No. 17 Blue Valley West 42, No. 7 Blue Valley Northwest 35

In a game filled with offensive fireworks, it was a red zone stand that proved to be the difference maker.

Blue Valley West fended off district rival Blue Valley Northwest, 42-35, on Friday night in a Top 25 battle. The Jaguars, entering ranked No. 17 in the 810 Varsity Top 25, improved to 4-1 on the season, while the No. 7 Huskies sustained their first loss of the year.

The Huskies (4-1) took an early 14-0 lead on an LJ Bowens 59-yard touchdown run, followed by a Jags fumble and a Nathan Baxter quarterback keeper up the middle for an 11-yard score.

But the Jaguars got warmed up on a Tate Nagy 19-yard pass to Peterson, a 5-yard touchdown run by senior running back Tate Miller and Nagy connected for another scoring strike, this time to senior Quin Myers for 35 yards and a 21-14 lead.

Both teams traded scores, including touchdown passes from Baxter to junior Ayden McGibboney (56 yards) and freshman Baron Marshall (21 yards), while Nagy touchdown passes of 7 and 30 led to the final margin.

The Huskies drove inside the Jags 5 for a first-and-goal with under three minutes to go, but a muffed snap, a short pass completion, then an incomplete pass to McGibboney in the left side of the end zone set up a fourth-and-goal from the 7. Baxter dropped back, looked, turned, looked and with heavy coverage, eventually fired a pass off his back leg but out of the end zone.

No. 9 St. Pius X 27, St. James Academy 20

A first-half deficit ended up being too much to overcome for the Thunder, as the Warriors jumped out to a first-half 20-6 lead. Two first-half turnovers, including a fumble returned for a 91-yard touchdown by St. Pius X’s Luawn Toledo, was the story of the Thunder’s first-half struggles.

St. James Academy marched to the redzone multiple times, but just could not capitalize in the first half. The Thunder finally broke through in the second half, going on a five-play, 65-yard drive capped off by a Francis Menghini 5-yard pass to John Tujague with 7:38 left in the third to cut the deficit to 20-13.

St. Pius X, ranked No. 9 in the 810 Varsity Top 25, answered as Hudson Bailey finished off a 7-play, 75-yard drive to start the fourth quarter with a 13-yard quarterback scamper.

The Thunder (1-4) again scored to make it a one score game when Menghini took one in himself from 5 yards out to trim the lead to 27-20 with 4:49 left. But the Warriors’ punishing run game led by Larry Cascone and some fancy footwork from Bailey was too much and milked the clock.

St. Pius X (5-1) will play St. Joe Benton (1-4) next week, while St. James will play Blue Valley North (1-4).

No. 16 Louisburg 42, Eudora 14

A one-sided offensive onslaught saw the Wildcats open up their run game in the first half, as Ashton Moore and Miles Vose opened the scoring with back-to-back rushing touchdowns over 10 yards.

A Eudora (2-3) fumble set the Wildcats up at their own 48-yard line, where they capitalized once again. Vose scored to cap off a single play, 62-yard drive to make it 21-0, signaling the potential blowout.

Louisburg scored twice to finish off a 35-point half, but Eudora finally answered back with a methodical, 11-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Braeden Vandonge to Christian Jarrett with 3:05 left in the third.

Just when it looked like Eudora may have a bit of life though, disaster struck in the form of Vose once again, as Vose intercepted a Vandonge pass with 11:43 left in the fourth and returned it 34 yards for the touchdown down, making it an insurmountable 42-7 lead.

Vose ended up having a massive day, scoring a rushing, receiving and defensive touchdown to lead his Wildcats to a 42-14 victory. The Wildcats (5-0) will play Wichita West next week, while the Cardinals will play at Independence.