So far this season, the Hoisington High School football team has been on both the winning and losing sides of close games that came down to final plays.
In Week 1, Hoisington fell short against Sedgwick in overtime. Sedgwick head coach Jeff Werner decided to go for the two-point conversion and the win to beat Hoisington 22-21.
Last week, against Medicine Lodge, Hoisington was down 21-17 until a 3-yard touchdown run by Austin Stout gave them a 24-21 lead and eventual win with three minutes remaining. And, Hoisington did it without its starting quarterback.
Derrick Kaiser, along with three other starters, were suspended for one game due to disciplinary reasons, according to Hoisington head coach Jason Ingram, who is in his first season with the Cardinals.
But the four players will be back Friday night to take on Mid-Central Activities Association foe and county rival Ellinwood. Kickoff is set for 7.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” said Ellinwood head coach Dusty Beam, who is in his first season at. “In the short time that I’ve been here, I’ve learned that the Hoisington game is the one that everyone wants to win.”
Beam said that it is hard to tell what the Eagles should prepare for first — the passing game or the rushing game.
“This has been one game where game film has not been on our side,” Beam said. “That first week, they ran the ball well, but they always had the option to pass, which worked for them, too.
“In the second week, they didn’t have their quarterback, so they started their tailback at quarterback and just ground the ball, which worked for them, too. They’ve got more than one guy we have to worry about.”
So far, Hoisington has surpassed 200 rushing yards in both games with Hagan Hanzlick leading the charge.
Hanzlick, who filled in at quarterback against Medicine Lodge, has totaled 212 rushing yards and two touchdowns so far.
In the season opener, Kaiser completed 7 of 20 passes for a 35.0 percent completion average. He threw for 103 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
He also ran for 30 yards.
“First of all, we have to stop the running game,” Beam said. “Our secondary has really rose to the occasion so far this season. They have four interceptions in two games. We have to be able to stop the run.”
As far as Hoisington preparing for Ellinwood, Ingram said that offensively, he expects the Eagles to run the ball.
“We have to expect a very strong running team,” Ingram said. “They are very dedicated to the running game. They run the ball very well. They have a very aggressive defense.”
Last week against Larned, the Eagles rushed for 273 yards, led by sophomore running back Allen Templeton. In Ellinwood’s season opener in Hays against Thomas More Prep-Marian, junior Patrick Ringering led the ground attack with 106 yards and a touchdown.
The passing game has advanced leaps-and-bounds from Week 1, when quarterback Jared Oelke went 0-for-5 passing, to Week 2, when Oelke completed six of 10 passes for 135 yards against Larned.

• Central Plains (1-1)
at Little River (1-1)
Central Plains travels to Little River on Friday night.
The Oilers will look to bounce back after dropping their home opener last Friday against Otis-Bison, 50-14.
Central Plains will likely look to its running backs Nick Schepmann and Benn Kirmer, who were both stuffed by the Cougars as the Oilers were held to 84 rushing yards.
The Oilers will also need to control the ball better after having four turnovers against the Cougars.
The Redskins will try to run the ball as well, with Chet Cordell, who leads the team with 171 rushing yards, and Derek Bean, who has 142 yards on the ground the season.

• Larned (0-2)
at TMP-Marian (2-0)
Larned will be traveling to Hays to face Thomas More Prep-Marian on Friday in a MCAA game.
The Indians are led by Easton Palmer, who has 138 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Chad Wallace lead Larned on the ground with 126 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

• Chase (2-0) at Otis-Bison (2-0)
Otis-Bison has totaled 440 rushing yards in the last two weeks that has led the Cougars to averaging 54 points per game.
On Friday, Otis-Bison will be facing an opponent that has an even higher average.
Chase has had a devastating offensive attack in the first two weeks of the season.
The Kats scored 103 points against Wilson to open the season and 64 points last week at Tescott.

• Cunningham (0-2)
at St. John (1-1)
St. John got moving in the right direction last week on the road against Fowler, winning 58-12.
The Tigers were able to get their offense running after being held to only 14 points by Class 1A Division-II state runner-up Otis-Bison in the season opener.
Cunningham has struggled this season, losing to South Barber 52-8 to open the season and losing to Skyline 54-22.

• Central Christian (0-2)
at Stafford (0-2)
Stafford will look to running back Tristin Paulsen to try to beat Central Christian this Friday.
Paulsen leads the Trojans with 168 yards and three touchdowns, making him the only player on the team to score this season.
Trojans quarterback Gus Stueve has completed one pass on eight attempts for seven yards this season.
Central Christian was shut down in its season opener, 46-0. It lost to Norwich 76-34 last week.

• Fairfield (2-0) at Macksville (2-0)
Macksville has had its ups and downs so far this season, but has come away with a pair of wins.
In the season opener at Victoria, the Mustangs were able to score late to edge the Knights 34-32.
Last week, Macksville hosted Word of Life to an almost polar opposite result, scoring 74 points in the first quarter.
Quarterback Seth Filbert leads the Mustangs with 354 passing yards and four touchdowns.
The Mustangs offense will be up against the defensive wall of Fairfield, which has allowed six points in its first two games combined.
Fairfield is coming off a 45-0 shutout of Attica.