Friday night lights in Kansas: BV Northwest, Mill Valley, Tonganoxie are movin’ on

Here’s a look at highlights from some big high school football games around the Kansas City metro on Friday night.

Blue Valley Northwest 49, Free State 14

Blue Valley Northwest blew away Free State after halftime, and onto a matchup with the defending state champs.

The Huskies scored four touchdowns in a 10-minute span to blow away Free State, 49-14, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Kansas Class 6A playoffs.

After holding a 14-7 halftime lead, junior wideout Logan Chandler hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nathan Baxter to start third period. Then Free State looked to answer the call at the Huskies 35, but Trevor Garlington picked off a screen pass and returned the pick 62 yards for a score, and a 28-7 deficit.

Free State (6-4) drove again into Huskies territory, but Northwest rose up with another interception, this time by Cade Wilson at the 23. Three plays later, fortune struck as a tipped pass from Baxter landed in Chandler’s hands at the 40, who then jetted and raced through Firebirds, before being pushed out of bounds 68 yards later at the FS 6. Three plays later, Baxter connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass to junior Ayden McGibboney for a 35-7 cushion.

Then a muffed Free State punt attempt resulted in Northwest taking over at the 2 yard line. Three plays later, LJ Bowens waltzed into the end zone from a yard out for a 42-7 romp.

Blue Valley Northwest will face Gardner-Edgerton, the defending Kansas Class 6A state champion, next Friday in Gardner.

Mill Valley 42, Spring Hill 6

The 2024 playoff sequel was the same as the 2023 original showing for Mill Valley and Spring Hill.

A year after Mill Valley topped Spring Hill in the second round of the Kansas Class 5A playoffs in the No. 4 vs No. 5 seed game, 56-7, the Jaguars repeated the feat a year later.

The Jaguars, No. 3 in the 810 Varsity Top 25 and the five-time defending Class 5A champion, looked the part again with a 42-6 romp of the Broncos on Friday night in the same bracket slot as a year ago.

The Broncos (8-2) held Mill Valley early, but then star running back Reggie Reece took a handoff up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown with 2:58 left in the first quarter. Senior Connor Bohon kept the ground attack going with a quarterback keeper down the right sideline from 23 yards out for a 14-0 deficit with 7:12 left in the half.

After a shanked punt, Mill Valley took over a minute later at the Bronco 37. Runs by Bohon of 13 and 23 yards put the Jaguars at the 1, then Bohon again kept for a walk into the end zone for a 21-0 margin with 5:13 left.

Bohon later guided a two-minute drill, as he completed a 4th-and-12 to senior Andrew Watts over the middle for 18 yards with 1:39 left at the Bronco 15. One play later, Reece again jogged up the middle for an easy touchdown and a 28-0 halftime blowout.

Reece broke loose again in the third quarter for a 67-yard touchdown run to turn the game into a 35-0 laugher.

Mill Valley (9-1), will face No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas, the No. 1 team in Class 5A, next Friday at Aquinas.

Tonganoxie 34, Fort Scott 28

Tonganoxie rallied from a 22-12 second-half deficit in a back-and-forth game for a 34-28 win at Fort Scott and onto the Class 4A quarterfinals.

The game underwent seven lead changes, but the Chieftains found themselves down, 22-12, after intermission. THS cut the lead quickly on a pass from quarterback Talon Langford to Todd Brown in the flat, who then darted down the right sideline for 54 yards. Langford and Brown connected for touchdown passes of 57, 51 and 54 during the early going.

Another 22-yard Brown reception set up a one-yard dive from Tanner Hand for a 26-22 lead with 7:17 left in the third period.

Fort Scott opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown, but failed on the two-point conversion. Then a squib kick set up Tongie at the 50 with 11:53 in the game. Four minutes later, Hand scored his second touchdown from four yards out, then the Chieftains punched in the two-point conversion for the 34-28 lead.

Tonganoxie (7-3) will play host at Beatty Field to Lansing in the quarterfinals next Friday night. The Chieftains beat Lansing, 14-13, on September 20.

For stats, recaps, online broadcasts and more, visit 810Varsity.com.