By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Costly mistakes at the beginning of Seaman’s United Kansas Conference tilt with Basehor-Linwood led to a 47-32 loss at Seaman Stadium on Friday night.
The loss to the Bobcats was a tough pill to swallow for the Vikings as Friday's contest had major implications in the league and for playoff seeding in the Class 5A East.
Seaman sophomore quarterback Max Huston passed for 285 yards and two touchowns in the Vikings' 47-32 UKC loss to Basehor-Linwood Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman sophomore quarterback Max Huston passed for 285 yards in the Vikings' 47-32 UKC loss to Basehor-Linwood Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
In the first 12 minutes, Basehor-Linwood’s special teams unit blocked a punt for a touchdown, returned a kickoff for a touchdown, recovered a fumble on a Seaman kickoff return and blocked an extra point.
“It definitely took the wind out of your sail, early on,” Seaman coach Jared Swafford said. “It was a huge setback. When you play a good team like that, you can’t have those things. It’s nothing our kids did. This falls on me, as the head coach.
“We have to continue to progress and get better after the loss.”
The Bobcats didn’t tread lightly with the opportunities its special teams earned in the first quarter. Basehor-Linwood would put up 20 points from those opportunities.
“Special teams have been big for us all year, and that was huge at the start, getting the blocked punt returned for a touchdown, and then the kickoff return for a touchdown,” Basehor-Linwood coach Rod Stallbaumer said.
Seaman was stunned right out of the gate, but never gave up no matter how lopsided or tight the score was on Friday night.
“Our guys did battle and continued to fight until the end,” Swafford said. “Give (Basehor-Linwood) credit for executing. They did a heck of a job. When we answered the call, they did it right back, too. That’s what good teams do. We are a dang good team, too. Our season is still in front of us and we have a lot of good things going.”
Seaman, now 4-2, saw a lot of positive things come from the loss. The ground game was terrific, the air attack worked well and the defense took a step forward in the right direction.
On the ground the Vikings had 219 total rushing yards and three touchdowns. A bulk of those yards were from senior running back Bryson Vawter. Vawter toted the rock 25 times for 101 yards and had a touchdown.
“The offensive line got a good push and we had a lot of yards on the ground today,” Vawter said. “We just couldn’t capitalize on our drives. That’s the biggest part of football, is scoring. It doesn’t matter if you get to the red zone if you can’t score. We shot ourselves in the foot tonight.”
The Seaman Vikings had multiple drives over 70 yards, but were unable to capitalize within the red zone, which left a nagging effect on the Vikings’ offensive rhythm.
Seaman’s offense took chunks of time off the clock throughout the game. The quick passes, zone-running schemes, and power game allowed the Vikings to control the possession of the game.
Despite the Vikings missing some opportunities in the red zone, sophomore quarterback Max Huston shined on Friday night. Huston nearly threw for nearly 300 yards and hit seven different receivers.
On the other side, Basehor-Linwood hit strikes on enormous plays. Junior quarterback Brady Vandonge would average 27 yards per completion on the night. VanDonge had a 79, 74, 31 and a 4-yard touchdown.
VanDonge found standout senior receiver Brant Wilson for five receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown. Wilson was a big reason why the Bobcat offense was humming.
“The offense executed when we needed it to,” VanDonge said. “It was nice for us to run the score up the way we did. Brant makes everything so easy. I consider (Wilson) one of my best friends on and off the field. He’s the guy. I think this offense is special and we are excited to get back to work on Monday.”
Whenever Seaman had an answer, the Bobcats would explode with big play after big play making it impossible for Seaman to put together a come back.
With the win from Basehor-Linwood, the Bobcats will take on De Soto next Friday for the United Kansas Conference championship.
Seaman will look to end its season on a positive note, when they collide with the Piper Pirates at Piper next Friday night.
BASEHOR-LINWOOD 47, SEAMAN 32
Basehor-Linwood (6-1, 5-1) 20 14 7 6 – 47
Seaman (4-2, 4-2) 6 14 0 12 – 32
Basehor-Linwood – Martin 16 yard blocked punt return (Harrington kick)
Basehor-Linwood – McCarty 4 pass from VanDonge (Extra point blocked)
Seaman – Finley 4 pass from Huston (Extra point blocked)
Basehor-Linwood – Scott 95 kick return (Harrington kick)
Seaman – Bloom 4 run (Extra point blocked)
Basehor-Linwood – Wilson 74 pass from VanDonge (Harrington kick)
Basehor-Linwood – Hinkle 31 pass from VanDonge (Harrington kick)
Seaman – Vawter 3 run (2-point attempt good)
Basehor-Linwood – Harris 1 run (Harrington kick)
Seaman – Bloom 7 run (2-point is no good)
Basehor-Linwood – Adair 79 pass from VanDonge (Extra point is no good)
Seaman – B. Finley 17 pass from Huston (2-point is no good)
Individual statistics
Rushing -- Basehor-Linwood: Harris 23-77, VanDonge 2-7. Seaman: Vawter 25-101, Bloom 15-69, Huston 13-43, Thomas 3-11, VanLeeuwen 1-(minus)-5.
Passing -- Basehor-Linwood: VanDonge 11-16-4, 295 yards. Seaman: Huston 29-42-2, 285 yards.
Receiving -- Basehor-Linwood: Wilson 5-141, McCarty 3-20, Hinkle 2-55, Adair 1-79. Seaman: Barta 12-63, Merritt 7-90, B. Finley 4-34, Berg 2-56, H. Finley 2-3, Bloom 1-28, Vawter 1-11.
