Veritas sophomore tight end Rondre Diedrich breaks a run in the second quarter during a first-round playoff game against Sunrise Christian on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016.

On its opening possession, the Veritas Christian football team scored just 26 seconds into the game. But Sunrise Christian responded with a quick touchdown of its own, and appeared the game may turn into a shootout.

But Veritas had other ideas.

The Eagles scored 50 unanswered points, which led to a 56-6 win Tuesday night in the first round of the KCAA playoffs at Bennett Field and the game being called at halftime.

“I think we executed really well,” Veritas coach Brett Temple said. “It’s win or go home now. We were focused, and the game got out of hand early, which is good on our end.”

After giving up a touchdown on the first possession, which Temple attributed to a miscommunication in the secondary on a fourth-and-long, Veritas dominated the game on both sides of the ball.

In addition to having a week to prepare, senior running back Michael Rask said a big reason for the result was the team’s determination to play a better game than it did in a 50-0 blowout loss to St. Mary’s on Oct. 21.

Despite the win-or-go-home pressure that comes with the playoffs, Rask said the team was still able to play loose, which was a big key.

“We had to bounce back. We knew if we did that again, we were done,” said Rask, referring to the blowout loss. “We’ve got five seniors, and we know if we don’t do this, then we’re done forever.”

Offensively, sophomore quarterback Trey Huslig was one of the leaders all night, throwing for 127 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns went to sophomore wide receiver Quinton Donohoe, who led Veritas with 54 receiving yards.

Huslig was also a factor on the ground with 97 of the Eagles’ 277 rushing yards and he added a touchdown. Temple also praised the play of Rask, who rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

“Michael Rask, our senior leader, did a great job of running the ball,” Temple said. “He ran hard, ran north to south and did a great job of following his blocks.”

Rask made his mark on defense, too. He made plays defending the pass all night, including a pass deflection and an interception in the end zone.

“I love that I get to play two sides of the ball,” Rask said. “It can be a little exhausting, but that’s why we condition really hard. I take a lot of pride in that.”

Now, Veritas will look to avenge its 50-0 loss to St. Mary’s to end the regular season in the second round of the playoffs. Temple said the way his team was able to execute on both sides of the ball should give them confidence going forward.

But Temple knows that confidence alone won’t be good enough. He said his team will have to execute extremely well, both offensively and defensively, and follow assignments in to give itself a chance at St. Mary’s on Saturday.

“We’ve got to do a better job of executing,” Temple said. “We’ve got to know our assignments, follow then, and trust in one another. That’s the biggest thing, to trust each other and play our game.”

Veritas — 32 24 — 56

Sunrise — 6 0 — 6

V — Michael Rask 20 run (Rask run succeeded)

S — John Kelly 5 pass from Alex Wyatt (Wyatt pass failed)

V — Quinton Donohoe 14 pass from Trey Huslig (Huslig run succeeded)

V — Rask 1 run (Rask run succeeded)

V — Huslig 10 run (Rask run succeeded)

V –Rask 9 run (Andrew Windheuser run succeeded)

V — Donohoe 5 pass from Huslig (Huslig run succeeded)

V — Aaron Evans 8 pass from Huslig (Rondre Diederich run succeeded)