by Brian Turrel
A scoreless first quarter turned into a rout by the closing whistle, with the Piper Pirates notching a 46-6 defeat of the Golden Tornado from Coffeyville’s Field Kindley High School in the first round of the KSHSAA 4A football playoffs.
Six different players scored the seven Piper touchdowns, the first a 37-yard run up the middle by Miguel Martin two minutes into the second quarter.
Piper shut down a Coffeyville fake punt on the next possession to get a short field, starting at the Golden Tornado 36-yard line. A long completion from Blake Porter to Divante Herrig-Brittian nearly made the end zone, but the receiver was knocked out of bounds. Mason L’Heureux ran the ball in from 2 yards out on the next play, and Porter followed it up with a 2-point conversion run.
Divante Herrig-Brittian returned an interception 56 yards to the end zone on the next Coffeyville possession for a 20-0 advantage going into halftime.
Out of the break, Piper took advantage of a short kick to start at midfield. A 47-yard run by Dominique Herrig-Brittian put them at the Golden Tornado 3-yard line, and two plays later Porter hit Ethan Walker in the end zone for a 26-0 lead.
On the next drive, Evan Damron stripped the ball from Coffeyville quarterback Zac Becker, giving the Pirates another short field from the Field Kindley 23. Becker was injured on the play, forcing running back Amanie Luten into the quarterback role.
Porter completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Divante Herrig-Brittian, and kicker Zane Busick hit the extra point for a 33-0 lead.
Luten kept the next Coffeyville drive going with some impressive runs from the quarterback position, but tossed an interception to TiwJaun Griffin at the Piper 7-yard line to end the drive.
An illegal procedure penalty pushed the Pirates back to their own 3-yard line, setting the stage for Gannon Roth’s 97-yard touchdown pass to Dominique Herrig-Brittian on the next play.
The following Golden Tornado drive ended with Luten sacked and the ball turned over to the Pirates on downs at the Coffeyville 39. Roth hit Tannar McDaniel for an 18-yard touchdown pass, and Busick converted for a 46-0 lead.
The Golden Tornado got off zero in the final minute when Amir Luten made a long catch and run to the end zone.
The win sets up a rematch between the Piper Pirates and the Paola Panthers in the regional round of the 4A playoffs. The game will be played in Paola on Friday, Nov. 5, starting at 7 p.m.
Both teams are 6-3 following their first-round victories. Paola defeated Piper 24-19 in the Oct. 8 Frontier League match played in Paola.
