Hays High School’s football team had to overcome cold weather, two injured quarterbacks and playing on the road for the fourth week in a row, but they did not let any of that stop them as they went to Goddard and upset the Eisenhower Tigers, 24-14, at Tiger Field on Friday, Nov. 22 to secure the program’s first-ever bid to the state championship.
The Indians received the opening kickoff and ran a drive that took up more than half of the first quarter. It consisted of just one pass play, and 12 run plays, and junior Zane Viegra scored from three yards out to give Hays High the first score of the game.
The Indian defense would then make their first big play on the third play of the Tigers’ first drive, as senior Dalton Meyers intercepted a pass at midfield to take it back to the Eisenhower 16-yard line. Junior Holden Lind ran the ball on the next play and found the endzone to put the Indians up by two possessions.
Eisenhower did not let that bother them, as they returned the kickoff to the Hays High 38-yard line, and Brayden Pappas ran the ball in for the touchdown on the very next play. The Indian offense got the ball back with 3:52 remaining in the first quarter and picked up 60 yards on the drive but failed to convert on fourth down after Viegra overshot Lind in the endzone. Hays High did not have to worry, though, as their defense then forced a three and out.
On the first play of the next drive, Viegra got injured, and the Indian offense had to be led by senior Ian McGuire taking the snaps. The remaining 40 plays for Hays High in the rest of the game were all run plays, and they turned it over on downs after a snap went over McGuire’s head on fourth down. The defense stepped up again and sacked the quarterback to force another punt, and Hays High took a 14-7 lead into the halftime break.
The Tigers received the opening kickoff and ran a six-play drive that put them all the way down to the Hays High nine-yard line, but Derek Morgan underthrew his receiver, and Hays High got the ball back. The Indian offense moved the ball 87 yards down the field, and junior Carson Moore made the second field goal of his career from 21 yards away.
Hays High continued to shut down the Tigers for the rest of the night, as they forced another punt on the next two Eisenhower drives, and Hays High punted as well for the first time with 4:59 remaining in the game. Eisenhower had one more chance to put themselves back in the game, but junior Caleb Thompson intercepted a pass and took it back 24 yards to the end zone for Hays High’s first defensive touchdown of the season. Then four plays later, the defense stepped up again as Meyers got his second interception of the night.
The Indians took over first and goal, but turned it over on downs, and Eisenhower ran a minute long drive to cut the Hays High lead down to 10 after Derek Morgan found his top target Carter Pabst for the four-yard touchdown pass.
Eisenhower recovered an onside kick with 14 seconds to go, but the Hays High defense sealed the deal as Thompson got his second interception of the night on a shot to the end zone, and that sealed the deal as Hays High defeated Eisenhower, 24-14, to win the program’s first sub-state championship after losing their three previous trips.
The Hays High offense relied on the run game all night after senior Carter Graham and Viegra combined for 29 passing yards on three completions. Lind carried the ball 31 times for 194 yards, and McGuire finished with 28 carries for 68 yards. Overall, the two combined for 262 of Hays High’s 263 rushing yards with the other yard coming from Graham.
The Tigers struggled to open their passing game all night. Quarterback Derek Morgan only completed 13 of his 23 passes for 152 yards, but he finished with four interceptions, which became his new season-high in that category after throwing two against Andover Central. Carter Pabst finished as the leading receiver by getting seven receptions for 76 yards, and right behind him was Kasten Koehn who only caught the ball three times but went for 50 yards. Hayden Nall and Canyon Mayer both finished with two receptions as Nall went for 20 yards, and Mayer’s two receptions totaled 16 yards. Brayden Pappas and Derek Morgan were the only two Eisenhower players to carry the ball as Brayden Pappas finished with five carries for 40 yards, and Derek Morgan carried the ball six times, but only had seven yards.
Eisenhower finished their season with a record of 9-3, and it is the second year in a row and the third time ever that the Tigers saw their season come to an end in the sub-state championship.
Hays High improved to 8-4 and will face the No. 1-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas Saints on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Emporia State University’s Welch Stadium. The Indians will be in search of their first state championship in program history, and the Saints will look for their second straight title after winning the 4A State Championship last season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game is available to watch with an NFHS subscription, but fans can also listen to Dustin Armbruster on 96.9 FM or Hank Corsair on the Tribe Broadcasting YouTube channel.
