Lansing wins in opener at new stadium

The Lansing High School football team christened its new stadium with a 42-20 victory over Piper on Friday night.

It was the first time Lansing defeated Piper since a double-overtime 35-34 victory in 2010.

According to Lansing athletic director Gary Mattingly, the stadium was built in a natural gulley on the school’s land. There are seats for 3,000 fans and separate concession stands for home and visitors, as well as a press box. The field features artificial turf.

“They couldn’t wait,” Mattingly said. “They have been practicing on it and were ready to play on it.”

Lansing hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug. 6, when the new school and athletic facilities were officially completed.

Bishop Miege 57, BV Northwest 14

Senior running back Dawson Downing and the Bishop Miege football team started their Kansas Class 4A Division I title defense with a 57-14 victory against Eastern Kansas League foe Blue Valley Northwest.

Downing started the Stags’ attack with a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Kevin Gaughan ran in a two-point conversion to push the lead to 8-0.

BV Northwest answered with a 40-yard passing touchdown from Jack Knutson to Cooper Trusdale, but the Huskies never took a lead.

Downing added a 35-yard run before halftime and then scored three touchdowns after the break. Miege quarterback Carter Putz provided some balance, connecting with Nolan Gray twice and TJ Goodwin once in the victory.

BV Northwest’s Daeron Robinson returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

SM North 22, SM South 8

After shaking off the early first-game jitters, SM North junior Will Schneider had no problem leading the Indians to a 22-8 season-opening victory over SM South.

Whether it was on the ground or through the air, Schneider, a southpaw, executed a high-tempo offensive attack.

“You saw tonight that he kept his eyes downfield,” SM North coach Ben Bartlett said. “He was very difficult to bring down. He has the ability to make things happen.”

Schneider notched more than 200 yards of total offense and scored two touchdowns. But he had help keeping the SM South defense honest. Sophomore Reese Sila anchored the backfield with 131 total yards and scored the season’s first touchdown for SM North.

“When we scored on that run play, it felt like we were going to win this game,” Schneider said.

Schneider threw a perfect 23-yard pass to Tyler Burnett in the right corner of the end zone, then he dashed 22 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown.

“The running game was a huge factor and the O-line did a great job tonight,” Schneider said. “We are proud of all of them.”

The defense and special teams also came up big for SM North. They recovered two onside kicks and forced three fumbles.

SM South, under new coach Brett Oberzan, showed some signs of progress on offense. After struggling much of the night, South punched in a late touchdown by Cam Union.

But the night belonged to SM North.

“We learned how to win tonight,” Schneider said. “We learned how to get it done in the fourth quarter and that was the most important part.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 11:37 PM with the headline "Lansing wins in opener at new stadium."