Buffalo running back Parker Schwarz struggles to break a tackle during Friday's sectional championship game at Wellsville. The Eagles defensive plan stymied the explosive Prairie View rushing game most of the night. (Photos by Roger Sims / Linn County Journal)
By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
With reporting by David Heidrick
WELLSVILLE – The Wellsville Eagles managed to keep the Prairie View rushing offense in check and ended the Buffalos run to the Class 3A football championship in a hard-fought battle at Wellsville on Friday, Nov. 15.
Prairie View (8-3) was able to foil the Eagle offense in the first quarter, stopping Wellsville (11-0) inside the 10 yard line, but breakaway plays gave the game to the No. 1-seed Eagles 35-14.
It was the second meeting of the teams this fall, both at Wellsville, with the Eagles winning the first game 35-20.
Missing from the Buffalos weapons were the breakaway plays in which the Buffalos backfield made long yardage gains. Except for an 80-yard sprint by junior Parker Schwarz for the Buffalos’ first touchdown of the game, the Eagles defense turned each Prairie View possession into a grinding drive.
The Buffalos, on an five game winning streak going into the sectional playoff, averaged nearly 400 yards rushing per game. They managed only 218 yards - all of it on the ground - against the Eagle defense. Wellsville had 290 yards of total offense, including 176 yards passing and 114 yards rushing.
Schwarz carried the ball 28 times for 174 yards, or 6 yards per carry. That kept his streak of more than 117 yards per game throughout the season. Junior back Josh Goodwin had 41 yards on eight attempts for 5 yards per carry, and junior quarterback Wyatt Attebery average just over a yard per carry on five attempts.
Buffalo quarterback Wyatt Attebery faced intense pressure from the Eagles' line on Friday.
Attebery threw the ball twice, and Schwarz passed once on a pitch out from the quarterback, but none of the passes connected.
The first quarter of Friday’s game was a defensive battle with neither side giving up a point. The Buffalos stopped an Eagle drive inside the 10 yard line late in the quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Buffalos forced the Eagles to punt to Prairie View’s 9 yard line. Goodwin took the ball up the middle on the next play for a 15 yard gain to the Buffalo’s 25, but it was pulled back to the 19 on a penalty against Prairie View.
Parker took the handoff from Attebery in the next play, breaking through the Wellsville defense and scoring a touchdown on an 81 yard play. The kick by senior Benton Stainbrook was good and the Buffalos were up 7-0.
Prairie View lineman senior Jacob Law fends off the Eagles offense.
A fumble by the Buffalos on the Wellsville 40 led to a 45-yard pass to a receiver who was run down and tackled by senior Joseph Sramek. Three plays later, the Eagles were in the end zone and the game was tied 7-7 with just over four minutes left in the half.
On their next possession, the Buffalo drive stalled at their own 30, and the Eagles returned the punt to their own 46. A 15 yard run by Wellsville was followed by a sack by Prairie View that put the Eagles second and 23 on their own 48 yard line.
A 39-yard touchdown pass by Wellsville a couple of plays later gave the Eagles a 14-7 lead going into the half.
The Buffalos punted the ball away on their first possession following the intermission, giving the Eagles field position on Prairie View’s 47. An offsides call against the Eagles put the ball back on their own 48, but the next play saw Wellsville running back running into the end zone and giving them a 21-7 edge.
Prairie View defenders Hunter McCool (23) and Josh Goodwin (35) throw the Wellsville running back for a loss.
Prairie View’s next possession resulted in the longest drive of the game, using 15 plays to cover 74 yards. Goodwin scored on a 1 yard run, and with a kick by Stainbrook, the score was 21 to 14, still in favor of the Eagles.
Wellsville worked their way to the 50 yard line on the kickoff, but a screen pass was good for a 50 yard touchdown: Eagles 28, Prairie View 14.
With the clock running out, Prairie View returned the kick off to their own 29 and advanced to the 40. However, the Eagles tagged the Buffalos for a loss behind the line of scrimmage, eventually forcing a turnover on downs on the Prairie View 33.
An 18-yard run by Wellsville gave the Eagles the lead of 35-14, and the Buffalos could not recover as time ran out.
Prairie View head coach Kyle Littrell said one of the primary differences in the game was field position.
Prairie View fans and supporters turned out in droves for the game on Friday, spilling out of the visitors bleachers and covering the track on their side of the field.
“They started zero drives from their territory except when we kicked off to them in the first half and pretty much the same thing in the second half,” Littrell said. “They started somewhere around their 45 or our 45.
“They didn’t have to go too terribly far to put plays together, and then they put big plays together. The screen was a big play for them, and the touchdown right before half was huge.”
He said that Wellsville was effective in containing the Buffalos rushing attack.
“They had a really good defensive plan both times that they played us, so hats off to them,” the coach said.
Wellsville, now unbeaten this season, will host Hayden of Topeka, third seed in the eastern region at 10-1, in the substate playoff game this Friday, Nov. 22. The winner of that game will play in the championship game at Hutchinson on Nov. 30 against the winner of the Andale vs. Holcomb substate.
Coach Kyle Littrell talks to his team following the game.
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