HOLCOMB — It was a closer game than the score shows.
Hoisington High School fell 21-6 on the road against Holcomb on Tuesday night in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs.
“It was 7-6 at halftime,” Hoisington head coach Jason Ingram said. “It was 14-6 with about 27 seconds left. They picked up a fumble recovery and scored to make it 21-6.”
The first half went smoothly, more or less.
“They scored on about a 50-yard run on their first drive,” Ingram said. “Then we both went three-and-out. When we got the ball back, we had a 17-minute drive and Nolan McCurry scored a 1-yard touchdown. That was pretty much the first half.”
Holcomb got ahead in the third quarter, and held on to win.
Hoisington finishes the season with a 4-5 mark.
“I am just extremely proud of our young men,” Ingram said. “They played hard all season, even with only three seniors — two after one got injured in the first game of the season. They worked hard.
“Can’t say enough about Avery Urban and Kagan Blackwell, and Darin Poland, who was the senior who got injured. Their leadership was amazing.”

Waverly 24, Stafford 20
WAVERLY — Stafford broke from its usual run-first mindset, but was unable to out score Waverly on Tuesday night.
“We were always one behind them,” Stafford head coach Jeff Lowther said. “They scored first, and we just couldn’t get ahead of them.”
Waverly keyed on Stafford’s run game, limiting both 1,000-yard rushers.
“They were prepared for our run game,” Lowther said. “They did shut down our running for the most part, but we had some success passing the ball.”
Trojans quarterback Derek McClure connected for three touchdowns — two to Austin Ceniti and one to Tristin Paulsen.
“Derek had a really good night for us,” Lowther said. “One of our first touchdowns to Austin was a 30-yard touchdown. The pass to Tristin was a shorter pass with a long run. Everyone did well. Our offensive line did a good job giving Derek time to throw.”