MHS - Football / October 25, 2023 By Kasey McDowell
The Mulvane varsity football team traveled to Circle on Friday, October 20, 2023, for a league matchup against the Thunderbirds. The game was an offensive shootout between the teams with a combined 88 points in the game, but the Cats came up just short with a 39-49 final score.
Circle jumped out ahead with 2 long TD runs and the Wildcats got on board with a 33-yard pass from Manny Myers to Brayden Tatum. The Cats scored again with a 38-yard pass from Myers to Lucas Sorensen. After two more Circle scores, Shannon Fuller found the endzone after a shuttle pass from Myers for 35 yards. Circle scored one more time and the Wildcats went into halftime down 21-35.
The Wildcat defense clamped down in the second half, only allowing two more TDs. The Wildcats put 18 more points on the board with an 88-yard kickoff return for a TD by Shannon Fuller, a 37-yard field goal by Aiden McKee, and a 46-yard TD pass from Fisher Dye to Manny Myers in a little razzle-dazzle play.
The Wildcat's offense finished the game with 401 total yards on 53 plays with 101 yards rushing and 300 yards passing. Manny Myers finished with 254 yards on 14 completions out of 29 attempts and 3 passing TDs and also led in rushing with 63 yards on 10 attempts. Lucas Sorensen finished with 101 yards receiving on 4 receptions and had 1 TD reception(s).
The Wildcats defense was led by Kaiden Abasolo finished with 11 tackles (8 solo - 3 assist), 3.0 tackles for loss, and 0.0 sacks. Dylan Rogers finished with 10 tackles (6 solo - 4 assist). Garrett Olson finished with 8 tackles (4 solo - 4 assist) and 1.0 tackles for loss. Austin Vanderhoof finished with 6 tackles (2 solo - 4 assist) and 1.0 tackles for loss. Reed Hackleman finished with 6 tackles (1 solo - 5 assists).
Offense (Passing): M. Myers 14 for 29, 254 yds, 3 TDs; Dye 1 for 1, 46 yds, 1 TDs
Offense (Rushing): M. Myers 10 att, 63 yds; Dye 12 att, 38 yds
Offense (Receiving): Sorensen 4 rec, 101 yds, 1 TDs; Fuller 3 rec, 80 yds, 1 TDs; M. Myers 1 rec, 46 yds, 1 TDs; Tatum 1 rec, 33 yds, 1 TDs; Dye 3 rec, 26 yds; Abasolo 2 rec, 9 yds; Hagerman 1 rec, 5 yds
Defense (Tackles): Abasolo 9.5 (8-3), Rogers 8 (6-4), Olson 6 (4-4), Vanderhoof 4 (2-4), Hackleman 3.5 (1-5), Hargrove 2.5 (0-5), Fuller 2.5 (1-3), Kasparek 2 (2-0), Nelson 1.5 (1-1), Booe 1 (1-0), Dye 1 (1-0), Clinesmith 1 (1-0), Fevurly 1 (1-0), Ensley 1 (1-0)
Defense (TFL): Abasolo 3.0 , Vanderhoof 1.0 , Clinesmith 1.0 , Olson 1.0
Complete game stats can be found here.
VAR 1 2 3 4 Final
MHS 14 7 10 8 39
OPP 21 14 7 7 49
Scoring Plays:
In the JV game, the Wildcats jumped on the board quickly and often as they defeated Circle 52-12 in their last game of the 2023 season. The Cats started with a "twins" touchdown with a Grady Myers 5-yard pass to twin brother Hudson Myers. Myers then scored on a 10 yard run, and then connected with Hudson again for a 14-yard TD pass to close out the first quarter.
The Wildcats got a defensive touchdown in the second quarter as Drew Miller blocked a punt and Kolton Whisler scooped up the ball and scored. Grady Myers found Justin Morgan for a 52-yard TD to close out the half. Drew Miller and Hunter Landis both found the endzone in the second half with an 18-yard and 48-yard run respectively.
The varsity is sitting at 3-5 and JV finished its season with a 6-2 record. The varsity team will travel to McPherson for their first state playoff game tomorrow with a 7:00 PM start.