Thunder and Lightning lead the Buffalos in playoff blowout win

Buffalo running back Parker Schwarz runs wide, eluding the Burlington secondary. The senior had 285 yards rushing and three touchdowns against the Wildcats. (Photos by Roger Sims / Linn County Journal)

By David Heidrick

Journal contributor

It has been four weeks since the coaching change within the Prairie View varsity football program. In those four games, the Buffalo offense has averaged 49.5 points per game while giving up just 13.5 on defense.

The Buffalo run game has taken off, averaging over 460 yards per game, and still able to throw for almost 50 per game. Senior running back and linebacker Parker Schwarz is dominating state headlines with his rushing prowess while acting as the beating heart of the defense.

Josh Goodwin is a wrecking ball on offense with his blocking and ball carrying and at the same time, is a pillar of strength at defensive end. Johnny Colin is the lone senior on the offensive line and is causing tons of problems for teams trying to run inside.

Burlington was just the latest team who got in the way of the stampede outside of La Cygne. The Wildcats came in down compared to their usual standards, with just two wins on the season.

Senior Josh Goodwin (35) is congratulated by teammate Johnny Colin (56) after scoring one of his three rushing touchdowns against Burlington.

The game started slowly with Burlington punting after a three-and-out. Schwarz failed to catch a toss from senior quarterback Wyatt Attebery and the Wildcats recovered. The Buffalo defense forced a four-and-out. Schwarz and Goodwin led the team down the field, rushing for a combined 56 yards, culminating in a short, 4-yard score for Schwarz. 

Burlington managed to pick up a first down on four plays, but then could not get out of their own way. Two false starts led to a punt.

The Buffalo offense started their next drive on their own 17 yard line. Six carries by Schwarz and a 15-yard pass interference call against Burlington resulted in another touchdown and a two-point conversion by Goodwin. That put the Buffs up 14-0 early in the second quarter.

Burlington quarterback Shawn Mautz (4) faces a wall of green after taking a snap on one of the Wildcats' short-lived drives.

Burlington was already feeling the heat and again went four-and-out. On the ensuing drive, several Buffalos carried the ball with Attebery doing the most damage on a 22-yard option keeper down the left sideline. The Buffalos went ahead 20-0 after a nine yard plunge off of the left tackle by Goodwin.

The Prairie View defense locked down again, holding the Wildcats to another three-and out, but a facemask penalty on fourth down gave the Wildcats' drive new life. It was shortlived, however, as a third down sack by Goodwin forced a Burlington punt. The home team moved the ball 60 yards on 11 plays, but finally turned the ball over on downs at the Burlington 11 yard line.

To make matters worse, the Buffalo offense likely lost Attebery for the year with a knee injury. He came back from the locker room with an ice pack on his knee, crutches, and no shoulder pads after a 13 yard sprint down the left sideline. Two plays later, the teams went to the locker rooms for halftime with the score Prairie View 20 and Burlington 0.

Buffalo quarterback Wyatt Attebery keeps the ball and scrambles for extra yards. A few plays later, the senior would suffer a knee injury, one that could end his high school football career.

Burlington kicked off and it only took two powerful runs from Schwarz and a 39 yard gallop by Josh Goodwin to improve the lead 28-0. The Wildcats tried to answer with a 28 yard run from Logan Turner, but that was the only first down they were able to muster.

Schwarz, Jay Muse, and finally Goodwin each had long runs on the next drive, with Goodwin picking up his third rushing touchdown of the night. That score put Goodwin in second place all-time for career rushing touchdowns with 36, tied what former greats Terrell McKinney and Hunter Boone.

Head coach Joe Cullor watches his team run a play. The game against Burlington was the fourth game he has coached since stepping into the post midseason.

With the Buffalos holding a commanding 34-0 lead, Burlington could not pick up a first down. Parker Schwarz made the Wildcats pay with an incredible 42 yard touchdown run, demonstrating both power and speed. Burlington again went four-and-out. Finally, with the Buffalos driving yet again, the third quarter came to an end.

Jay Muse ended the Buffalo scoring with a 6 yard jaunt. The rest of the game went quickly with a running clock. The Wildcats drove 69 yards, ending the shutout on the final play of the game with a 5 yard touchdown run by Hunter Cole. 

After the game was over and final statistics were tallied, Parker Schwarz sits in fourth place in Kansas high school history with 7,289 rushing yards, trailing legends Deangelo Evans (8,472), Omari Elias (7,726), and Ky Thomas (7,703). Schwarz is averaging 336 yards per game since head coach Joe Cullor took over, and with a maximum of four games left, is within striking distance of the all-time mark.

He also has 99 rushing touchdowns, tied for ninth with Kipp Connell in Kansas high school history. Josh Goodwin cracked the top 5 career rushing yards list as well, and as mentioned previously, has the second most rushing touchdowns in school history. Official state records be found at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame website, while more comprehensive lists can be found here at the Kansas High School Football Database.

Scoring summary and final game stats are below.