Friday night lights in Kansas: BV West, St. Pius X, Louisburg pick up victories

Here’s a look at highlights from some big Kansas-side high school football games around the Kansas City metro on Friday night.

No. 17 Blue Valley West 42, No. 7 Blue Valley Northwest 35

In a game marked by offensive fireworks, a defensive stand in the red zone was the difference as BV West fended off district rival BV Northwest in a Top 25 showdown.

The Jaguars, ranked No. 17 in the 810 Varsity Top 25, improved to 4-1, while the No. 7 Huskies (4-1) absorbed their first loss.

The Huskies took an early 14-0 lead on an LJ Bowens 59-yard TD run and Nathan Baxter’s QB keeper for an 11-yard TD.

But the Jaguars answered via Tate Nagy’s 19-yard TD pass to Peterson, a 5-yard TD run by senior RB Tate Miller and another Nagy TD pass, this time to Quin Myers. That made it 21-14.

From there, TDs were exchanged. Baxter hit junior Ayden McGibboney for one (56 yards) and freshman Baron Marshall for another (21 yards). Nagy countered with TD passes of 7 and 30 yards.

The Huskies drove inside the Jags’ 5 for a first-and-goal with less than 3 minutes left but could not punch it in.

No. 9 St. Pius X 27, St. James Academy 20

A big first-half deficit was too much for the Thunder to overcome, as the Warriors jumped to a 20-6 lead and then held on down the stretch.

St. Pius X forced two St. James turnovers in the first half, including a 91-yard fumble-return TD by Luawn Toledo.

St. James got into the red zone multiple times but couldn’t capitalize. The Thunder finally broke through in the second half, scoring on Francis Menghini’s 5-yard TD pass to John Tujague.

St. Pius X, ranked No. 9 in the 810 Varsity Top 25, answered when Hudson Bailey finished a 7-play, 75-yard drive with a 13-yard TD run to open the final period.

The Thunder (1-4) found the end zone again, too, though, making it a one score game again on a Menghini keeper. But the Warriors’ punishing run game, led by Bailey and Larry Cascone, was sufficient to wear down the clock.

St. Pius X (5-1) will play St. Joe Benton (1-4) next week, while St. James will play Blue Valley North (1-4).

No. 16 Louisburg 42, Eudora 14

The Wildcats opened up their run game in the first half, with Ashton Moore and Miles Vose scoring back-to-back rushing TDs of 10-plus yards.

Eudora (2-3) fumbled to set up the Wildcats up at their own 48-yard line, and from there they capitalized again. Vose scored from 62 yards out and it was 21-0.

Louisburg scored twice more to round out a 35-point opening half, but Eudora finally found the end zone, too. The points came at the end of an 11-play, 75-yard drive: Braeden Vandonge fired a 25-yard TD pass to Christian Jarrett.

Just when it looked like Eudora might have a bit of life left, Vose intercepted Vandonge for a pick-six with 11:43 remaining. Vose had a tremendous evening, scoring rushing, receiving and defensive TDs.

The Wildcats (5-0) will play Wichita West next week, while the Cardinals head to Independence.

For stats, recaps, online broadcasts and more, visit 810Varsity.com.