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Stallions drop 5A regional final to Olathe West

Junior receiver Kendall Brewer (24) caught a long pass along the sideline in the 5A regional final against Olathe West. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

The Schlagle Stallions lost the 5A regional final to the Olathe West Owls on Friday night, ending their season. The 49-15 final score belied the performance of the game, in which Schlagle held the lead until the final three minutes of the third quarter.

Junior running back Jaylin Richardson was once again the engine for the Stallions’ offense, and accounted for both touchdowns.

The opening quarter was scoreless. Both teams put together lengthy opening drives, but couldn’t push through to the end zone. Schlagle opened the scoring in the second quarter with a 32-yard Richardson run down the left sideline, followed by a 2-point conversion off a faked kick.

Olathe West responded immediately, returning the following kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. The halftime score was 8-7 in Schlagle’s favor.

Schlagle took the opening kick of the second half and scored, capping the drive with a 10-yard Richardson run up the middle.

Once again, the Owls scored on the next possession, stringing together first downs and escaping from a couple of third-and-long situations. The Stallions allowed the touchdown, but snuffed out the two-point attempt to keep a 15-13 advantage.

As the third quarter wound down, Schlagle’s athletes, many of whom play both offense and defense, looked worn. The runs that had been effective in the first half got shorter or were stopped in the backfield. Quarterback Josh Becton was harassed in the backfield, and took two intentional grounding penalties and two lengthy sacks.

Olathe West took the lead with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the third half on a 53-yard run, and they didn’t look back. One more long touchdown run put them ahead 27-15 at the end of the third quarter. They scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the final 49-15 margin.

Schlagle finished their season with a 6-4 record, including a 5-0 record and league title in the Kansas City – Atchison League.

Junior running back Jaylin Richardson (23) leaped to escape the grasp of an Olathe West defender. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Head coach Patrick Hansen addressed the team after the game. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Schlagle athletic director Sonya Scott presented the regional championhip plaque to Olathe West head coach T.J. O’Neill. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

The Schlagle marching band performed at halftime. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

The Schlagle marching band and dancers performed at halftime. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Kendall Brewer wrapped up Olathe West junior receiver Caden Barnard (16). (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Schlagle senior lineman Paul Beasley set up protection. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Jaylin Richardson put pressure on Olathe West quarterback Zac Krause. The pressure resulted in an interception by Schlagle senior defensive back Drelyn Carroll. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Kendall Brewer laid out trying to catch Olathe West returner Brendon Bolden, who scored on the kickoff return. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Sporting KC MLS Western Conference champs

Forward Daniel Salloi netted the game-winning shot in the 72nd minute of Sunday’s match between Sporting KC and Los Angeles FC. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

When defender Seth Sinovic was called for a questionable hand ball in the penalty area in the second half of Sunday afternoon’s game against Los Angeles FC, Sporting Kansas City’s plan to win first place in the Western Conference took a left turn.

The foul gave LAFC a game-tying penalty kick, Sinovic was sent off with a red card, and Sporting faced the rest of the game with only 10 on the field.

Sporting came back with a late short-handed goal by Daniel Salloi to earn the 2-1 win and the conference championship.

Kansas City could have chosen to pack the defensive end and play for the tie, which would have been enough to secure the conference lead, but head coach Peter Vermes saw it differently.

“I don’t think you can,” he said. “Mentality is a really interesting thing. It’s not like you just flip a switch and you just change mentality. It’s not that way.”

Salloi agreed. “I think it’s very important to play for a win all the time, even if a tie works for you, especially at home. I want to thank the fans because they did an amazing job.”

Khiry Shelton got the assist on the goal. As Salloi described it, “I played the ball out wide to Khiry and then he saw me running up the box. He played me a perfect ball. I took a quick touch and finished to the first post.”

As conference champions, Sporting KC will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. They’ll face the winner of the “Knockout Round” game between LAFC and Real Salt Lake. The second game of the two-legged playoff will be at Children’s Mercy Park on Nov. 11.

Forward Daniel Salloi jumped into the Cauldron fan area after the game and beat the drum. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Fans celebrated after Salloi’s game-winning goal. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

A child’s view of Children’s Mercy Park. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Goalkeeper Tim Melia made a save. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Participants in the Sporting Stripes youth program took the field at halftime. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Johnny Russell and LA defender Steven Beitashour took a moment to get up after getting tangled near the LA goal. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Khiry Shelton celebrated the game’s first goal. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Defender Grahm Zusi worked against LA forward Diego Rossi. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Midfielder Roger Espinoza put SKC on top 1-0 in the first half. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Johnny Russell beat LA defender Walker Zimmerman. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

Pirates’ red zone defense seals 46-40 playoff win

Piper sophomore running back Le’James White (12) scored one of his five rushing touchdowns on a run up the right sideline. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

With the game in the balance and 20 seconds on the clock, the Piper Pirates’ defense held the line against the Bonner Braves’ rush. The fourth-down red zone stop turned aside a Bonner comeback attempt, and earned the Pirates a berth in the next round of the playoffs.

Just a week after Braves and Pirates played against each other in the final game of the regular season, they found themselves matched up again in the first round of the KSHSAA 4A state tournament.

The previous game ended in a Piper rout, and the first quarter of the playoff game looked like it would follow. Piper racked up a 19-0 lead by the end of the first quarter on the strength of three Le’James White touchdown runs.

Bonner Springs started its comeback in the second quarter and scored 21 unanswered points before and after halftime. Johnathon Tapia scored on a goal-line quarterback keeper just before the half, and Bryce Krone picked up two touchdown runs in the third quarter.

The atmosphere was raucous, with the home and visitor stands cheering on their sides loudly. Bonner Springs tied the score at 40 with 6 minutes remaining on a pass from Noah Villarreal to Keyon Thomas. Piper retook the lead with another Le’James White touchdown run with only 2 minutes left, but kept the door open for a game-winning Bonner drive when their extra point attempt failed.

Bonner Springs looked poised to seize the opportunity and marched down the field fueled by Bryce Krone runs that kept moving the chains. The drive stalled out as the Braves’ offense approached the end zone, and Bonner Springs faced fourth-and-3 at the 6-yard line and only 20 seconds on the clock.

Bonner Springs turned to Krone once again on a run up the middle, but the Piper defensive line gave him only 2 1/2 yards. A jubilant cheer went up from the Piper sideline as the Bonner fans fell quiet. The Pirates took over and downed the ball one last time to run out the clock.

The Bonner Springs Braves closed out their season at 5-5, finishing fifth in their first season in the Frontier League.

Piper will play in the regional final game next Friday evening at Louisburg, the No. 1 seed in the eastern bracket of the playoffs.