Buffalos, Jayhawks end season with regional playoff losses

Prairie View running back Elijah Williams finds an opening into the end zone in Friday's game against Parsons. (Roger Sims/Linn County Journal)

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

Prairie View and the Jayhawk-Linn football teams ended their 2023 seasons with losses in the regional playoffs on Friday, Nov. 3.

The Buffalos (5-4) hosted the Parsons Vikings (8-1) in the Class 3A bracket and the Jayhawks (8-1) traveled to Pittsburg to take on the St. Mary’s Colgan Panthers (9-0) in the Class 1A bracket

Colgan, the top-rated team in the region by SEK Sports, handed the Jayhawks a 63-6 loss. The Jayhawks only other loss of the season came at the hands of Olpe in mid-October, 35-6. With the exception of the game against the Pleasanton Blu-Jays, a low-scoring game that the Jayhawks won by a touchdown, JLHS has dominated their opponents.

That placed the Jayhawks in a three-way tie for the seventh-rate team in the region by SEK Sports.

However, the table was reversed on Friday as the Jayhawks got behind early and were not able to make a comeback. Colgan handed Pleasanton a lopsided loss the week before, knocking the Blu-Jays out of the playoffs.

Although Parsons was favored to win the game against Prairie View, the Buffalos didn’t make it easy. In a game with a final score of 50-22 in favor of the Vikings, at the end of the first half the teams were tied 22-22.

But after the half, Parsons reset its defense and shut down the Buffalos’ rushing machine. The Vikings forced a Prairie View punt early in the third quarter and drove to a touchdown. They then took advantage of a Buffalo fumble in the third quarter, turning it into a 36-22 lead going into the final period.

The Buffalos struggled to make third-down conversions, and following a Prairie View punt to the Parsons 9-yard line in the fourth quarter, the Vikings running back broke free for a 91-yard touchdown run. The Vikings were able to force a punt on the Buffalos’ next possession, and a 50-yard run by Parsons sealed the victory for the Vikings.