SM East eliminates SM West in Kansas 6A football sectional playoff game

The only thing better than winning a playoff football game on a bitterly cold November night is winning one quickly.

Shawnee Mission East wasted little time — figuratively and literally — in dispatching SM West 41-0 on Friday night at Shawnee Mission North District Stadium in a Class 6A sectional matchup.

The Lancers, 11-0, will play undefeated Olathe North next week at substate.

The game clocked in at under two hours, primarily because the Lancers didn’t complete a pass. They didn’t need to, either.

East’s hurry-up Wing-T offense ran through and around West throughout the game.

Fullback Wyatt Edmisten provided the steak, rumbling for 152 yards and three touchdowns in 28 carries.

The sizzle came courtesy of quarterback Gunnar Englund (10 carries, 129 yards, 2 touchdowns), running back Jackson Gossick (six carries, 88 yards, touchdown) and running back Sam Huffman (6 carries, 47 yards).

“When we’re running it well and our line is blocking, there’s no stopping us,” Englund said. “I don’t think there is. When the running game is on, the coaches stay with the hot hand.”

East marched methodically down the field on its first two drives, and never looked back.

“I thought we played well tonight. We distributed the ball around. The defense obviously played outstanding if you can shut out a quality team,” East coach Dustin Delaney said. “We were really good in all phases of the game.”

SM West, 6-5, saw its five-game winning streak come to an end. The Vikings found a way to win last week when Jonathan Shull replaced injured starting quarterback Adam Rellihan early in the second quarter.

West ran out of answers on Friday.

“When you’re at this point of the season, there’s no tomorrow,” SM West coach Tim Callaghan said. “It probably looks a lot worse than it was.

“We got out of our offense a little early. You’ve gotta start scoring somehow. When you do that you take chances, when you take chances, you’re going to give them opportunities.”

The closest game SM East has played this season was a 23-point win in its first meeting with SM West on Sept. 26. The Lancers’ average margin of victory is 38 points, so Friday was just a routine day at the office.

The string of blowouts figures to end next week against Olathe North.

“I don’t care who we’re playing. We’ll prepare the same way. (Olathe North) is a tremendous, historical program in the state and we’re not really one,” Delaney said. “We’re kind of the new kid on the block and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2014 at 11:25 PM with the headline "SM East eliminates SM West in Kansas 6A football sectional playoff game."