McPherson, Kan. -

Zach Peterson was standing near the 50-yard line, clutching the sectional championship trophy.
He then started to look around for somebody to give it to. But all his teammates had been swallowed up by the horde of McPherson High fans who had just witnessed history.
That’s all right, Zach. You can keep the trophy. You and your Bullpup defensive teammates all deserve one of their own.
In an absolutely magnificent defensive performance, the Bullpups held Bishop Carroll’s nearly a-point-a-minute offense to just one touchdown for 47 1/2 minutes before the Eagles tacked on one last score to pull within 20-14 at the end.
Once Tyler Davis recovered the onside kick for the Bullpups, pandemonium ruled, as MHS for the first time in school history advanced to the Class 5A semifinals with what had to be considered an upset since Carroll had been ranked No. 1 or 2 most of the year by most polls.
“It’s huge, it’s huge. It’s huge for the school,” an ecstatic MHS coach Tom Young said. “McPherson has never gone three games into the playoffs, but now we’re going three games into the playoffs.”
And you have to greatly credit the defense, which has bowed its back since the 68-point debacle against Hutchinson in Week 7, the very same Salthawk team it will host Friday night for the right to advance to the 5A championship game.
“We’re looking at it kind as a second chance. I know I can coach better and our coaching staff will do a better job, I know,” Young said. “And the players will play better against them this time.”
But Young and the Bullpups want to at least savor this win, the biggest in school history. The Eagles came into the game with the top passing attack in the state, led by gunslinging Blake Bell, son of former NFL player Mark Bell and nephew of former Kansas City Chief Mike Bell.
On the very first series, he was as good as advertised, completing 8 of 9 passes, the payoff being an 18-yarder to Nick Johansen. However, the PAT was missed, but the Eagles had made it look easy in leading 6-0.
But the Bullpups’ offense isn’t chopped liver. They came right back and hammered down the field for 64 yards in 12 plays, capped by a Dylan Barrow dive. But like Carroll, MHS failed on the conversion.
The MHS defense, though, started to bring some heat. Late in the first quarter, Bell completed a pass to Joe Brown, but a big hit by Kenan Warren jarred the ball loose and Ross Klein recovered. MHS turned the turnover into points, going 33 yards in seven plays, again completed by a Barrow dive. Ben Clary’s PAT made it 13-6.
Bell continued to air it out, but all he had to show for the rest of the half was an interception by MHS’ Evan Bowers, who has one in each of the two playoff games.
MHS did what it had to do to start the second half, forcing the Eagles into a three-and-out, leading to a short punt into a strong wind. MHS took advantage of the great field position to go 47 yards in five plays, with Barrow scoring his third one-yard TD for a 20-6 lead. But it wouldn’t have been possible if not for Peterson, who the play before recovered a Barrow fumble to keep the drive going.
The MHS defense continued its remarkable play. Warren came up with a pick of Bell to stop a drive, and the offense proceeded to keep the ball nearly six minutes. On another drive, the Bullpups again forced a fumble, with Treg Fawl getting the recovery with 5:08 remaining.
MHS had a chance to put the game away then, driving to the Carroll 7, but a fumble into the end zone was recovered by the Eagles.
Carroll finally put together one late drive, with Bell throwing a TD pass to Blake Rollins, but it was too little too late.
Bell, who is high on a lot of big-time schools’ recruiting lists, chucked it 54 times, completing 38 for 299 yards. Carroll basically gave up on the run game, with just 10 attempts for three yards.
“We didn’t want to give them those big plays,” Young said. “(Defensive) Coach (Jace) Pavlovich really did a great job of mixing up the calls. We were able to put some pressure on him. At least we didn’t let him get in the comfort zone.”
Almost lost in the great defensive effort was an efficient job by the offense. Barrow ran 28 times for 127 yards, which put him over the 1,000-yard mark with 1,041. Piper was 9 of 13 for 115 yards, with Levi Gerhardt catching five for 61 yards and Treg Fawl had four for 54. Seven of the nine completions were good for first downs.
The victory improved MHS to 10-1, the best record in school history. The Bullpups went out in the playoffs in the first round in 2006 and the second round last year. Young is 25-7 since taking over a program that hadn’t been to the playoffs since 1988.
STATISTICS
MHS Listed First
First Downs -- 18, 17. Rushes-Yards -- 39-143; 10-3. Passing -- 9-13-0-115; 38-54-2-299. Punts-Avg. -- 2-35.5; 2-19.0. Fumbles-Lost - - 3-2; 2-2. Penalties-Yards -- 3-20; 6-31.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing
MHS -- Barrow 28-127, Davenport 4-23, Davis 3-(-2), Piper 4-(-5).
Carroll -- Rollins 2-6, Brown 1-1, Bell 7-(-4).
Passing
MHS -- Piper 9-13-0-115.
Carroll -- Bell 38-54-2-299.
Receiving
MHS -- Gerhardt 5-61, Fawl 4-54.
Carroll -- Brown 14-118, Seiler 9-46, Johansen 6-68, Rollins 5-35, Holbrook 2-(-3), Gross 1-22, Bullinger 1-13.