Hoisington blanks Ellinwood in regular-season finale

Cardinals improve to 8-1, host Phillipsburg Tuesday in first-round playoff game

John J. Mesh

HOISINGTON — The Hoisington Cardinals shut out the Ellinwood Eagles 26-0 Thursday night in the rain and cold at Elton Brown Field to capture the Kansas Class 3A District 13 football title.

Hoisington improved to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in district play. Ellinwood finished the season 3-6.Hoisington will host Phillipsburg Tuesday night in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs. Game time is to be announced. Phillipsburg lost to Beloit 36-0 Thursday.

Hoisington rolled up 332 yards in total offense — all on the ground — and Ellinwood had 108 yards rushing and 117 passing.Hoisington got on the board first on a 10-yard touchdown run by Danton Riedl with 55 seconds left in the first quarter. Rield added the 2-point conversion on a running play.With 1:12 left in the first half, Tanner Klug scored from 36 yards out.Corey Engstrom scored two TDs in the fourth quarter on runs of 11 and 65 yards.

Engstrom rushed for 147 yards on 11 carries, Riedl 104 yards on 67 carries and Klug added 67 yards on 11 carries.

Glenn Whitaker led the Eagles with 53 yards rushing on 14 carries. Marcus Brown added 30 yards on 6 carries.Quarterback Kyle Corbett passed for 117 yards and rushed for 22. He completed 7-of-22 passes. Kenneth Johnston caught 4 passes for 42 yards, Brown caught 2 passes for 64 yards. Ethan Linden caught 1 pass for 11 yards.

The rain and sloppy field conditions, especially in the first half, helped cause seven fumbles. Hoisington lost one and Ellinwood did not lose any fumbles.

The key play in the first half came when Hoisington's Krayton Demel blocked an Ellinwood field goal attempt.

"I give Ellinwood a lot of credit," said Hoisington coach Lonnie Irvin. "They played a heck of a football game. We had a great night rushing. Any time you get 300 yards rushing in a high school game, it's a great night. The field is mush — it's pretty much gone and we have to play on it Tuesday.

"We have 14 seniors. We asked them to do a lot of things and they did what we asked of them.

"Tuesday's game will feature Phillipsburg's size versus Hoisington's quickness," said Irvin.

"They are very big. They average 25-30 pounds bigger than us on the line. I like our quickness and angle blocking. They don't do anything fancy. They come from the Mid-Continent League and they like to run the ball."