Tag: Piper High School

by Brian Turrel

Piper held off a second half comeback attempt from the Tonganoxie Chieftains for a 23-20 win on Friday in Piper. Divante Herrig-Brittian was the late-game hero for the Pirates, making two game-saving defensive plays in the fourth quarter.

Herrig-Brittian’s first game-changer was a downfield tackle that kept Tonganoxie from a go-ahead touchdown. Tonganoxie receiver Sam Kleidosty broke away for a long run and was headed for the end zone, but Piper’s speedy senior gave chase and brought him down at the Piper 11-yard line.

The tackle proved decisive moments later when the Piper defense forced a fumble and kept Tonganoxie off the board.

Herrig-Brittian sealed the game with an interception after Piper punted the ball back to the Chieftains with just under two minutes remaining. He kept his position in front of Tonganoxie receiver Jesse Young and timed his leap to haul in the pass. From there, Piper ran out the clock from the victory formation.

Tonganoxie was able to challenge in the fourth quarter because of two Piper miscues in the third quarter. Piper held a 23-7 lead at halftime, but an extremely short punt let Tonganoxie start an early third quarter drive from the Piper 20. The Chieftains converted the touchdown but failed the 2-point conversion, trailing 23-13.

On the ensuing drive, Piper fumbled the ball back to Tonganoxie at the Pirates’ 21-yard line. Once again, the Chieftains seized the opportunity, and climbed within 3 points.

Senior reserve quarterback Blake Porter filled in for regular starter Logan Ladish, sidelined with an injury. Porter threw two touchdown passes to Colin Vigil, and scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. Porter was also effective with intermediate passes to Ethan Walker.

Kicker Zane Busick opened the scoring with a field goal when Tonganoxie’s defense forced a stop on the opening drive.

The win gives Piper a 4-1 record, and they remain undefeated at 4-0 in the Pioneer League. They have another conference home game at 7 p.m. next Friday against the 2-3 Paola Panthers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Lexi Miles

After coming off a close last-play win last week, Piper was left with a familiar feeling at the end of the game, rushing to top its opponent. Piper fell to Leavenworth 25-23 on homecoming night. Piper held its homecoming parade and crowning prior to the game.

In the first quarter, Piper was quick to start as they scored the first points of the night by senior Logan Ladish. Blake Porter scored the extra points, putting Piper up 8-0 with nearly 11 minutes to go in the first quarter.

The second quarter started with the same score until Leavenworth scored a touchdown with a minute until half, and scored the extra points. This made the score 8-8 at half.

Midway through the third quarter, Leavenworth started the half first after it ran 3 yards to score a touchdown and the 2-point conversion. Piper responded with a 9-yard touchdown throw, tying 16-16 at the end of the quarter with the extra points scored.

Leavenworth then threw another touchdown, but failed to score the two points. Piper quickly followed after inching closer to the end zone. Piper made the kick, leading 23-22 with 4 minutes left in the game.

On fourth down, Leavenworth scored a 37-yard field goal with a minute left in the game. The score was 25-23 with Piper being in a familiar area again with a minute left to go.

After several plays, Piper couldn’t complete another last-minute win. Leavenworth won 25-23, making it Piper’s first loss of the season.

Piper will be on the road at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, against Louisburg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.