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It was the final home contest for Atchison. Seniors looked to go out on top with a victory over Piper. Only down by eight, the Redmen defense held and caused the Pirates to punt with under two minutes to play. Senior quarterback Tanner Huntington led the team down the field, but a pass to sophomore wideout Wykeen Gill on fourth down couldn’t be handled and sealed the victory for Piper, winning 28-20.
Piper quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead after junior runningback Colton Beebe busted past the goal line from three yards out with 6:23 to go in the first. Then in the second, Beebe found the endzone once more, this time only needing one yard for the score to give Piper a 14-0 lead with 8:24 to play in the half.
Atchison responded nicely by getting into the redzone for the first time, but after two incomplete passes and a sack, the Redmen couldn’t convert. After a Piper punt, the Redmen erase the zero on the board with a six-yard touchdown grab by senior wide receiver Wade Gassman from Tanner Huntington. Redmen trailed the Pirates 14-7 at the half.
In the third, it was all Piper as the Pirates commanded the tempo of the game. Sophomore runningback Sterling Owens scored twice to give the Pirates a safe 28-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The aerial assault of the Redmen kicked in as Huntington started to connect on long passes. The most important one though was the three-yard toss to Gassman to cap off an 88-yard drive to only trail 28-13 with 10:41 left in the game. After the Pirates turned the ball over on downs, Atchison went down the field and scored off a one-yard rush by Huntington to trail by eight points with 4:01 left.
The Redmen defense held once more to get the ball back to the offense, but Atchison couldn’t capitalize with the momentum.
Our Bank of Atchison player of the game went to Colton Beebe after rushing for 54 yards on nine attempts and scoring two touchdowns. The linebacker also recorded many tackles for the Piper defense. Sterling Owens recorded 59 yards and two touchdowns off 16 carries.
For Atchison, Tanner Huntington completed 14 of his 30 passing attempts for 207 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a score. Wade Gassman finished with five catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns and senior halfback Austin Housh recorded six grabs for 100 yards. Junior fullback Zane Boldridge also had a great day rushing six times for 39 yards.
Atchison fell to 3-4 on the year and starts off with a loss in district play and the Redmen go to Bishop Ward this Friday. Piper improved to 3-4 on the year and hosts KC Sumner this week.
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