Buffalos win first game of season in battle with Jayhawks
By Roger Sims, Journal staff
David Heidrich contributed to this story
It was homecoming night for the Prairie View Buffalos on Friday, Sept. 25, as they hosted Jayhawk-Linn in a non-league game. It was the first clash of the Jayhawks and Buffalos football teams since 2017. However, as the game progressed, the teams seemed more like regular rivals as tempers flared on field.
Prairie View, a solid Class 3A school, had been bruised badly in its last two outings against Wellsville and Santa Fe Trail, both consistent power teams in the Pioneer League, and started the season with a 3-point loss to an improved but not dominant Osawatomie team.
The Jayhawks, recently named the largest 2A school in the state, were 2-1 going into Friday’s game. Their loss was a non-league game to Wellsville the week before. Wellsville had blanked the Buffalos, 49-0, in the second game of the season.
The Jayhawks fared a little better against Wellsville: a touchdown on an Eagles fumble, and a second touchdown in the fourth quarter when the Eagles went to their bench after running up the score. That final was 49 to 12.
Both the ‘Hawks and the Buffalos rely mostly on their ground game with backfields that can plow through opponents, sometimes finding a clean break for a score, other times halted at or behind the line of scrimmage.
Numbers were a factor in the game. The larger school had a deeper bench than the Jayhawks. But the Jayhawks were also missing one of their top running backs, Gabe Ross, which gave the ‘Hawks’ quarterback fewer options.
And as Friday night’s contest would prove, both teams had quarterbacks who could outrun the defense on the corners or could scramble. Both Gabe Moore for the Buffalos and London Burk for the Jayhawks more than once salvaged a drive that seemed doomed by penalties or sacks. And the Jayhawks on several plays went to a mini-reverse inside the pocket that seemed to be effective in creating openings for their backs.
The Buffalos drew first blood from the 5 yard line midway through the opening quarter on run by running back Carter Browning. The Jayhawks evened the score with 2:34 in the quarter on a 6-yard run by Burk, and at the end of the first quarter the game was tied 6-6.
The second quarter saw the Buffalos scoring twice without a response from the Jayhawks. Moore took the ball into the end zone on a 28-yard run, followed by a 2-point extra point run from Reed Krull, who last year played for the ‘Hawks. The Buffalos ended the half on a 5-yard run by Browning and a point-after kick by Carlos Cervantes to the Buffalos a 21-6 lead going into the half.
A 2-yard plunge by Krull in the third quarter capped off an 11 play, 65-yard drive. The goal was followed by a point-after kick by Cervantes, giving the Buffalos a 28-6 advantage.
The Jayhawks responded with their own 63-yard drive ending in a 27-yard run by Layne Goodison in for a touchdown. The point-after run, also by Goodison, was good, but the ‘Hawks were still down, 28-14.
The end of the third quarter saw Buffalo Colton McCool recover an onside kick by Jayhawk Trey Poole and return it to the Prairie View 45. Four plays later, including a 30-yard run by Browning, the Buffalos again crossed the goal line on a 7-yard run by Colton McCool.
The Buffalos’ final drive brought the team down to the Jayhawk 4 as time ran out, and Prairie notched its first win of the season 34-14.
The Buffalos had 437 net yards of total offense, all but 6 of those yards by rushing. The Jayhawks had 223 net yards of total offense with all but 29 yards of that rushing.
For the Jayhawks, the top rusher was Burk with 123 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries. Goodison had 91 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, Poole had 21 yards on nine carries, and Tanner Holt had 7 yards on three carries.
For the Buffalos, Browning led the pack with 200 yards and two touchdowns on 26 attempts. Moore had 114 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, Kale Page had 51 yards on eight carries, Krull had 40 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, and Hunter McCool’s single attempt yielded a 7-yard touchdown run.
On defense for the Jayhawks, Josiah Haen had five solo tackles and four assists, Thomas McCarty had six solos and two assists, Poole had three solos and four assists, and Daniel Jackson had four solos and two assists.
Buffalo defense had Krull with five solos and four assists, Nolan Boyd with six solos, Bentlee Diedicker with five solos and one assist, and Browning with five solos.
Prairie View (1-30 travels to Parsons (1-3) on Friday, Oct. 2, and will host Fredonia on Oct. 9.
Jayhawk-Linn (2-2) travels to Fredonia (1-3) this Friday.
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