.”
Senior Mason Becker scored 19 points in Hayden's 31-21 Class 3A district win over Baldwin Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hayden got a 58-yard scoring run from Mason Becker to start the scoring. The junior followed that up with a 30-yard field goal to put Hayden up 10-0. But Baldwin responded with a touchdown just before half to cut the lead to 10-7.
A Logan Power interception early in the third period set up a short scoring run by senior Jace Wolff. But as before, Baldwin responded, this time with a 70-yard touchdown dash by quarterback Bryis Alford to go to the fourth quarter trailing 17-14.
Wolff scored his second short touchdown on the first play of the fourth period. The home team held onto the 24-14 lead until late in the game, but a Hayden fumble in Wildcat territory gave Baldwin renewed hope late.
On the first play after the fumble, Baldwin struck with a rare completed pass, shocking the Wildcats with a 30-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-21.
Hayden failed to move the ball and was forced to punt to Baldwin with 1:29 remaining. But the Wildcats’ Wolff had one more big play left in him. The Bulldogs’ quarterback dropped back to pass on third and long, but left the pocket, desperate to keep the drive alive. From his linebacker position, Wolff raced after him.
“I was dropping back (in coverage), I saw him roll out, started chasing him,” Wolff said. “He steps up and I wrapped him and punched it. When I got up, I saw the ball on the ground and started celebrating.”
Becker added an 11-yard touchdown to put the game on ice.
Sophomore Jairus Todwong rushed for 123 yards in Friday's 31-21 Hayden win over Baldwin. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Jairus Todwong led Hayden with 123 yards rushing while Becker and Wolff added 90 and 82 yards, respectively.
Sophomore quarterback Grant Lenherr helped lead Hayden to a 31-21 win over Baldwin in his first varsity start. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Grant Lenherr was called on to fill in for injured starting quarterback Ryker Tetuan. Lenherr avoided any costly mistakes and executed Arnold’s Wing T offense smoothly despite the wet field conditions.
“I thought Grant did a good job,” Arnold said. “He managed the game well, ran the plays the way they’re supposed to go. He was in a tough situation on a couple of those pass plays out there, throwing a ball that’s probably double the weight and wet. But that’s kind of what (Baldwin was) giving us, so we were going to give it a shot. I’m very proud of him.”
The Wildcats got off the mat after the 0-4 start to insert themselves in the District 3 race. Arnold wasn’t surprised his team responded to adversity.
“They’ve been around enough they understand it’s a one-week thing,” Arnold said. “I’m looking for some enthusiasm at practice. You know, you get a W,’ maybe they come out a little more excited about going to practice and doing the extra conditioning.”
“We knew we could do better,” said Wolff. “It was one of those where we know we can go out and win. We just had to do it. We’re the only ones holding ourselves back. Now we’ve got some momentum going into next week. The belief was always there. This just gives us some confidence that we definitely needed.”
The Wildcats face a familiar foe in Perry Lecompton next Friday after playing two teams from Missouri, plus Tonganoxie, a team Hayden hadn’t faced since 2005.
“It’s always weird playing different teams each year because (they have) new tendencies and new players, but I mean, it was nothing we shouldn’t have been able to handle,” Wolff said. “We just weren’t getting the job done.”
HAYDEN 31, BALDWIN 21
Baldwin (3-2) 0 7 7 7 -- 21
Hayden (1-4) 7 3 7 14 -- 31
Hayden – Becker 58 run (Becker kick)
Hayden – Becker 30 field goal
Baldwin – Flory 2 pass from Alford (Broers kick)
Hayden – Wolff 2 run (Becker kick)
Baldwin – Alford 70 run (Broers kick)
Hayden – Wolff 1 run (Becker kick)
Baldwin – Hamrick 12 pass from Alford (Broers kick)
Hayden – Becker 11 run (Becker kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Baldwin: Frost 15-62, Alford 18-174, Quick 1-4, Flory 1-2. Hayden: Becker 11-90, Todwong 14-123, Wolff 16-82, Power 1-1.
Passing – Baldwin: Alford 4-11-1 52 yards. Hayden: Lenherr 2-6-0 10 yards.
Receiving – Baldwin: Hamrick 2-39, Massey 1-11, Flory 1-2. Hayden: Power 1-3, Becker 1-7.
Punting – Baldwin: Harvery 2-49.5. Hayden: Becker 2-39.5.
