The Bluejays finished District play in second place, and they would take on the third-place finisher from District three in the 6-2 ACCHS Tigers on Friday, Oct. 28, in District playoff action in Sabetha. The Jays trailed 6-0 early in the contest, but they found the leverage they needed to shut their guests out of the final three quarters to take the win, 35-6.

“ACCHS was a very talented team with a great dual threat quarterback,” said Head Coach Garrett Michael. “We struggled in the first half with some alignment and assignment issues. Our kids never wavered, blinked or got frustrated. We adjusted at halftime and then took care of business.”

Sabetha deferred at the coin toss to start the game, which gave the opening kickoff to visiting ACCHS. The Tigers started on their own 28-yard line and punched in a score with a little more than six minutes to play in the first quarter.

After the subsequent kickoff and good return, Sabetha started their opening drive on their own 45-yard line. Senior Matthew Garber connected with junior receiver Marcus Bauman for positive yardage, and senior running back Jonathan Renyer chewed up the turf in the ground game.

The Jays would score late in the first quarter when junior ball carrier Cole Menold made a touchdown from one-yard out. Junior place kicker Nate Menold kicked the extra point, giving Sabetha their first lead of the night, 7-6.

Both teams struggled on their next drives ending in punts, but then senior Nohl Niehues grabbed an interception early in the second quarter and Bauman had a pick with just under three minutes to play the half. Then, Garber connected with junior receiver Christian McAfee for a 61-yard pitch and catch for the touchdown, and the Jays took a 14-6 lead into the locker room at the half.

Renyer had two rushing touchdowns in the third — one from 24 yards and the other from 20 yards out — to help build the Bluejay lead to 28-6. Then, Renyer had his longest rushing touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter when he found the end zone from 27 yards out with just under nine minutes left on the clock.

N. Menold was a perfect five for five kicking extra points in the contest. 

Junior lineman Dalton Rokey had some crushing hits in the game defensively, forcing two fumbles, he had eight tackles including one sack for the Bluejay defense in the 35-6 victory over ACCHS

“I am proud of our team, coming off an emotional loss,” Coach Michael said. “The Nemaha game prepared us because of the playoff atmosphere and stakes. We had a very good week of practice. I’m happy for our program, the seniors and our assistant coaches. There is a ton of hours of work put into this and it has paid off. This was our first home playoff game and playoff win since 2018.”

With the victory, the Bluejays advance to the Regional contest and will host the 3-6 Riley County Falcons — an opponent that they shutout on the road in week five — on Friday, Nov. 4, in Sabetha.

“Riley County will come in filled with confidence because of beating Silver Lake,” Coach Michael said. “They will have a bad taste in their mouth after getting beat by us the first time. We can’t afford to overlook them, take anything for granted or relax.”