By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior star Jensen Schrickel had an OK game the first time Hayden played Perry-Lecompton, compiling 113 rushing/receiving yards and scoring a touchdown and a two-point conversion in the Wildcats' 34-point Class 3A district romp.
But that performance paled in comparison to Friday night as Schrickel turned in a game for the ages as Hayden advanced to next Friday's 3A sub-state round at Wellsville with a 56-6 rout in the Wildcats' rematch with the Kaws.
Schrickel, a 5-foot-10, 160-pounder, caught five passes for 192 yards and rushed for 124 yards on just five attempts while scoring seven touchdowns, six in the first half, as Hayden improved to 10-1 on the season.
"It was awesome,'' Schrickel said. "I couldn't have done it without people blocking and some great passes from my quarterback Jett (Wahlmeier). Everthing clicked, so it worked out really well.
"We started off a little bit slow, but we took control pretty early on and we kept putting pressure on after that.''
Schrickel set the tone for his huge night when he caught a 54-yard touchdown pass from senior Wahlmeier on a 4th-and-11 play to cap Hayden's game-opening drive.
He and Wahlmeier hooked up for a 65-yard TD on Hayden's one-play second drive and made it a 20-0 Wildcat lead when he and Wahlmeier made connections again, this time on a 24-yard strike.
After Perry-Lecompton (5-6) scored its only TD of the night on a 78-yard TD pass from Garrett Metcalfe to Tristan Gorden, Schrickel tacked on three second-quarter scores -- a 24-yard run, a 33-yard pass from Wahlmeier and a 5-yard run -- as Hayden took a commanding 42-6 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The multi-event state track and field champion scored his seventh and final touchdown on a 79-yard run with 5:13 left in the third quarter before Wildcat junior Kade Mitchell capped Hayden scoring with a 9-yard TD run to force a running clock for the final 4:08.
While Schrickel's seven TDs stole the show, Wahlmeier had a big night in his own right, completing 12 of 18 passes for 263 yards and four scores.
Hayden coach Bill Arnold said Friday's game showed off the Wildcats' variety of weapons.
"We didn't play clean all the way across the board but our kids played hard and obviously took advantage of some situational plays out there,'' Arnold said. "Kade's had his games, Schrickel's had his games, Jett's had his games and (Broderick) Desch is pretty solid on the inside there.
"You have an opportunity to take advantage of some mis-matches out there and it's kind of hard to take all of those guys away.''
With Friday's win Hayden set up next Friday's sub-state matchup with 11-0 and top East seed Wellsville, which took a 35-14 home win over Prairie View.
HAYDEN 56, PERRY-LECOMPTON 6
Perry-Lecompton (5-6) 6 0 0 0 -- 6
Hayden (10-1) 20 22 7 7 -- 56
Hayden -- Schrickel 54 pass from Wahlmeier (run failed)
Hayden -- Schrickel 65 pass from Wahlmeier (run failed)
Hayden -- Schrickel 24 pass from Wahlmeier (Mitchell run)
Perry-Lecompton -- Gorden 78 pass from Metcalfe (run failed)
Hayden -- Schrickel 24 run (Wahlmeier run)
Hayden -- Schrickel 33 pass from Wahlmeier (Becker kick)
Hayden -- Schrickel 5 run (Becker kick)
Hayden -- Schrickel 79 run (Becker kick)
Hayden -- Mitchell 9 run (Becker kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Perry-Lecompton: Garden 8-59, Rush 10-51, Minnick 1-10, Kaniper 3-7, Dean 6-1, Metcalfe 14-(minus)-14. Hayden: Schrickel 5-124, Mitchell 6-32, Desch 3-16, McGivern 4-11, Becker 2-13, Wahlmeier 2-2.
Passing -- Perry-Lecompton: Metcalfe 4-15-0, 129 yards. Hayden: Wahlmeier 12-18-0, 263.
Receiving -- Perry-Lecompton: Dean 2-47, Gorden 1-78, Baker 1-(minus)-5. Hayden: Schrickel 5-192, Hanika 3-17, Mitchell 2-10, Krentz 1-27, Tetuan 1-17.
Punting -- Perry-Lecompton: Baker 6-29.2. Hayden: Wahlmeier 2-28..