Panthers’ season ends with 49-7 loss to Spartans

WICHITA — Outscored 42-0 over the final three quarters, the Concordia High School football team suffered a 49-7 loss to the Wichita Collegiate Spartans in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs Friday night.
Concordia, after giving up a quick touchdown on Collegiate’s opening possession of the game, got an interception by Drew Sterrett and then marched 91 yards for a score to tie the game at 7-7.
Holding the Spartans scoreless for nearly 20 minutes, the Panthers surrendered two touchdowns in the final 3:24 of the first half to fall behind 21-7.
Collegiate then tacked on four scores in the second half to pull away.
“We saw a glimpse of what we could be, but then we saw what we are, with some of the mistakes that were made,” Concordia coach Jordan Echer said. “We talked about it a lot this week, just the fact that this was the fastest team we were going to see across the board. So we explained, if you make those mistakes against a team with that much team speed, then those turn into big plays.”
Falling to Collegiate for the second straight season in the playoffs, the Panthers finished up 2-8.
“I do think we got better as the season went along. These seniors, I think, did a really good job from a leadership standpoint, regardless of the situation we were in,” Echer said. “We really think last week was a really good week of practice, so I think that says more about them than anything.”
Collegiate (8-1) advances to the regional round of the playoffs, and will face Rock Creek on Friday night.
Rock Creek (6-3) advanced with a 54-18 victory over Chapman.
Collegiate got the ball to start the game, and went 58 yards in two plays.
Julian Johnson ripped off a 20-yard run on the first play.
Hudson Ferralez then hooked up with James Shackelford on a 38-yard touchdown pass 23 seconds into the game, and the Spartans led 7-0.
Collegiate forced a punt and drove deep into Concordia territory.
Drew Sterrett intercepted a Ferralez pass in the end zone and returned it to the 7-yard line.
“Drew did a good job of being where he needed to be,” Echer said.
Mason Eickmann broke a 52-yard run on the first play of the drive.
“The offense line did a really good job. They gave us a look we liked, alignment wise, and then Mason just runs the ball really hard,” Echer said.
Eickmann, who finished the game with 107 yards on 12 carries, had a 31-yard run two plays later that gave Concordia a first and goal at the 9-yard line.
The Panthers were facing a third down and goal, when Eickmann hauled in a pass from freshman quarterback Drew Blochlinger and went seven yards for a touchdown.
Parker Jackson booted the extra point and the game was tied at 7-7 with 5:27 remaining in the first quarter.
Running 15 plays, Collegiate drove to the Concordia 2-yard line and faced a fourth and goal.
The Spartans were called for a false start and backed up five yards, and on fourth and goal from the 7, a Ferralez pass was incomplete.
Concordia picked up on first down and was forced to punt.
Getting the ball on its own 49-yard line, Collegiate went 51 yards in seven plays.
A 21-yard touchdown pass from Ferralez to Shackelford gave the Spartans a 14-7 advantage with 3:25 left in the half.
Ferralez completed 23 of 37 passes for 339 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in the game.
Following another Concordia punt, the Spartans went 53 yards in six plays and scored on a 15-yard pass from Ferralez to Harrison Simon with 24 seconds on the clock that made it 21-7.
Forcing a Concordia punt to open the second half, Collegiate got the ball on its own 45-yard line.
The Spartans overcame a holding call with a 53-yard pass play from Ferralez to Johnson.
“A lot of their big plays were short passes that turned into long gains,” Echer said.
Simon finished off the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to push the score to 28-7.
Following another Panther punt, the Spartans put together a seven play, 53-yard drive and scored on an 8-yard pass from Ferralez to Sebastin Hines-Turner to go up 35-7.
A Concordia drive ended when Shackelford intercepted a Blochinger pass at the Collegiate 25-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
Collegiate, with Ferralez throwing the ball on nine straight plays during one stretch, drove 75 yards.
Johnson got into the end zone on a 17-yard run, and it was a 42-7 game.
The Spartans would tack on another score on a 6-yard run by Johnson with just over four minutes to play that made it 49-7.
“I think it was a combination of two things, some of the mistakes and then I think sometimes you start to see some of our guys start to wear down,” Echer said the 28 points scored Collegiate in the second half.
Concordia was limited to 160 yards on total offense, 148 rushing and 12 passing.
Sterrett carried the ball eight times for 28 yards for the Panthers.
Blochlinger completed two of five passes.