Olathe South, Eudora, Bishop Miege advance in Kansas high school football postseason
Bryce Norenburg and Olathe South waltzed into the second round of the Kansas high school football playoffs with a 49-20 rout of Shawnee Mission South on Friday night.
The Falcons’ senior quarterback rushed for four touchdowns and had ample offensive help around him.
Olathe South (6-3) opened a 14-0 lead with a 44-yard touchdown run by Max Armstrong and Cooper Warren’s 8-yard score. Grant Jennings then hit the jets for a 70-yard Raiders touchdown.
That’s when Norenburg went to work. First he scored on runs of 40 and 44 yards. Then, right before halftime, his 4-yard keeper made it 35-7.
Norenburg’s 11-yard TD run in the second half — his 26th of the year — gave the Falcons a 42-14 advantage with 3:56 remaining. Armstrong’s second TD of the night rounded out the scoring for Olathe South.
The No. 4 seed on the East side of the Kansas Class 6A bracket, Olathe South will next play host to No. 5 Blue Valley Northwest (5-4) on Thursday night at the Olathe District Activities Center.
Eudora 28, Piper 14
Eudora used big plays and its typical ground-and-pound to advance to the second round of the Kansas Class 4A playoffs.
Eudora scored touchdowns of 54 and 55 yards. Another big play gave the Cardinals a 21-7 lead and a long drive sealed the game.
Eudora struck early when senior Matt Magette jetted to a 54-yard touchdown. After a tipped punt, Piper answered on a five-yard quarterback keeper by Jack Bakarich.
The Cardinals took the lead for good when senior Braylen Hoobler ran untouched for a 55-yard TD in the second quarter. Quarterback Kole Manley ran for 45 yards and then scored on a keeper of his own to make it 21-7.
Piper got it to 21-14 after Bakarich went deep to Tannar McDaniel. But the junior wideout’s touchdown with time running short in the third quarter amounted to the final points the Pirates would score.
Eudora’s final masterpiece was a 10-play, 52-yard drive that culminated in a four-yard rushing TD by Manley.
The Cardinals (5-4) will now meet No. 1 East seed Atchison (9-0) next Friday.
Bishop Miege 21, St. James 17
The defending 4A state champs nearly suffered a first-round knockout. But Bishop Miege came off the ropes in time to oust the EKL rival Thunder.
The Stags, who won six straight state titles from 2014-19 and hoisted the trophy again last season, looked to be in trouble at halftime, trailing St. James 14-0.
The Thunder got TDs from seniors Spencer Dohm and Ben Wheeler, and that scoreline held up through most of the third quarter.
Miege (8-1) finally broke through with Marco Rodriguez’s TD pass to Howard Peoples with 3:44 remaining in the period. Rodriguez’s second TD toss, this time a 25-yarder to Cole Wofford, tied the game at 14.
The Thunder retook the lead on a field goal with 7:19 left, but Miege countered with a methodical march and Andre Randle’s one-yard TD plunge with 3:59 to go.
The Thunder’s final shot was thwarted by a sack from Miege’s Devyn Davis.
The Stags now face another rival — St. Thomas Aquinas (6-3) — next Friday night at Dixon Doll Stadium.
For playoff brackets, stats, recaps, online broadcasts and more, visit 810Varsity.com.
This story was originally published October 28, 2023 at 1:45 AM.