by Lexi Miles
“Adversity” was the theme of the week as Piper headed into a game Friday against Eudora, which had knocked them out of playoffs the previous year. Redemption was on the mind of several players.
The Pirates won a nerve-racking final second 26-23 win against Eudora. The “Friday Night Lights” atmosphere was finally back as the stands were packed with students, band, parents, cheerleaders and dancers in Piper High School Stadium after almost two years.
Eudora scored first after tackling Piper’s quarterback for a safety in the second quarter, followed by a 35-yard touchdown throw making the score 9-0 at the half.
After halftime, Piper turned around to score a 20-yard touchdown run by junior running back Miguel Martin. Junior Logan Ladish then threw the two-point conversion to senior Blake Porter, making the score 9-8 early in the second half.
At the end of the third quarter, Eudora scored another touchdown to go into the fourth quarter up 16-8. Frustration arose among the Pirates, and play went back and forth until a little over midway through the fourth quarter.
Ladish threw an amazing 35-yard throw to senior Divante Herrig-Brittian who reached for the ball for the touchdown, but the Pirates couldn’t capitalize on the two-point conversion.
Ladish then followed minutes later with another throw to Herrig-Brittian, and also scored the two-point conversion. The score was 20-16 with 5:29 left in the game.
As the clock ran down, Eudora scored, and played it safe to make the extra point. With 53 seconds left in the game, Eudora was up 23-20.
The clock was ticking, it was fourth and long. The Pirates went for it and were successful as Ladish ran for the first down. With 4 seconds left with the ball in the hands of Ladish, he threw a 53-yard throw to senior Ethan Walker, scoring. The Pirates won the game 26-23.
Excitement was around as the team stormed the corner of the endzone where Walker was. After the game, head coach Rick Pollard expressed his excitement knowing the team would only get better with plenty of time until playoffs in November.
Piper will face off against Leavenworth on Friday, Sept. 17, for its homecoming game.
