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Otis-Bison sees season end
Published on -11/8/2009, 1:34 PM
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Special to The Hays Daily News
BUSHTON - Quivira Heights' passing attack was flying high while its run
defense was stifling.
That combination has the Thunderbirds moving on to the 8-Man II semifinals
and rematch with Victoria.
Junior quarterback Gunner Phelan threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns
while Quivira Heights allowed a run-heavy Otis-Bison option attack to amass
just 85 rushing yards en route to a 42-6 victory on Saturday night in the
state quarterfinals.
"We watched some film and we saw some openings on their defense," Phelan
said after completing 14 of 30 passes and firing four touchdowns. "We
thought we could go out and pass against them."
The Thunderbirds (9-2) went to the air early and finished with 337 yards of
total offense.
And it was the 6-foot, 175-pound Phelan's ability to scramble around and
avoid Otis-Bison defenders while the Quivira Heights receivers got open.
"I knew they were going to come after us," Quivira Height coach John Phelan
said. "I told him (Gunner) that you're going to have to find them
(receivers) when you can. If you can get your time, you can get them open
down field. They manned us up and he was able to get loose and find some
people open."
Some of the guys Gunner Phelan found down field were senior Jacob Ingham and
junior Taylor Siemsen. The 6-1, 190-pound Ingham had eight catches for
133 yards and a touchdown while the 5-11, 185-pound Siemsen had four
receptions for 115 yards and a score. Sophomore Nick Schepmann and senior
Tyler Riedel also had touchdown grabs.
Although Otis-Bison moved the ball, the Cougars (10-1) couldn't finish off
drives. Otis-Bison finished with 119 yards of total offense.
Junior running back Michael Hlavaty had 59 yards rushing to lead the Cougars
while shifty senior quarterback Kevin Wissman gained just 18 yards on 14
carries.
Limiting Wissman, John Phelan said, was the key.
"I thought our defense played as good as we've played all year," he said.
"We preached all week that the first guy has got to get Wissman's legs and
bring the people. We talked about it all week and we did it."
The Thunderbirds turned an Otis-Bison fumble on the game's opening
possession into points, as Phelan found Siemsen for a 19-yard touchdown.
Phelan connected with Ingham early in the second quarter for a 29-yard
score. Phelan had a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Thunderbirds a 20-0
advantage that they took into halftime.
But the Cougars nearly turned a Quivira Heights special teams miscue before
the half into points.
Otis-Bison partially blocked a punt and the Cougars returned it to the
Thunderbird 3 yard line with 18 seconds left in the half.
Cougars gained two yards on first-and-goal and spent their final timeout.
The Thunderbirds stopped Hlavaty short of the end zone and the Cougars
couldn't get another play snapped before time expired.
"For whatever reason, it wasn't our night," Otis-Bison coach Travis Starr
said. "Things kept going against us and it kept getting worse. We played our
hearts out tonight and it just wasn't our night."
The Thunderbirds kept scoring in the third.
Riedel hauled in a 5-yard touchdown pass while Schepmann had a 41-yard
catch-and-run.
The Cougars recovered a fumble in the end zone on a special teams miscue for
their only score late in the third quarter.
Siemsen had a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to complete the
scoring.
