BUFFALO – It was déjà vu … and not the pleasant kind.
For the second week in a row, the Altoona-Midway Jets hosted a highly-ranked squad for a Class 6-Man football contest at Frank Kennedy Field.
And for the second week in a row, the talented visitors posted a victory by an identical 51-6 score.
This week’s conquerors of AMHS were the Peabody-Burns Warriors, who rolled into Altoona-Midway’s field and won by the exact same margin as ranked Ingalls seven days earlier.
Altoona-Midway will have some time to regroup and bounce back for postseason play. The Jets actually receive a first-round bye as the Kansas 6-Man playoffs begin this week.
AMHS, 3-4 in the regular season and 2-3 in District 1 play, will have a week off before hitting the road for a matchup against the Tescott Trojans.
That contest will not be played until Friday, Nov. 8. Due to only 20 teams filling the 6-Man playoff bracket, both the Jets and the Trojans both received first-round byes.
Tescott, located northwest of Salina, is almost a 3.5-hour bus trip (one-way) for Altoona-Midway.
The Trojans enter the playoffs with an impressive 5-2 overall record. Tescott narrowly lost to Peabody-Burns 40-39 in the season opener. Their only other loss was to unbeaten Cunningham.
“Tescott is another very talented team, and will definitely provide our third challenging game in a row,” said AMHS Coach Jeff Almond. “But these boys don’t quit. We’ll get back to it this week and prepare to give it our best shot.
“We’ll be on the road for about 6.5 total hours, and that always adds to the difficulty of the task,” Almond said. “But we are hoping to play our best game of the year and give Tescott a run for their money.”
As for Friday night’s contest, Peabody-Burns led just 12-0 after the first quarter of play, but the Warriors exploded from that point on, increasing the lead to 31-6 at halftime and building a 51-6 advantage midway in the third period, when the game ended due to the mercy rule.
“We had a tough night tonight,” Almond noted. “We had a hard time defending the onside kicks. Peabody recovered three or four of their own kicks, and you simply cannot give a team like Peabody that many extra possessions and expect to stay in the game.”
Altoona-Midway’s lone score of the evening came in the second quarter, when William Stackhouse fired a pass to Kage Beck, good for 37 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Kieran Foster completed 8-of-10 passing attempts for 50 yards. Two of those aerials went to Stackhouse, who led the Jets in both rushing and receiving with 48 yards apiece.
In addition to Beck’s 37-yard reception, Joey Lamendola grabbed two catches for 28 yards and Chance Carter hauled in one pass for 14 yards.
“Kieran Foster had a good night passing for us tonight,” Almond mentioned. “And freshman Chance Carter played well on defense with two unassisted tackles. He also had a reception and returned a kickoff for 14 yards.”
Beck led the Jet defense with seven total tackles, five of them unassisted. Stackhouse had four unassisted stops and six total. Foster finished with four tackles, Chism and Lamendola notched three apiece, and Carter added two.
It was also Senior Night, as the AMHS faithful thanked the three Jet seniors – William Stackhouse, Kieran Foster and Joey Lamendola – who made their final home appearance for the Blue and Gold.
“I’m sure the seniors are disappointed with this outcome, but I hope William, Kieran and Joey realize they will truly be missed next year,” Almond said. “They are our team leaders and our brothers.”
