Hosting Hesston for homecoming after a pair of road losses, the Concordia High School football team fell 42-14 to the number-three 3A team in the state of Kansas.
Things looked promising for Concordia, forcing a Swather punt on their first drive. The Panthers moved quickly, with Brandon Vignery hitting Ayden Krier for a 66-yard passing touchdown to go up 7-0. Hesston responded with a long drive that tied the game up 7-7. Concordia used the rest of the clock to end the first quarter.
Starting the second quarter, after the Panthers were forced to punt, Hesston scored on their first play of the drive to go up 14-7. After a failed onside kick put the Panthers on the Swathers’ 46-yard line, the Panthers couldn’t capitalize and a sack on fourth down gave the ball back to Hesston. A failed fourth-down conversion gave Concordia the ball back, but a fumble gave Hesston the ball in the red zone, who scored in two plays to go up 21-7. A high bounce on a squib kick was recovered by Hesston, but a penalty gave the ball to Concordia. A 32-yard rush by Krier and a 19-yard reception to Liam McNutt gave way to a 19-yard pass from Vignery to Kale Schroeder to make it 21-14 Hesston. The Swathers scored once again to go up 28-14, and after a Panther punt, a late Hesston score made it 35-14 at halftime.
Both offenses would move the ball in the third quarter and use the clock, but nobody was able to get on the board. With both defenses bending but not breaking, Hesston led 35-14 entering the fourth quarter. After a Panther punt to start the fourth quarter, Hesston continued to bleed the clock, taking four minutes off the clock and scoring to go up 42-14. After Concordia failed to score on the following drive, the game concluded with Hesston winning 42-14.
Vignery went 8-19 passing for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Braytin Hake led with 89 rushing yards on 18 carries; Krier had 36 yards on two carries; Ryker Wildeman had 17 yards on three carries; Matthew Naillieux had nine yards on three carries. Krier had 103 yards receiving on three catches with a touchdown; McNutt had 47 yards on two catches; Schroeder had three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.
Naillieux led in tackles with 11, one for a loss; Koehn Williams had nine; Burke Kindel had six; Krier and Deekon Holbert had five with one for losses each; Javen Garcia had four; McNutt had three; Wildeman, Jerrik Williams, Ian Loudermilk, and Hake all had two; Schroeder and Jakub Brooks had one.
