Opening Weekend of football playoffs underway

It didn't take long for the favorites on the West end of the 8-man Division I KSHSAA Football playoffs to advance into the second round.

Wichita County - who tied a school record by advancing to the state semifinals in 2019 - want to go the next step, and cleared the first hurdle in that journey with a 68-22 win over Hill City in their playoff opener on Thursday.

Kayde Rietzke made sure the Indians (8-0) would stay unbeaten. Rietzke rushed for 264 yards and five touchdowns, plus was 11-of-15 passing for another 165 yards and a touchdown, as Wichita County advanced to face Rawlins County, a 22-12 winner over Ness City.

Manny Chavez caught four passes for 84 yards and a score, and added six tackles, five of them for a loss, in the win.

In other 8-man action for Thursday, Wallace County took care of Satanta, 62-12, and Meade rolled past Stafford, 60-0.

The rest of the teams in the area play tonight in playoff action. Three teams will play in non-playoff games as well - Southwestern Heights takes on Ellsworth, Goodland hosts Chapman, and Hugoton entertains Hesston.

In addition, defending champion Moscow plays in the 6-man title game Saturday against Cheylin. The Cougars enter the game unbeaten at 8-0, while the Wildcats bounced back from a mid-season loss to make a run at another state title, and possess a 6-1 mark, and winners of four straight games.

The Friday playoff schedule:

Class 1A

Eli-Saline at Elkhart

Stanton County at Inman

Sublette at Plainville

Class 2A

Minneapolis at Cimarron

Lakin at Philipsburg

Class 3A

Clearwater at Holcomb

Colby at Marysville

Concordia at Scott City

Class 4A

Ulysses at Augusta

Class 5A

Liberal at Maize

Class 6A

Dodge City at Topeka High

Garden City at Manhattan