YATES CENTER — Long story short — something is going right over in Yates Center. CALEB DeNoon scored early (and often in the first quarter. He had every touchdown in the first half from the ground and the air. He connected with Robert Arnold on a 20-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive. WITH 30 seconds remaining in the half, DeNoon dodged to the outside and shedded some pass rushers to connect with Arnold on a 41-yard touchdown pass to end the half.
The Wildcats toppled Marmaton Valley High’s Wildcats 62-14 Friday night, ending the game in the third quarter.
“This is what I want to do,” Yates Center Head Coach Ben Wiehn said of the way his offensive is matching up perfectly with his team. He is a first-year coach with Yates Center, after moving from a coaching position in Nebraska. “It’s (the offense) just fitting into what we have.”
The Wildcats are coming off of a winless season in 2012, and are currently sitting at 5-3 overall and 3-1 in Kansas Eight Man, District 2 play, with playoff hopes still alive. Yates Center visits Uniontown on Thursday, with the winner advancing to the postseason.
Regardless, the season has been a 180-degree turn for the Wildcats.
Wiehn said his offensive style brings out the best in his players. He knew he had talent when he came to the team.
“I have to take some credit, it is my offense,” Wiehn said with a post-game smile. “But I’m just a piece of the puzzle. The drive of the players is the big draw for me.”
Yates Center had no trouble against a struggling opponent Friday, and some of their key players had a chance to flex their muscle in front of a senior-night crowd.
Marmaton Valley’s Trent Johnson broke a run down the field, bursting past the Yates Center line, for the end zone late in the first. But, Yates Center had enough time to respond once more with a touchdown pass from DeNoon.
The second quarter was more of the same from the home team. DeNoon hit Trevor Chism on a 30-yard TD connection and ran two more touchdowns in before Marmaton Valley showed its last flash of life with a 55-yard kickoff return from Chance Stevenson — 48-14 Yates Center.
“It was nice to score twice,” Marmaton Valley Coach Dan Uhlrich said. “We haven’t scored in a while.”
Following the senior night festivities, Yates Center finished what they had started on the opening drive, capped with an 8-yard rushing touchdown from Jaden Knoblock.
Offensively, Yates Center put up 336 (242 rushing and 94 passing) yards of total offense in just over two quarters. DeNoon led with 129 yards on the ground, followed by Austin McNett with 53. DeNoon passed for 94 yards, Arnold had 61 yards receiving, and Chism had 31 yards from the air.
Defensively, McNett led the team in takedowns with six unassisted tackles and 10 assisted tackles. Justin Rossillon had one unassisted tackle, five assisted tackles and a fumble recovery. Jason Wendland had two solo tackles and eight gang tackles.
Marmaton Valley rushed 32 times for 82 yards on the ground; they had no yards passing. Stevenson led on the ground with 14 carries for 26 yards.
Marmaton Valley’s Micheal Genn was sidelined late in the second quarter with an unknown knee injury — Uhlrich said he plans to have an MRI at the beginning of the week. The 1-7 Wildcats will face off against an 0-8 St. Paul team Thursday.
Wiehn said the Yates Center Wildcats will need to carry over a good week of preparation to prepare for a matchup in Uniontown.
“It’s going to be a tough one next week,” he said. “I can imagine they’re happy like us, they’re in the same position we are.”
He said there are some “banged up players” on his team — DeNoon sat out on defense for the entire game — and they will need everyone at full-playing capacity to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Marmaton Valley 8-6-0-x—14
Yates Center 24-32-8-x—62
Wildcats stay alive for possible postseason berth
