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Rock Stops SM East, 21-17

By Mack McClure, 810 Varsity, 09/15/17, 11:30PM CDT

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Hawklets Rally Past Rival Lancers


Rockhurst stuffed the Lancers on Friday night. (Photo: Darryl Woods, 810 Varsity)

OVERLAND PARK – Rockhurst senior running back Brady McCanles scored a trio of touchdowns, including a go-ahead 7-yard plunge with 7:42 remaining, lifting the Hawklets to a 21-17 victory over host Shawnee Mission East on Friday night in non-conference action.

The battle of 810 Varsity Top 10 Kansas City metro teams was everything it was billed as it went down to the wire.

Rockhurst, which entered the game ranked No. 7 in the metro, improved to 3-0 and East, the top-ranked team in Kansas Class 6A and No. 8 in the metro, dropped to 2-1. Rockhurst also is the seventh-ranked team in Class 6 in Missouri.

“(Shawnee Mission East) is a great team and they come out and play hard,” Rockhurst senior quarterback Derek Green said. “We have a lot of respect for them. There was a lot of people here and it was a great atmosphere, but we have a big game next week against Blue Springs. We’ll just go and focus on the next one.”

Hawklets linebacker Harry O’Neill recovered a East fumble at the 30-yard line during the final minute to negating East’s last ditch-effort at the Shawnee Mission North District Stadium (Larry Taylor Field).

McCanles earlier had 3- and 1-yard touchdown runs.

But McCanles’ 18-yard pass reception from Green was the key for Rockhurst. It came on second-and-6 from the 25-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, setting up his deciding score in planting the football at 7. He scored on the next play, becoming a four-point game after Eric Angrisano’s all-important extra-point kick.

“Brady played awesome tonight,” said Green. “I can’t say enough good things about that guy.

“He runs hard and hits the holes. He opens up the passing game a lot for me. Having him back there helps a lot.

Running mostly through the tackles, mixed in with some Green aerials, Rockhurst built a 14-10 halftime lead.

On the game’s opening possession, the Hawklets put together a 12-play, 53-yard scoring drive for a 7-0 lead at the 6:55 mark in the first quarter, as McCanles scored on a 1-yard dive.

Rockhurst recorded four first downs during that stretch, including Cooper Krezek gaining 27 yards on an end around to capture some early momentum. Green then ran out of the pocket for 13 yards and another first down, before McCanles rambled 19 yards on third-and-7 for a first down at the East 15.

Four plays later, McCanles found paydirt.

East answered with a drive that ended at the Rockhurst 6, with the Lancers resorting for a 23-yard field goal by Parker Willis to trim the margin to 7-3 at the 2:49 mark in the first quarter. Senior running back Milton Braasch jetted 39 yards on the Lancers’ first play to put them in business, and got down to the 10 on a 5-yard gain by Braasch before the drive stalled after a third-down play.

Rockhurst held a 14-3 lead after McCanles scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard run on third-and-goal with 11:54 left in the second quarter. It was set up by Green’s 29-yard completion to tight end Jacob Sykes coming across the middle for first-and-goal at the 5.

“He is one of the guys that I trust most on this team,” Green said of Sykes, a massive 6-foot-4, 257-pound senior. “I saw him with the DB on his hip, and I will give him a shot every single time.”

McCanles gained for yards on first down and then lost two on second down before he scored his TD.

East got within 14-10 on Braasch’s 1-yard TD at the 7:17 mark in the second quarter, culminating an 80-yard drive. Maddox’s completion on a rollout to running back Garrett Boschen in the flat put the Lancers in position.

The Lancers went ahead, 17-14, after junior quarterback Andy Maddox, the son of former Kansas basketball player Mike Maddox, scored on a 3-yard run with 5:11 left in the third quarter.

East later had a chance to regain the lead late in the fourth quarter, driving to the Rockhurst 45 for third and 11. Instead of passing, the Lancers opted for an off-tackle run play to Braasch, calling a timeout before he picked up 4 yards, so it came down to fourth-and-7 at the 41.

After the Lancers used their final timeout, Maddox’s pass fell incomplete with 3:21 remaining, and then the Hawklets ran out most of the clock before punting late.

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