Girard thumps Baxter Springs

It was difficult for Leon Miller to describe what he was more proud of Friday night.
The 415 yards rushing?
Miller was content with the effort.
The 127 yards on 4-of-6 passing from quarterback Taylor Woods?
Miller was pleased, but it still was not the first thing on his mind upon completion of the game.
A shutout victory on the road in a CNC Conference game?
Miller was very proud of the defensive effort.
Girard earned a 41-0 victory over Baxter Springs to improve to 3-2 overall and in the league at John R. Hughes Stadium.
The Trojans defense held the Lions to 31 yards of offense in the second half and one first down to go along with two first half interceptions.
“We didn’t want (Cody) Spencer to get going,” said Miller, Girard head coach.
“Once he gets established, it really allows their passing game to open up. Coach (Craig) Siebert did a nice job with the defensive scheme to shut down the run and take away the pass.”
Seniors Chayse Shanholtzer and Johnny Webb had second quarter interceptions to highlight the defensive effort.
“I thought our defensive line played well and allowed our linebackers to crash on the run,” Shanholtzer said. “They threw a lot of short routes and the secondary defended those well, which allowed the linebackers to focus on stopping the running game.”
The Girard offense, after failing to score on its first three possessions (turnover on downs, back-to-back fumbles), capitalized on Shanholtzer’s interception driving the ball 50 yards in six plays with senior tailback Darian Kelly scoring on a 11-yard toss sweep.
After the Lions (1-4, 1-2) went three-and-out, Girard had 2:08 left in the first half to go 55 yards.
Webb made sure Girard needed only one play.
Woods connected with Webb on a flag route, Webb slipped one tackle, stiff-armed another defender and headed for the sideline to step out if he needed to. Instead, he broke three tackles and sprinted down the far sideline for a 55-yard touchdown play.
“It was supposed to be a deeper route but I cut it down short because the cover man was playing so close,” Webb said. “After that, I don’t remember what happened.”
Webb caught four passes from Woods for 127 yards, all in the first half.
“We only threw six, but four went big; it opened up for us,” Woods said. “Johnny made some nice moves on his touchdown catch. It was a 91, the outside guy ran a hitch, the inside guy ran a flag route and he made some nice moves after the catch.”
The Girard running game, in its debut of a double-tight end wishbone set, tallied 415 yards on 41 carries, including 214 yards on 20 carries in the second half.
Kelly had 141 yards on 15 carries and scored his second touchdown on a two-yard run in the third quarter.
Senior fullback Stanley Brown broke a 64-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to account for part of his 113 yards on 11 carries.
Sophomore Eric Bowman, who lined up at the other halfback next to Kelly and behind Brown in the Girard wishbone, added another 96 yards rushing on seven carries. He broke a 38-yard touchdown run on fourth down early in the fourth quarter.
The Trojans final touchdown came from reserve quarterback, junior Gannon Bauer, who scored on a two-yard keeper.