BY CAYDEN SANDERS
Hays High traveled east on Friday to take on Abilene in an I-70 showdown that was supposed to be played last season. Due to COVID-19 pushing the game back to this year, the Indians got to travel to the new Cowboy stadium.
The city of Abilene passed a bond to help their school have a new football and track facility. The Indians dominated the game on the new field and never looked back as they cruised into victory, winning 64-7 – tying the previous single game record of 64 points scored back in 2014.
The Indians defense started the game with a fumble recovery setting up the Indians’ offense with prime starting position within 30 yards to score. Roy Maroni capitalized, scoring for the Indians two plays into the game.
Hays High gave the ball back to Maroni to score on the next drive, pushing the score to 14-0. The Indians forced the Cowboys to punt the ball, giving the Indians offense another chance to score as this time, Jaren Kanak ran through the Cowboy defense. Hays High finished the rest of the quarter scoring one more touchdown with Maroni.
Maroni opened up the second quarter with another touchdown on the night pushing the lead to 35-0. Kanak threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Kyreese Groen for the final scoring drive of the second quarter.
“This week we had a lot of improvement on and off the field. We told the boys that you need to give back and serve others that serve you, and that is what we did,” HHS Head Coach Tony Crough said. “We helped out around the school doing little projects to help others. We as coaches have a job to not only make these kids good players but also good people and it was good to see the attitude change around the team this week.”
Opening up the second half the Indians coaching staff gave the backups more reps in the game, and running back Malik Bah took advantage of the opportunity, getting a big run for touchdown giving the Indians a 48-0 lead. Bah had another big run scoring another touchdown for him and the Indians. Hays High ran the ball one more time for another touchdown. The final scoring play for the Indians came at the hands of a sophomore kicker, kicking the football through the uprights to have the school record.
“We just wanted to come out here and take care of business, I give my props to the Abilene kids still wanting to keep improving. But for us we have an agenda to go deep in this postseason and to do that you are going to need more than just varsity level kids to be able to get the job done, and getting them the experience now will help us in the long run when we need them the most. Crough said.
Hays High 3rd string players allowed one score for the Cowboys.
The Hays High Indians moved to 4-1 on the season. Hays High will travel to Dodge City on Friday to take on the 4-1 Red Demons for a crucial WAC game to decide the top three teams in the division.