No. 15 Gardner-Edgerton 34, No. 14 St. Pius X 28

Gardner-Edgerton needed all of the 27-point lead it built to fend off St. Pius X on Friday night.

The Trailblazers, No. 15 in the 810 Varsity Top 25, came off a 35-34 loss to Free State in its season opener. After trailing 7-0 from the outset, the defending Kansas Class 6A state champs rattled off 27 unanswered points and looked to be on its way to a laugher.

Turnovers sparked Gardner-Edgerton in the first half with a fumble recovery and an interception leading to points.

“Hopefully, whether we win or lose these early games, this experience will help us build and get better as the season goes along,” Gardner-Edgerton head coach Jesse Owen said. “I’m proud of our guys. We have an approach and a way we like to play and that’s who we are.”

An 80-yard quarterback keeper by junior Carson McCall tied the game at 7 at 9:06 of the first.
Less than one minute later, senior running back Syre Padilla scored his first of two first-half touchdowns to lead, 14-7.

Padilla’s second TD was followed by an interception just seconds later at 9:13 before intermission.
Gardner-Edgerton converted on fourth down inside the Pius 5, to lead to a touchdown, and lead by 20 at the half.

It got even worse for the visitors after another Trailblazers rushing score with under seven minutes to play in the third pushed the margin to 34-7.

Pius, No. 14 in the Top 25, battled back though, scoring rushing touchdowns at 3:25 in the third, 9:57 and 2:07 in the fourth, all by junior Cannon Cruse. It was a six-point game after Cruse’s third score, but that was as close as Pius could get.

The 34-28 win improved Gardner-Edgerton to 1-1 on the season, ahead of next week’s game against Shawnee Mission South. Pius (1-2) will host Cardinal Ritter next Friday.

Olathe West 21, Blue Valley West 17

Olathe West has enjoyed the high side of close games this season.

The Owls (2-0) squeaked out another tight game for their second win of the young campaign, for a 21-17 win at Blue Valley West on Friday night.

Olathe West got out to a 14-0 lead early after junior wideout Cade Roberson connected with senior Luke Zimmerman for a 25-yard touchdown pass, and then a Brody Hale to Weston Voight 5-yard touchdown strike for a 14-0 lead after the first period.

Blue Valley West (0-2) crept back into the game following a 17-yard field goal and a four-yard touchdown pass from junior Michael Baum to senior Lawson McGraw, to trim the margin to 14-10 in the third quarter.

Then senior quarterback Brett LaDuke hit McGraw for a 19-yard touchdown connection and a 17-14 Jaguar lead with just 8:22 to go. LaDuke fired for 374 yards on 31-of-51 passing, but three interceptions as well – two by Olathe West senior Brody Butler.

But the Owls fought back for a game-winning drive, as Hale hit senior Sam Krzykowski for a six-yard touchdown and a 21-17 lead. Krzykowski finished with a team-high 95 receiving yards, while Hale ended up with 174 passing yards.

Olathe West enjoyed a 35-31 narrow win over Lawrence in the opening week, and will play Shawnee Mission Northwest next Friday. Blue Valley West will travel to Bishop Miege next weekend.

Shawnee Mission South 35, Pittsburg 6

Marquan Washington jetted for three touchdown runs to boost Shawnee Mission South to a non-league win over Pittsburg on Friday night.

The senior tailback scored on runs of 11, 58 and 1 yards in a 35-6 romp of the Dragons on Friday night at South.

The Raiders (1-1) capitalized off three Pittsburg fumbles in the first five possessions, as well as an interception. A Solomon Hirsch 15-yard pass to Jared Cikot opened the South scoring, followed by two Washington scoring scampers. Then Hirsch found Luke Black for a 13-yard touchdown strike for a 28-0 margin.