By RANDY GONZALES

rgonzales@dailynews.net

VICTORIA -- Victoria drove deep into Bushton-Quivira Heights territory three times in the first half, but managed to score just one touchdown.

The Thunderbirds made the Knights pay for not finishing off those drives.

Quivira Heights scored the first four touchdowns of the second half to break open a close game at halftime and went on to take a 42-28 win in Friday night's Eight-Man, Division II sub-state title game.

Quivira Heights (10-2) moves on to Saturday's Eight-Man II state championship game in Newton, against defending champion Hanover (11-1), a 58-12 winner over Beloit-St. John's in the other semifinal matchup.

Victoria (10-2) scored first on a 5-yard swing pass from senior quarterback Garrett Dreiling to senior running back Brett Ottley. The Knights then relied on the running game to march to the QH 10 and again to the Thunderbird 13 in the second quarter before turning the ball over on downs each time.

Victoria dominated the first half, moving the chains on offense and keeping in check QH's high-scoring offense. The Knights ran off 44 plays in the first half, including 33 rushing plays for 174 of the team's 229 total yards before intermission. Quivira Heights got off just 22 plays, rushing for 18 yards and throwing for 104 more in the first 24 minutes.

But with a 6-0 lead in the second quarter, Victoria came up empty on first-and-goal at the QH 10 and on fourth-and-3 at the Thunderbird 13.

"No question, that hurt us," Victoria coach Doug Oberle said. "Missed opportunities -- didn't take advantage of them."

After Victoria came up empty for the second time, Quivira Heights junior quarterback Gunner Phelan took the T-Birds 65 yards in six plays -- all passes -- to get on the scoreboard. Phelan threw a 26-yard TD pass to senior Jacob Ingham -- who made an juggling catch in the corner of the end zone -- with 30 seconds left in the first half, then Phelan ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-6 halftime lead.

While Victoria lost a fumble at the QH 24 in the third quarter, the Thunderbirds scored twice in the period, on a 12-yard pass from Phelan to Ingham and Phelan's 3-yard run for a 22-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

"Just executed better," Phelan said. "First half was a little rough."

Phelan added a 19-yard TD run before junior Taylor Siemsen intercepted a Dreiling pass and returned it 19 yards to the Victoria 1, where he scored on the next play.

Victoria got a pair of short TD runs from senior fullback Austin Roth, but Phelan intercepted Dreiling and returned it 50 yards into the end zone to make it 42-20.

The Knights scored late on Dreiling's 44-yard pass to senior Andrew Karlin for the final margin.

Dreiling finished 13-of-31 passing for 195 yards, with two TDs and two interceptions. Ottley rushed for 103 yards on 16 carries and grabbed eight passes for 94 yards, and also picked off a pass on defense.

Phelan completed 17-of-28 passes for 220 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for a team-high 56 yards and two TDs.

"He threw the ball well," Oberle said. "We tried to pressure him -- never could catch him."

Victoria fell short of returning to the state title game, but it was a season to remember, Oberle said.

"Unbelievable," Oberle said. "We finished 10-2, with the opportunity to play in the sub-state title game.

"I couldn't ask any more from these guys," Oberle added.