BURRTON – Act Two was a repeat performance of Act One, and as a result the Altoona-Midway High School Jets are advancing to the second round of the Kansas State Football playoffs for the first time in 31 years.
Making the long trip to Burrton for the second consecutive week, Altoona-Midway again proved victorious, posting an impressive 64-24 victory over the Burrton Chargers in the opening round of the Class 6-Man state playoffs here Thursday night.
Just six days earlier, the Jets defeated Burrton 27-6 to close out the regular season.
“It is never easy to defeat a team two weeks in a row, and sure enough, we got off to a slow start,” noted AMHS head coach Randy Almond. “Burrton came out of the gates and scored 12 quick points. But we got back and track, took the lead and played well the rest of the way. It was a total team effort.
“Plus, it was definitely exciting to get a playoff win for our school. That had been a long time coming,” Almond said.
Not only was it the third straight victory for the streaking Jets, it also marked the first postseason win for an Altoona-Midway football team since 1992.
The win propels AMHS into the second-round of the state playoffs, a regional matchup on Friday, Nov. 3, at undefeated Waverly.
In a Week Two battle between the two schools, Waverly rolled to a 45-0 victory. It was the only time AMHS was blanked this year. The Bulldogs enter next week’s regional contest with a 7-0 record.
After Burrton jumped to the early 12-0 lead Thursday, the Jets regrouped and knotted the score at 18-all by the end of the first quarter. Altoona-Midway only allowed a single second-stanza score in mounting a 37-24 halftime lead, then blanked the Chargers over the final two quarters while racking up 27 points to post the 64-24 final.
“Jets” proved to be a very appropriate mascot for Altoona-Midway Thursday, as AMHS went to the air 41 times as a team, completing 26 of the tosses for 240 yards and nine touchdowns.
Junior speedster William Stackhouse was on the receiving end of a combined seven touchdown passes for the night – hauling in five scoring tosses from Kieran Foster and another two from Jacob Meigs.
Foster and Meigs both had very productive nights throwing the ball. Foster finished 16-for-27 for 157 yards and Meigs connected on 9-of-13 attempts for 72 yards.
Foster actually finished with six aerial scores. In addition to his five TD passes to Stackhouse, he also hit Kage Beck for a 10-yard score. Beck finished with a pair of TD receptions, also hauling in an 11-yard strike from Stackhouse.
Meigs was the leading rusher for AMHS, grinding out 99 yards on 11 carries. Meigs also accounted for the only score on the ground for the Jets, a 6-yard scamper in the second period.
Scoring extra points for the Jets were Beck, Lane Poeverlein, Andrew Wright, and Tyler Peyton. Getting everyone involved in the PATs was important to Almond’s core beliefs of team bonding and unity.
“One of our goals this year was to try to see all 11 players on our roster score points at some time throughout the season,” Almond said. “We still needed three players to score points going into tonight, and they all scored, so goal accomplished. Truly a total team effort.”
Poeverlein was one of several stars defensively for the Jets, as the senior lineman finished the playoff game with four quarterback sacks among his six tackles.
Stackhouse racked up 13 tackles, while seniors Meigs and Blaine Collins recorded 11 each. Foster finished with seven tackles, Joey Lamendola was in on six, and Beck, Peyton and Taj Chism each claimed four stops. Braxton Whitlake and Wright had four and three tackles, respectively, to round out the defensive stats.
“My hat is off to the three seniors (Meigs, Collins and Poeverlein), who left it all on the field tonight,” Almond said. “It was a very hard-hitting, physical game and they showed their true leadership battling back for victory.
“Of course, all of the underclassmen also played well. I’m very proud of all the boys. They showed a lot of heart. I’m so happy they were able to have some playoff success. They deserve it.”
Thursday’s playoff victory was only the third postseason win in the history of Altoona-Midway football. Both of the other two Jet playoff victories occurred in 1992, when AMHS defeated Pleasanton 38-16 and Norwich 25-24 to advance to the semifinals of the Class 8-I playoffs, eventually falling to Pretty Prairie 72-22. The 1992 Jets, coached by Eric Larson, finished 9-2.