Season ends for Warriors with loss to Hesston
Carlson's two touchdown catches not enough
Sports reporter
The Hesston Swathers showed Marion High School Thursday their 8-0 record was no fluke.
Hesston scored all of its 42 points in the first half, en route to a 42-15 victory at Marion.
The Warriors ended the season with a 4-5 record, while the Swathers improved to 9-0.
"They showed tonight why they were ranked number three in the state," MHS head coach Grant Thierolf said. "We couldn't do anything against them in the first half."
The Warriors did gain a few first downs on their first two drives, but Hesston eventually forced a punt and recovered a fumble.
HHS already had scored on a 52-yard strike from Michael Janzen to Lee Voth-Gaeddert with nine minutes, 24 seconds in the first quarter, before recovering the fumble at the Warrior 39-yard line.
Rob Moore took a pitch down the right sideline for 38 yards on the next play from scrimmage.
He then pounded it in from one-yard out to make the score 14-0 Hesston with 7:45 still to play in the first.
"They're a good football team, and doggone it, we're just not there yet," Thierolf said.
Voth-Gaeddert continued to prove Thierolf right with another touchdown reception, this one from five yards out, and a 20-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter.
He made the most of every opportunity, scoring each time he touched the ball. The senior finished with 20 yards on the ground, 57 through the air, and three total touchdowns.
He also was a perfect 6-6 on extra points.
But it was two other Swathers who chipped in before halftime.
Michael Petrocci scored from 32-yards out on the ground, and Landon Unruh crossed the goal line with six seconds left until halftime, to run the score to 42-0.
The second half was a different story, as MHS had its own offensive star in the fourth quarter.
After a scoreless third, Warrior wide receiver Chase Carlson found the end zone twice in the fourth.
Leppke hit the senior from 18 yards out on the first play of the final quarter, and from 20 yards out with 1:26 left in the game.
Senior running back Charlie Holub scored the two-point conversion on the first touchdown, and Pascal Otterbach tacked on the extra point after the second, giving the Warriors 15 points.
Carlson finished the day with four catches for 56 yards and two scores.
Leppke was 5-10 for 59 yards through the air.
Sophomore Drew Maddox was the leading rusher filling in for the injured Austin Hager for the second straight week, gaining 38 yards on nine carries.
The loss ended the careers of six seniors — Carlson, Hager, Holub, Justin Heidebrecht, Brett Billings, and Hank Collett.
"We're excited about the future," Thierolf said of his young team," but we're sad because we are going to lose those six seniors. They've been just wonderful for our program, and played so hard for us for four years."
Thierolf said this group was different from some others, because the players weren't defined by athletics.
He knows there are bright futures for them outside of football. Still, he is glad they dedicated their time to the sport.
"These kids hopefully become better people because they came out for football. I know we are better coaches for having them around," he said. "They are fun. They are bright, intelligent young men who are so excited about what is in store for them in the future."
While the Swathers move on to the state playoffs, the Warriors begin to turn their focus to school, wrestling, basketball, or whatever else they are interested in.
However, Thierolf knows for the team to improve, they must keep their focus all year.
"We just talked about giving maximum effort every time," he said. "It's hard not to lose focus every once in a while."
But come next season, when the sophomores and juniors who gained valuable experience this year become juniors and seniors, focusing on the task at hand could be the difference in whether the team stays home or moves on.
