Morgan Selemaea carries Harrisonville to 32-15 win over Parkway North

All season long Morgan Selemaea has been the go-to guy for Harrisonville. Whenever the Wildcats needed a big play, all they had to do was get the ball to their senior running back and watch him go.

On Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats’ go-to guy got them to a state championship game.

Harrisonville gave Selemaea the ball 27 times, and he rushed for 230 yards and four touchdowns in powering the Wildcats to a 32-15 victory over Parkway North in a Class 4 semifinal at Harrisonville.

Harrisonville, 12-3, will meet Kearney for the Class 4 title Nov. 25 in Springfield.

As exceptional as Selemaea was, his performance was something that has almost become commonplace for the Wildcats, who have seen him bust loose for 100-plus yards in their last five games. But Selemaea gained these yards against an imposing Parkway North defense that had held teams to single digits seven times this season.

“He’s a competitor and he wants the ball in pressure situations,” Harrisonville coach Brent Maxwell said. “The ‘it’ factor belongs to those who want the ball in pressure situations, and it’s him, so we’re going to ride it.”

Selemaea’s first touchdown, a 29-yard blast up the middle, put Harrisonville up 13-9 midway through the second quarter. On the Wildcats’ second play of the third quarter, he shot through Parkway South’s line untouched for a 64-yard score and a 20-9 lead.

And after Parkway North, 11-3, closed to within 20-15 on an early fourth-quarter touchdown, Selemaea snapped off runs of 48 and 20 yards to get the Wildcats in range for a critical score, which he provided with a 3-yard carry. His fourth TD came on another 3-yard run late in the game.

“We knew we had to score,” Selemaea said “We got 110 percent from our linemen and just put it in.”

“It flipped the switch immediately,” Harrisonville quarterback Brandon Eickhorst said. “We needed that and he stepped up and got it for us. He’s a big playmaker and we’re glad to have him on our team.”

Selemaea was also part of a Harrisonville defense that established itself with a goal-line stand early in the second quarter. A Wildcat fumble put Parkway North on the Wildcats’ 16-yard line, but the Vikings couldn’t push it in on fourth down from a half-yard out. Parkway North did get a safety, but their 9-7 lead would be the Vikings’ only one in the game.

“We were actually arguing with each other,” Selemaea said. “Everyone was arguing it was your fault, this and that. But we all just came together.”

Harrisonville, which was 3-3 at one point this season, will be playing for its first state title since 2007, when the Wildcats won the last of three consecutive Class 3 championships.

This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Morgan Selemaea carries Harrisonville to 32-15 win over Parkway North."