By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No matter what Hayden's football team did Friday night at Wellsville, it probably wasn't going to be real pretty.
After all, the Wildcats and Eagles were playing their second-round Class 3A playoff game in cold, windy, rainy, slippery conditions on a natural grass field.
Hayden senior JC Cummings (38) had a big night on both sides of the ball as the Wildcats rallied for a 22-19 Class 3A playoff win over Wellsville. [File photo/TSN]
Junior Finn Dunshee jumpstarted Hayden with an 80-yard kickoff return as the Wildcats rallied for a 22-19 Class 3A playoff win at Wellsville. [File photo/TSN]
And although 9-1 Hayden had several first-half misplays that gave the Eagles short fields, the Wildcats did what they had to in order to extend their 2022 season, rallying for a 22-19 win while handing Wellsville its first loss of the year.
"We talked about it before the game ever got started that there's going to be ups and downs in this thing and don't get too high, don't get too low,'' Hayden coach Bill Arnold said in a phone interview. "You tip your hat off to our kids, they kept fighting and did whatever it took to get a win. It's all about survive and advance right now.''
Wellsville opened up a 13-0 advantage late in the opening quarter on Nash Money's second touchdown, but junior Finn Dunshee gave the Wildcats the spark they needed with a kickoff return of approximately 80 yards to get Hayden on the board.
Hayden took its first lead of the night on an 11-yard Dunshee TD run and Dunshee converted the 2-point conversion to put the Wildcats in front 14-13 when he pounced on a fumble in the end zone with 7:36 left in the half.
Wellsville regained the advantage at 19-14 with 3:28 left in the half on a 10-yard pass from Wille Dorsey to Dez Winton after a Hayden turnover on a bad snap but the Wildcats got what proved to be the game-winning points on an 11-yard touchdown scamper and a 2-point conversion run from senior JC Cummings to give the visitors their final margin with 2:32 left in the third quarter.
Wellsville, which finished its season 9-1, got as deep as the Hayden 32 after the Wildcats took the lead, but the Hayden defense kept the Eagles in check, clinching the win with a pass breakout from sophomore Jensen Schrickel.
Hayden relied almost exclusively on its rushing attack Friday night, with Cummings, Dunshee and senior Braydn Rose all having success running the ball.
"I thought Rose did a good job,'' Arnold said. "He had some big runs for us tonight, but the biggest thing that he did was he just kept fighting. He showed a lot of toughness tonight and he was doing a great job getting the kickout block on those guys for JC and Finn both.''
Arnold was also pleased with the play of his line on both sides of the ball.
"Wellsville did what you expected,'' Arnold said. "They overloaded the box and put a lot of presssure on our kids up front and I thought we did a pretty good job all night long, obviously, of keeping things sealed up inside.''
With the victory, Hayden earned a berth in the 3A quarterfinals next Friday night at 5-5 Columbus, which advanced with a 21-14 Thursday night win over Galena.
"I told the kids, 'Hey, enjoy it on the way home. You've got weights tomorrow morning at 6:30 so let's make sure that we enjoy it while we can,' '' Arnold said.
NEMAHA CENTRAL 36, ROSSVILLE 13 -- Nemaha Central improved to 10-0 with Friday's 2A second-round home playoff win, with the Thunder ending 5-5 Rossville's two-year state championship reign.
Nemaha Central opened up a 24-7 halftime advantage on the way to the victory.
The Thunder got 115 rushing yards and three touchdowns from Cooper Hajek and 142 yards and a TD from freshman Carter Hajek.
Nemaha Central will travel to 8-2 Humboldt next Friday, with the Cubs advancing with a 26-21 win over Osage City.
MILL VALLEY 24, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 0 -- Mill Valley, the No. 1 5A seed in the East, only held a 7-0 halftime lead over 5-5 Shawnee Heights, but the Jaguars scored 10 points in the opening 9:10 of the third quarter to take control.
Mill Valley, which improved to 9-1, advanced to a home quarterfinal meeting with Pittsburg (7-3) next Friday.
Pittsburg advanced with 28-0 win over Kansas City-Sumner.
