Blue Valley comes back, beats Salina Central

The Blue Valley Tigers still need some work on handling prosperity, coach Steve Rampy said. They saw a 17-point, second-half lead evaporate at home Friday night and then rallied for a 38-31 victory against Salina Central on Trevor Cornley’s 1-yard touchdown run with 9 seconds remaining.

Quarterback Anthony Abenoja completed 28 of 52 passes for 394 yards. Luke Rampy had 10 receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns, and Cornley finished with three rushing touchdowns.

“We think we’ve got some people who can do some things offensively, and at the end of the game they made some plays,” Steve Rampy said.

In the third quarter alone, Abenoja passed for 196 yards, including scoring strikes of 53 yards and 66 yards to Luke Rampy. Cornley’s 6-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter had Blue Valley up 31-14.

Steve Rampy, having faced Salina Central in several state playoff games over the years, knew the Mustangs would not quit.

“I told the guys when it was 31-14 that we would need 38 points to win,” Steve Rampy said. “We didn’t handle adversity and prosperity both well tonight. That’s sometimes as big a challenge as not hanging your head when you get down. It’s maintaining an even keel when you get up.

“When it was 31-14, our demeanor changed. We had guys chest-bumping and acting like not us.”

Trey Dallas’ 53-yard touchdown pass to Jesse Wassenberg started the Salina Central comeback. Eric Berner’s 20-yard field goal with 8:35 left made it 31-24. The game was tied after Dallas and Wassenberg connected again, this time for a shocking 79-yard touchdown with 1:46 left.

Cornley gave Blue Valley momentum by returning the kickoff to the Blue Valley 48.

“It was very intense,” Abenoja said. “We were all ready to play.”

Abenoja’s passing drove Blue Valley down the field. His 12-yard pass to Tyler VanGerpen put the ball at the Salina Central 23. Moments later Abenoja rushed 16 yards down to the 1. Salina Central called a time out with 14 seconds to go, but could not keep Cornley out of the end zone on the next play.

Blue Valley moved to 2-1 while Salina Central fell to 1-2. Dallas completed 19 of 35 passes for 332 yards for Salina Central.

Blue Valley held a 10-7 halftime lead despite Abenoja’s three interceptions. Blue Valley linebacker Wes Crouch stopped Cale Sharp for no gain on a fourth-down play at Salina Central’s 34 to set up the game’s first score. The Tigers drove in range for a 25-yard field goal from Christian Ensz.

Salina Central led 7-3 after one quarter, however, thanks to Trey Dallas’ 28-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Allen. Blue Valley regained the lead when Trevor Cornley’s 1-yard scoring run capped a 14-play, 65-yard drive.

Abenoja finished the first half with 147 yards passing on 16 completions in 23 attempts. Blue Valley’s Conner Combes blocked a second-quarter Salina Central field-goal attempt to keep the score at 10-7.

submitted by JEFF GELSKI - 2008-09-19 23:51:02

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