Sabetha 24, Jeff West 14

The Tigers, 0-2 and coming off a bye, had more yards of offense and controlled much of the second half on Friday night, but Sabetha won the turnover battle (2-1) and built a 17-0 halftime lead by scoring 10 points on special teams, which proved to be the difference.  

After Jeff West was forced into a three-and-out on their opening possession, Brett Plattner returned the punt 44 yards for a dazzling touchdown and the Bluejays would never trail in the contest. Plattner added a four yard touchdown run on a fourth down play early in the second quarter, and Alec Kirwan kicked a 34 yard field goal just before the break, which capped a 13 play drive that took 6:20 off the clock.

Jeff West outgained Sabetha 162-84 yards in the second half, and held the Jays without a first down until midway through the fourth quarter.  The Tigers had 11 first downs in the second half and finished with 234 total yards while Sabetha posted 191 of offense.  The home team got on the scoreboard with a 12 play drive that went 83 yards and Keishon Brown scored on a two-yard-run with 10:08 left to play.  Yet, Sabetha responded after a kick return across mid-field and got an 18 yard TD on a reverse play to Alex Edelman to make it 24-7 with 5:15 remaining.  Jeff West capped the scoring with 2:46 left on a one-yard trip to the endzone by Luke Herring but failed to recover the ensuing onside kick.

Sabetha, now 2-2 on the season, got 93 yards rushing from Kegan Schumann on 17 carries.  Jeff West was led by Brown with 90 yards on 17 carries and Jacob Dickey was 10-22 passing for 119 yards with Hunter Dean posting a team-high 40 yards on 3 receptions.  The Tigers are now 0-3 and play at Hiawatha (0-4) next week while Sabetha returns home to face Perry Lecompton in a battle of 2-2 teams live on the Sabetha Channel at www.mscsports.net.