BY JIM MISUNAS

jmisunas@gbtribune.com

HOISINGTON — The Hoisington Cardinals had no defensive answers for Thomas More Prep Monarch quarterback Kade Harris in Friday's 2A football playoff game.

Harris swung the momentum with two huge kickoff returns in a 36-27 victory over Hoisington in the 2A football playoffs. Harris scored three touchdowns and rushed for 148 yards.

The Cardinals drew within 33-27 when Harris returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards for the game-clinching 37-yard field goal by David Fouz.

"He cut it back on us. You've got to be sound in your lanes.  We didn't tackle him well enough to win the game," said Hoisington coach Zach Baird. "There were plenty of plays where we didn't execute well enough to win the ballgame."

The Cardinals (8-2) had a 23-game home winning streak snapped. The Cardinals had won eight consecutive home playoff games and eight straight versus the Monarchs (8-2). 

Hoisington's Legend Robinson led a dazzling second-half rally with three touchdowns and 226 yards rushing. 

"Legend is a high character kid with a big heart," Baird said. "We're extremely blessed to coach Legend for four years. He's a heck of a leader."

Robinson's 1-yard touchdown with 3:44 gave the Cardinals a chance. But Harris and a batch of untimely penalties ruined that plan.

"I'm super proud of the way we battled that second half," Baird said. "After halftime, our adjustment was blocking people and tackling people. We needed one more big play at the right time."

Robinson started the second-half surge on a 23-yard touchdown run keyed by Gage Britt's block for a 55-yard drive. Quarterback Wyatt Wikum completed a perfect 15-yard touchdown strike to Leyton Haxton on a 57-yard drive for a 26-20 score.

Harris made the Cardinals' defense pay again on a 43-yard touchdown as the Monarchs got to the edge of the Hoisington defense time-after-time.

"Harris is a really good player," Baird said. "We had trouble staying inside/out on him. We knew what was coming. We had people there."

From the opening kickoff, everything swung the way for the Monarchs' way. Hoisington’s Jason Robinson nearly recovered the game’s opening kickoff when Monarch Mark Rack fell on the loose football.

The Monarchs strung together four consecutive touchdowns for a 26-6 halftime lead. Harris roared past the Cardinal defense on a series of quarterback keepers for 84 first-half yards.

"We didn't get off to a good start," Baird said. "We didn't block and didn't tackle. We didn't do the little things well enough. 

Harris dashed 23 yards and Bryce Seib ran 22 yards on the opening 66-yard drive. After Harris dashed 17 yards, Garrett Schumacher ran 18 yards for another touchdown for a 13-0 lead.

The Cardinals pieced together a solid 80-yard scoring drive capped by Legend Robinson’s 1-yard touchdown.

That momentum lasted 10 seconds when Harris returned the kickoff 79 yards for a 20-6 lead with 11:06 left in the second quarter. The Monarchs converted a 70-yard drive to end the half on a Harris 1-yard touchdown.

The Cardinals graduate Legend Robinson, Wyatt Wikum, Evan Foltz, Adam Baldyga, Chase Maier, Spencer Mintz and Sam Baldyga. The seniors finished 40-7, the best four-year record in school history.

"It's tough to say good-bye to those six seniors," Baird said. "This team improved from the start to the end of the year. We battled and improved."

Hays-TMP 13 13 0 10 — 36

Hoisington 0 6 14 7 — 27

TMP—Bryce Seib 3 run (kick fails)—7:55; TMP—Garrett Schumacher 18 run (David Fouz kick)—3:21; H—Legend Robinson 1 run (kick fails)—11:16; TMP—Kade Harris 79 kickoff return (Fouz kick); TMP—Harris 1 run (kick fails)—5:02; H—Legend Robinson 23 run (Chase Steinert run)—8:47; H—Leyton Haxton 15 pass from Wyatt Wikum (run fails)—49.6; H—Harris 43 run (Fouz kick); H—Legend Robinson 1 run (Carlos Mota kick)—3:44; T—Fouz 37 FG—2:39 

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING—TMP—38-240; Harris 13-148, Seib 15-59, Schumacher 2-19, Andrew Schwartz 5-23; team 3-(-9); H—51-279; Legend Robinson 34-226, Wikum 9-27, Tony Moore 6-15, Chase Steinert 3-10.

PASSING—TMP—Harris 2-6-0, 32; H—Wikum 4-7-1, 58.

RECEIVING—TMP—Mark Rack 1-23, Jace Wentling 1-9; H—Moore 2-35, Haxton 1-15, Mason Alderdice 1-8.