For the second week in a row, Washburn Rural’s defense stood out.
On Friday night, players gave their offense time to find a way to score after being inactive for most of the night until three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Washburn Rural would win 28-21, coming back after being down 14-0 at halftime and 21-7 early in the fourth quarter.
De Soto thrashed Washburn Rural 14-0 at halftime
On Thursday, Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler said they needed to limit De Soto’s flexbone offense, that they couldn’t allow De Soto to gain yards and plays, and put points on the board quickly to put them in an awkward position.
That didn’t happen at first.
De Soto struck first at 7:31 into the second quarter after a missed punt by Washburn Rural returned the ball to De Soto at the Washburn Rural 17-yard line.
Four plays later, De Soto’s junior, Bennett Hutchison, ran from 1 yard out, 7-0.
On their next drive, a 62-yard pass play from junior quarterback Carson Miller to senior Antonio Sullivan put them at the 1-yard line again and Hutchison hit it again two plays later to put De Soto up 14-0 with 29 seconds left. to go in the first half.
At halftime, Buhler said he was just reminding the defense of the game plan they had established that week and that the deficit was down to simple missed assignments.
“We fixed it at halftime,” Buhler said. “I thought our guys did a lot better staying on top of their routes in the second half and keeping them under pressure and giving our offense a chance.”
Of Washburn Rural’s six offensive possessions in the first half, two ended in turnovers on opportunities, two ended in punts, one ended in a missed field goal and one ended the first half.
Washburn Rural’s offensive line got a nice push for senior running back Ma’kenttis Adams all night, he had 150 of the team’s 178 rushing yards on 26 hard-hitting carries.
The offensive line gave junior quarterback Branton DeWeese plenty of time to throw, but De Soto’s defensive game plan had them sitting down with a lot of guys in coverage at times, forcing DeWeese to make a play.
“Last week, our defense struggled, but they had a great play at the end,” Buhler said. “This week, our offense struggled. De Soto had a great game plan. They played back and forced us to be patient and we didn’t do a good job early on.”
“But then we came back in the last few minutes. The offense opened up and made big plays like the defense did last week.”
Key defensive TD in the third quarter and offensive outburst lead to Rural victory
A 17-play drive by Washburn Rural to start the half resulted in no points on a missed field goal, but the defense managed two big De Soto possessions later.
De Soto fumbled the ball deep into his own territory after taking over at his own 20-yard line. Washburn Rural senior linebacker Wyatt Conklin picked up the ball and ran it to cut De Soto’s lead to 14-7. with 4:42 in the third.
“Our defense comes up with a great touchdown play to get us back to seven, which was the biggest thing for us,” Buhler said. “I think we saw a little bit more energy from everybody and it held up.”
In the second half, De Soto’s other eight second-half possessions resulted in one touchdown, five punts and one attempted turnover.
“These guys, I love them,” Washburn Rural senior captain and linebacker Ty Weber said of the defensive effort, who had a high game. “The engine in them is second to none. It just continues throughout the game. It’s something special and something we’ve had for the last few years, and we’re trying to continue.”
De Soto’s only touchdown came a play after senior Sam Torline recovered a Washburn Rural fumble on a deflected snap.
A 13-yard goalie from Miller to put them up 21-7 with 11:05 left in the game. De Soto would not score again.
Washburn Rural’s other two possessions in the third quarter after the 17-play drive resulted in punts, but in the fourth quarter, the offense rose to the occasion.
On the ensuing possession, after De Soto went up 21-7, Washburn Rural took over at his own 14-yard line and completed 10 plays and 86 yards for the score.
Washburn senior wide receiver Amr Sabbarini had a big fourth and three catches to set up at De Soto’s 40-yard line. DeWeese would find junior Titan Osburn for the 40-yard reception and run for the score with 8:17 remaining.
“We needed points, so we’re going to try,” DeWeese said on his first touchdown against Osburn. “I love throwing the ball to Titan. He’s a wide receiver. The corners were playing really well on defense. I saw him for a quick second and got the ball there and he caught it.”
“(Titan) is a fast guy, probably our fastest receiver. He’ll get into open space and just run good routes and he’s a reliable guy.”
The point after the touchdown, however, was not good, and Rural still trailed 21-13.
“They really weren’t throwing the ball that hard over us on the ground (at the time),” Buhler said. “We still feel pretty good about the way we’ve been converting 2-pointers lately.”
Following a De Soto punt on his next possession, Washburn Rural took over with 5:55 remaining and ran for 80 yards in five plays with DeWeese struggling and finding Osburn again for a deep touchdown. This time, it was from 49 yards. 5:10 to go.
Osburn would finish with three receptions for 97 yards and two touchdowns.
Washburn Rural would call a timeout to get the play right and DeWeese found senior tight end Lukas Hanks for the two-point conversion. 21-21.
“I thought (he was in) when I threw it,” DeWeese said. “I tossed him down a little bit and was like, ‘Oh man,’ but Lukas is a big guy, he’s going to go in.”
After another three and out forced by the defense, Washburn Rural took over at De Soto’s 37-yard line.
Two plays later, DeWeese found Sabbarini for the 29-yard catch-and-run with 2:49 left. 28-21.
DeWeese said he saw a loaded box on Sabbarini’s touchdown with linebackers playing down the line and safeties about 10 yards from scrimmage. With a banked route called, DeWeese knew where he was going before the snap.
DeWeese would finish the night 15-31 with 214 yards and three touchdowns.
“That’s the thing with Branton,” Buhler said of his quarterback’s comeback to end the night. “He may be off, but when he starts to come up, he picks up the pace. I think he helped us when we started going a little faster, it helps him get into the groove if he gets some easy passes early.”
The Washburn Rural defense clinched the game with three sacks on the final drive capped by a sack by junior JC Heim, who also blocked a punt at fourth-and-long.
The offense knelt in the moment of winning.
“They put us in some bad positions, but we know how to bounce back,” linebacker Weber said. “It gives us a lot of confidence going forward and we said as a team after the game that we’re going to put both together next week, offense and defense. I’m very excited.”
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