SME vs SMW Football Recap

Photo by Ty Browning

The Lancers came out on top against the Shawnee Mission West Vikings with a final score of 63-0 in their last regular season game of the year.

The Lancers were expected to win against West, who came into the game with a 0-7 record. Despite the expected win, the team was excited because they received the Nut Cup, a trophy passed between East and West each year to the winning team.

“It’s like this little wooden chalice, gauntlet that they carry around before the game,” team manager Alex Gwin said.   

In the first drive of the game, West kicked off to the Lancers. Kelyn Bolton received the kick and ran to the 46 yard line. As the Lancers are usually a running team, Coach Delaney surprised fans by coming out with a passing play on the first drive. The Lancers then quickly made it to the end zone as senior running back Milton Braasch broke through the middle and scored within the first 40 seconds of the game.  

On the Vikings’ first drive of the game, Callaghan, West’s quarterback, tossed the ball to Kirby Grigsby who fumbled. Junior Tyler Stottle recovered the ball and returned it  for a touchdown. With 9:41 left in the first quarter, the Lancers were up 14-0.  

West punted away their possession and Braasch returned the punt all the way to the house, but there was a flag that brought it a few yards back. With the good field position, the Lancers scored quickly with a play action pass to Cole Machovsky.

The offensive line gave Lancer Quarterback Anderson Maddox plenty of time in the pocket in the first half.

West quarterback CJ Callaghan struggled against the Lancers and had yet to complete a pass by 7:22. Junior Tyler Stottle sacked Callahan by finding holes in the offensive line and sneaking over to the left.

To close out the first quarter, the Lancers scored two more touchdowns and Braasch has a total of four touchdowns in first quarter.  

In the second quarter, the Lancers experimented with screen passing. Their goal was to run up the score as much as possible so the JV players could take over second half. At halftime, the score was 49-0 Lancers.

Coming back after the half, the varsity players were subbed in for for a few more plays before the backups got in. Anderson Maddox threw it deep to Kelyn Bolton for a touchdown, making the score 56-0.   

Coach Delaney sent in the second string team for the majority of the second half, which was led by sophomore quarterback Ryan Bolin.

“I know all the guys in the huddle very well so they just trust me because I have been their quarterback for a couple of years,” Bolin said on commanding leadership on the field.

The second half was no passing and focused on handoffs. The Lancers scored fourteen points in the second half. Bolin’s highlight was running a quarterback sneak and rushing ten yards up the middle.

“They had no chance going into that game,” Bolin said.  

The Lancer’s first playoff game is Thursday Oct. 26. The No. 1 ranked Lancers will take on No.16 Gardner Edgerton who are 0-8.