By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

11In head coach Lucas Melvin's first three seasons, Norton finished 23-9, yet lost in the first round of the postseason to Gypsum-Southeast of Saline in 2006 (36-14), the second round to Scott City in 2007 (39-0) and the second round to Beloit in 2008 (34-17).

"That was one of our big goals coming into this year to get past that game and we wanted to keep winning," Melvin said.

This season, led by a healthy Terrell Lane, senior quarterback Connor Pfannenstiel and strong units in all three phases, Norton started out 7-3. On Saturday, the Bluejays moved into the third round with a 42-20 home victory against Beloit.

The Bluejays will host Hutchinson-Trinity (11-0) in a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday afternoon. Trinity defeated defending champion and No. 1 seed Conway Springs on a 77-yard pass in the final 90 seconds. Junior quarterback Derek Racette leads Trinity with 2,333 passing yards and 35 touchdowns against four interceptions. Defensively, Hutchinson Trinity has allowed 67 points, second-best in Class 3A, according to preppowerindex.com.

"He is a very athletic kid," Melvin said. "He is very hard to contain offensively. On defense, they have a solid defense. They are a lot bigger than us on their offensive and defensive lines. That is going to be a challenge, too."

Norton, though, has played very well at home in the last three seasons. Since 2006, Norton is 15-2 at home, 9-7 on the road. The home resume includes victories against Scott City, St. Francis and losses to Smith Center and Ellis. Last year, Smith Center defeated the Bluejays 22-20, the closest game in the Redmen's 77-game run, and Ellis won at Travis Field this season in the final seconds.

"I think it's huge," Melvin said. "We love playing at home for a lot of different reasons. We feel like it's just our house and we try to protect it. At this time of the year, you will play anywhere, but it's special to have home games in the playoffs. We are very excited about it. We feel like we do a pretty good job at home."

The offense is paced by the veteran Pfannenstiel, who has completed 57-of-110 passes for 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. The scrambling Pfannenstiel has just one interception since Week 1 and was 9-of-9 for 182 yards and three scores against Beloit. Lane is the leading rusher with 897 yards behind a strong offensive front.

"I think the offensive line has a group has done a better job of understanding and make adaptations on the field amongst themselves, too, with what type of blocking we need," Melvin said. "That goes all the way down from the coaches to those guys who are on the field. They have just been improving and improving and their knowledge of the game has been improving a lot."

Lane collected over 2,100 all-purpose yards and earned HDN Super 11 honors as a sophomore before an ankle injury limited him in the first part of the year. Lane had just 59 carries in the first six weeks, but once district play started, Lane has returned to form. He has collected 166, 102 and a season-high 191 yards in his last three contests. Against Beloit, he also carried a season-high 22 times, scored a running touchdown, returned two kickoffs for 105 yards, including an 86-yard TD. Melvin said Lane is the healthiest he has been all season.

"He has been getting healthier and healthier each time," Melvin said. "When you are healthier, you can (move and cutback) easier. It's easier to stick your nose in there when you think you are feeling better."

The Bluejays have also had solid special teams. They rank fourth among 11-man teams in punt return average (21.06), according to MaxPreps.com. The Bluejays don't meet the qualifying standard for total kickoff returns, but their 26.00 average would rank third in the state. Senior Landon Hamel leads Norton with 18 total returns with 402 yards.

"This carries on from the last couple of years, guys just buying into it, that's it's an important part," Melvin said. "The guys who are on it really have a sense of pride on the special teams. They like having those long returns and also they like coverage because we limit long returns from the other teams. The other guys see how important special teams are."

Defensively, senior Ashton Draper has six interceptions, while junior Kaid McKenna starts at middle linebacker and center. McKenna, who had just 15 tackles in 2008, has 115 this season. He replaced Zac Dreher, a three-time first team all-conference player and a Shrine Bowl selection.

"There are kind of different types of players," Melvin said. "Zac was bigger and Kaid was a little smaller, but he has a nose for the ball and he is definitely a big leader on the team on defense."