photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Devon Hamilton catches a pass for a touchdown during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

In the first round of the 2023 KSHSAA 6A football playoffs, the Free State football team took down Garden City 42-21 Friday night at Free State High School, punching its ticket to the regional round of the postseason for the first time since 2021.

The Firebirds (7-2) led from start to finish over the Buffaloes (5-4) who despite rushing for 226 yards in the game could not keep up with the Free State offense that managed to go up 28-0 at halftime.

“I thought our guys were focused and ready to go play clean football,” FSHS coach Kevin Stewart said. “We talked about what we wanted to all week and they executed pretty well. They had a really nice game.”

Following a quick three-and-out for Garden City, the Firebirds needed only 42 yards on their first drive to take an early lead, which they got on solid runs from both quarterback Wesley Edison and running back Grant Lincoln. Edison capped off the drive with a 1-yard score, putting his team up 7-0 less than five minutes into the first quarter.

The Buffaloes’ next drive put them inside the red zone, after a rushing attack led by Ethen Allen and Mario Ruiz late in the first quarter. However, a bad snap on a 35-yard field goal attempt forced a turnover on downs, giving the ball back to the Firebirds to begin the second quarter.

On the second play of the quarter, Lincoln found a hole in the middle of the field and outran the Buffaloes defense, leading to a 58-yard touchdown run to make it a 14-0 lead for FSHS with 11 minutes left in the first half.

After another three-and-out for the Garden City offense, Free State continued their offensive success, this time through the air, with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Edison to Devon Hamilton that put the Firebirds up 21-0 at the 6:23 mark of the second quarter.

A Buffaloes fumble on their next drive put the ball back in the hands of Free State on the plus-side of the field, and the Firebirds took advantage with a second touchdown run from Grant Lincoln. His 15-yard score put Free State ahead 28-0, with 4:39 still remaining in the second quarter.

Garden City took the last four minutes off the clock of the second quarter, but could not convert a fourth-and-10 deep in Free State territory to extend the drive, bringing the teams to the halftime locker room with Free State leading 28-0 over the 10th-seeded Buffaloes.

“It felt really good to win comfortably,” Stewart said. “The offense did really well and the defense played really well and did what they needed to do. The young guys got some valuable reps but we felt pretty comfortable in the fourth quarter.”

The third quarter started off with a deep kickoff return for the Firebirds, who finished the drive off with the fifth score of the night, led by a 16-yard touchdown run from Edison. His second rushing score of the evening gave the home team a commanding 35-0 advantage, with 9:51 left in the third quarter.

Garden City continued their aggressive run attack in the third quarter, but on a fourth-and-2 deep in Firebird territory, Hyrum Vaeono and the Free State defensive line stopped the Buffaloes to hand possession back to Edison and Free State.

Soon thereafter, Edison found running back Ryan Weishaar all alone down the Free State sideline, and Weishaar took it in the rest of the way for a 57-yard touchdown reception, increasing the lead for his team to 42-0 nearing the end of the third quarter.

Despite three late scores by the Buffaloes’ in the fourth quarter with runs from Mario Ruiz and and Ethen Allen and a touchdown pass from Brayden Sneath, the Firebirds held on for the victory at home, securing their spot in the regional round of the postseason.

The Firebirds are now set to take on No. 2 seed Manhattan next Friday night in the regional round of the 6A playoffs. Kickoff from Manhattan High School is set for 7 p.m.

“I already told our guys we have to be excited to play Manhattan,” Stewart said. “We’re super excited to play these guys and see where we’re at. If you’re a competitor you want to play the best and there’s really nothing to lose.”

GAME STATS

Free State 42, Garden City 21

FS | GC

First downs 10 | 15

Rushes-yards 31-263 | 47-226

Passing yards 102 | 126

Total offense 365 | 352

Fumbles-lost 1-1 | 1-1

Interceptions 0 | 0

Penalties-yards 0-0 | 3-20

Score by quarters

Garden City 0 0 0 21 – 21

Free State 7 21 14 0 – 42

HOW THEY SCORED

1st Quarter:

07:41 – Wesley Edison 1 yard run. Yusef Iskandrani kick good. (FS 7 GC 0)

2nd Quarter:

11:17 – Grant Lincoln 58 yard run. Iskandrani kick good. (FS 14 GC 0)

06:23 – Devon Hamilton 38 yard pass from Edison. Iskandrani kick good. (FS 21 GC 0)

04:39 – Lincoln 15 yard run. Iskandrani kick good. (FS 28 GC 0)

3rd Quarter:

09:51 – Edison 16 yard run. Iskandrani kick good. (FS 35 GC 0)

02:00 – Ryan Weishaar 57 yard pass from Edison. Iskandrani kick good. (FS 42 GC 0)

4th Quarter:

09:26 – Mario Ruiz 7 yard run. Jesus Rodiguez kick good. (FS 42 GC 7)

04:18 – Ethen Allen 32 yard run. Rodriguez kick good. (FS 42 GC 14)

01:37 – Brayden Sneath 14 yard pass from Ethan Gomez. Rodriguez kick good. (FS 42 GC 21)

Individual statistics

Rushing:

FS: Wesley Edison 15-138; Grant Lincoln 8-114; Ryan Weishaar 4-1; Devon Hamilton 1-2; Finn Moore 2-1; Justice McAleese 1-7

GC: Ethan Gomez 1-2; Ethen Allen 31-142; Mario Ruiz 10-49; Michael Villalobos 4-17; Emilio Zundt 1-16

Passing

FS: Wesley Edison 5-9-102;

GC: Ethan Gomez 9-18-96; Ethen Allen 1-1-30

Receiving

FS: Bralin Preston 1-3; Devon Hamilton 2-42; Grant Lincoln 1-0; Ryan Weishaar 1-57

GC: Ethen Allen 2-9; Brayden Sneath 3-39; Emilio Zundt 5-78;

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Noah Rupp dances after forcing a fumble during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Noah Rupp forces a fumble during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Grant Lincoln tumbles into the end zone for a touchdown during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Grant Lincoln runs with the ball during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Wesley Edison runs with the ball during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Tyler Jeffries is jubilant after recovering a fumble during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Tyler Jeffries (35) recovers a fumble during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Devon Hamilton is jubilant after catching a pass for a touchdown during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Wesley Edison is jubilant after throwing a pass for a touchdown during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Wesley Edison is jubilant after throwing a pass for a touchdown during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State head coach Kevin Stewart observes his team during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Grant Lincoln runs the ball during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State Football huddles during the Class 6A State Playoffs against Garden City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.