Upset Chances Slip Away Against Hays

There were chances. Liberal had the ball deep in Hays territory five times. They scored only one of those times. They lost three fumbles inside the Hays 20 and two inside the Hays 10. LHS also missed a 36-yard field goal. Hays won the game 39-12 for 1997 Liberal High School graduate Ryan Cornelsen’s third straight win over Liberal.

The other big factor was the loss of Justin McPhail. He injured his knee in a scoreless game. After his injury, Hays would score (David Cardinal a one yard run at 8:00 mark of second quarter), force LHS to a three and out, and then scored again (Cadinal one yard run at 5:09 mark). Hays led 14-0 at halftime before a one hour lightning delay.

Hays ran over the Redskin defense in the second half. The Indians amassed 476 yards with 350 yards coming in the second half. The Indians rushed for 413 yards. Not having the WAC’s leading tackler (30 tackles coming into the night) wac clearly a factor.

The Indians built a 26-0 lead after three quarters. Britton Abbott’s one yard quarterback sneak was Liberal’s only red zone conversion. Jesse Quintero recovered a Hays fumble of his own pooch kick. Abbott hooked up with Trenton Hammond who made the catch on the home sideline and sliced his way through the Hays defense into the south endzone to make it 26-12. But Hays severed the Redskin defense and a Cardinal five yard run made it 32-12 with 8:29 to play. Cardinal had 140 rushing yards.

Hays put up the 476 yards while LHS had 262 yards including 132 through the air.

The Indians are 3-0 while the Redskins are 1-2 in the WAC opener for both squads. Liberal plays at 2-1 Dodge City Friday night.