The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
West Central's dream of an 8 man football state championship ended this past Saturday afternoon at the hands of the Polo High School Marcos. The Marcos headed into the playoffs as the number 1 seeded team, and they held serve by delivering a 50 to 14 defeat to the 4th seeded West Central Heat.
The Heat, who had averaged 39 points per contest in their previous 11 starts, couldn't generate enough offense on the chilly November afternoon. Each of the Heat's 3 first quarter possessions ended with a punt while only producing 1 first down. After the Heat's first punt the Marcos put together a 63 yard drive capped by a 24 yard TD.
After the Heat's second punt to the 43 yard line, Brock Soltow scored his 1st of 2 TD's on a 57 yard run on their first play.
After the ensuing Polo kickoff Kaiden Droste reeled off a 20 yard run from his own 40 to the Marco's 40 but the drive fizzled.
The Heat's 3rd punt had the Marcos pinned on their own 8 and the home crowd faithful were hopeful of a comeback.
The first quarter ended with the score 14 to 0, but the Marcos once again were challenging the Heat Defense. Devin Shaw made a TD saving tackle at the 39 and Heat fans were hopeful that would ignite a second quarter comeback.
Just 57 seconds into the 2nd quarter Avery Grenoble ran for a 47 yard score and the Heat found themselves at the short end of a 22 to 0 score.
Things fell apart at that point as the Heat fumbled to the Marcos on their next two possessions and the result was 2 more long runs of 46 and 60 yards and the Marcos held a commanding 42 to 0 lead with 2:26 left in the half.
In the remaining time the Heat put together a 51 yard drive capped by Mason Carnes' 6 yard run to paydirt with just 15.8 seconds remaining in the half. Score at the half was 42 to 6 with Polo on top.
A determined Heat squad took the field for the second half and the Marcos were held scoreless until the clock showed 5:42 remaining in the 4th quarter. That score put the Marcos ahead 50 to 6 and the remainder of the game was played with the clock only stopping for TD's or Time Outs.
The Heat struck back quickly on a 55 yard pass from Mason Carnes to Kaiden Droste making the score 50 to 14. The Polo Marcos then ran out the clock on the Heat and their great season came to a disappointing end.
Although the Heat played a much better 2nd half by playing the Marcos even with each team scoring 8 points, the 36 point deficit was too large of a hill to climb.
On the afternoon the Heat managed 157 yards on the ground and 60 via the pass. Kaiden Droste ran for 103 yards on 15 attempts to lead the Heat rushers. Mason Carnes racked up 30 yards in 7 tries and Colton Fletcher gained 16 yards and Parker Meldrum gained 8.
Defensively most of the work was in the 2nd half where the Heat did a much better job of shutting down the Marcos long gainers. Devin Shaw recorded 7 solo tackles and 9 assists. Kaiden Droste had 6 solos and 10 assists. Colton Fletcher had 5 and 5, Parker Meldrum 4 and 9, Brady McGraw 2 and 9,
Dexter Ricketts 1 and 4, Walker Conchas and Zach Smith each with 1 and 2, Andy Lumbeck and Nick Woods each with 2 assists and the trio of Matthew Dunn, Mason Carnes and Jonathan Westfall each chipped in with 1 assist.
Coach Kirby called for a timeout with just seconds remaining so the 8 Seniors could leave the field to a chorus of cheers for all their contributions to Heat football. Andy Lumbeck, Walker Conchas, Kolton Bell, Devin Shaw, Dexter Ricketts, Jonathan Westfall, Brady McGraw and Carson Long all went through the grind of a football season which began in the August heat and ended on a cold afternoon in November for the final time in their high school careers.
Hopefully, the success achieved by the 2021 version of the Heat, which achieved a 9 win and 3 loss season, will inspire an increase in participation in the sport of football.