De Soto ousts Tigers in Sectionals

De Soto quarterback Bryce Mohl was responsible for five of his team’s seven touchdowns here Friday night as the Wildcats eliminated Fort Scott High School, 49-13, in the Sectional round of the Class 4A-Division I Playoffs.

De Soto (10-1) scored on the second play of the game when Exavier Jackson returned an interception 44 yards just 45 seconds into the contest. Mohl scored on a 20-yard keeper on the Wildcats’ first offensive play with 9:29 on the clock.

Mohl completed 5 of 6 passes for 180 yards and four touchdowns. His first scoring pass went to Trevor Watts from 26 yards out with with 1:31 left in the first, making it 21-0.

Two more Mohl touchdown passes — a 35-yarder to Connor Strouse with 10:09 on the clock and a 68-yarder to Brayden Brummer with 5:47 left — made it 35-0 at the half.

Leo Oplotnik scored on a 25-yard run with 8 12 minutes to go in the third. Mohl’s final scoring pass, a 14-yarder to Jack Barger, made it 49-0.

The Tigers (7-3) got on the board with 10:43 left in the game when Jesse Jones found Matt Campbell on a 21-yard scoring pass. Zarek Fewell scored on a 7-yard run with 29 seconds remaining in the contest. That was his 34th touchdown of the season, tying for second place on the Southeast Kansas League’s single-season list with Independence’s Matt Bromley, who scored 34 in 2010. The record holder is current Kansas State running back Alex Barnes, who scored 38 for Pittsburg in 2014.

De Soto rushed for 186 yards and finished with 366 yards in total offense. Darren Winans led the Wildcats in rushing with 63 yards on six carries.

The De Soto defense held Fewell to 80 yards on 24 carries. Jessie Lawrence finished with 75 yards on 8 rushes and the Tigers ran for 148 as a team. Jones threw for 124 yards but the Wildcat defense allowed him to complete just 7 of his 26 passes. Campbell caught 6 of them for 90 yards.

De Soto will host three-time Class 4A-Division I State champion Bishop Miege (11-0) in the Sub-State championship game Friday night. The Stags defeated Labette County by a score of 69-23 at Fairway, ending the SEK champions’ season at 9-2.

FORT SCOTT........ 0 0 0 13 — 13

DE SOTO............... 21 14 14 0 — 49

Scoring plays

First quarter

D — Jackson 44 interception return (Rodriguez kick), 11:15

D — Mohl 20 run (Rodriguez kick), 9:29 [1, 20, :06]

D — T. Watts 26 pass from Mohl (Rodriguez kick), 1:31 [1, 26, :07]

Second quarter

D — Strouse 35 pass from Mohl (Rodriguez kick), 10:09 [3, 59, 1:03]

D — Brumer 68 pass from Mohl (Rodriguez kick), 5:47 [2, 78, :28]

Third quarter

D — L. Oplotnik 25 run (Rodriguez kick), 1:21 [9, 43, 5:38]

D — Barger 14 pass from Mohl (Rodriguez kick), 1:21 [9, 43, 5:38]

Fourth quarter

FS — Campbell 21 pass from Jones (kick failed), 10:43 [4, 68, 1:52]

FS — Fewell 7 run (Foul kick), :29 [11, 65, 7:25]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Fort Scott — Fewell 24-80, J.Lawrence 8-75, Wilson 1-6, Jones 5-minus 13. De Soto — Winans 6-63, L. Oplotnik 7-49, Mphl 8-27, Barger 3-24, T. Watts 4-16, Taylor 2-8, S. Watts 1-1, team 1-minus 2.

PASSING: Fort Scott — Jones 7-26-1-124. De Soto — Mohl 5-6-0-180.

RECEIVING: Fort Scott — Campbell 6-90, T. Gorman 1-34. De Soto — Strouse 2-72, Brummer 1-68, T. Watts 1-26, Barger 1-14.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.