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CHANUTE —
Last week’s 41-20 home loss to Fort Scott meant that Pittsburg had a lot of problems to address going into a road match-up with Chanute.
They didn’t waste any time.
Alex Barnes returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to put the Purple Dragons ahead right off the bat, 7-0. The Purple Dragons would never trail in the game and would go on to win 26-21, but it wasn’t easy.
The entire game was a matter of moves and countermoves.
After Barnes scored his second touchdown in the first quarter on a 4-yard run late in the first quarter, Chanute responded with quarterback Brock Gilmore. Gilmore found Nick Pryor for a 24-yard completion, then kept the ball in his own hands for the rest of the drive. Gilmore carried the ball five times, capping the drive off with a 22-yard touchdown run to pull within one score, 13-7, at the end of the first quarter.
A couple of bounces of the ball added five points for Pittsburg in the second quarter. A shotgun snap went past Gilmore and was recovered by a Blue Comet in the end zone for a Purple Dragon safety. Nick Powers also added a short field goal that bounced off one upright, but through to give Pittsburg an 18-7 halftime lead.
The teams kept much of their back-and-forth antics for the second half, as Gilmore came out leading Chanute in more of a passing attack. Back-to-back passes from Gilmore gained almost 50 yards to put the Blue Comets deep in Pittsburg territory. Two plays later, Gilmore used his legs to escape pressure then his arm to hit Derek Sharp in the end zone.
PHS didn’t wait to respond. Barnes returned the kickoff all the way for a .... well, he didn’t quite make it. Barnes was caught at the 1-yard line by Jared Fiscus.
But despite Fiscus’ efforts, two plays later, Anthony McNeely pushed into the end zone for a Pittsburg touchdown. The Dragons added a two-point conversion by Spencer Bernhardt after a running into the kicker penalty against Chanute.
After the teams traded possessions, Chanute got the ball back in Dragon territory.
Derek Sharp wasn’t Gilmore’s favorite target on the night, but he was in the end zone.
Gilmore and Sharp connected for their second touchdown reception of the night on a 12-yard pass. A fake kick ended with Christian Wiltse making it to the end zone to draw within 26-21 in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Last week’s 41-20 home loss to Fort Scott meant that Pittsburg had a lot of problems to address going into a road match-up with Chanute.
They didn’t waste any time.
Alex Barnes returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to put the Purple Dragons ahead right off the bat, 7-0. The Purple Dragons would never trail in the game and would go on to win 26-21, but it wasn’t easy.
The entire game was a matter of moves and countermoves.
After Barnes scored his second touchdown in the first quarter on a 4-yard run late in the first quarter, Chanute responded with quarterback Brock Gilmore. Gilmore found Nick Pryor for a 24-yard completion, then kept the ball in his own hands for the rest of the drive. Gilmore carried the ball five times, capping the drive off with a 22-yard touchdown run to pull within one score, 13-7, at the end of the first quarter.
A couple of bounces of the ball added five points for Pittsburg in the second quarter. A shotgun snap went past Gilmore and was recovered by a Blue Comet in the end zone for a Purple Dragon safety. Nick Powers also added a short field goal that bounced off one upright, but through to give Pittsburg an 18-7 halftime lead.
The teams kept much of their back-and-forth antics for the second half, as Gilmore came out leading Chanute in more of a passing attack. Back-to-back passes from Gilmore gained almost 50 yards to put the Blue Comets deep in Pittsburg territory. Two plays later, Gilmore used his legs to escape pressure then his arm to hit Derek Sharp in the end zone.
PHS didn’t wait to respond. Barnes returned the kickoff all the way for a .... well, he didn’t quite make it. Barnes was caught at the 1-yard line by Jared Fiscus.
But despite Fiscus’ efforts, two plays later, Anthony McNeely pushed into the end zone for a Pittsburg touchdown. The Dragons added a two-point conversion by Spencer Bernhardt after a running into the kicker penalty against Chanute.
After the teams traded possessions, Chanute got the ball back in Dragon territory.
Derek Sharp wasn’t Gilmore’s favorite target on the night, but he was in the end zone.
Gilmore and Sharp connected for their second touchdown reception of the night on a 12-yard pass. A fake kick ended with Christian Wiltse making it to the end zone to draw within 26-21 in the middle of the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing Pittsburg drive, it was Ethin Van Anne recovering his second fumble of the day.
But Pittsburg’s defense responded. Specifically, Zack Woods responded with an interception of Gilmore on a deep pass.
The Pittsburg offense didn’t score on the next drive, but the drive ate up much of the remainder of time in the game, ending deep in Blue Comet territory.
The Purple Dragon defense held strong, even with Chanute taking over with a chance to win the game. Chanute did make a 13-yard pass, but only after a Pittsburg sack, leaving the Blue Comets still short of a first down. An incompletion ended the drive for Chanute.
The Blue Comets did get the ball back with one more shot, at their own 31 with 3.5 seconds left. But the ball was intercepted by Ethan Paul-Davis to end the game.
Pittsburg moved on to 3-1 and 3-1 in SEK League play and will be home against Parsons next week for Homecoming.
“We know Parsons is coming in, and we know they are not on track yet, but it only takes one week to get back on track,” said head coach Tom Nickelson in a post-game radio interview.
Andrew Nash can be reached at andrew.nash@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 ext. 140.
