Cody Weller got hot in the second half and led South Harrison to a victory against West Platte on Friday, Aug. 31.
The Bulldogs quarterback threw two second-half touchdowns and helped South Harrison rally from a halftime deficit to pick up a 30-26 win in Bethany, Mo.
The two teams left the game with 1-1 records.
The Bluejays looked like they were on their way to a win by taking a 20-0 lead in the contest.
Cole Vandel had the first two touchdowns for West Platte. He had a 25-yard touchdown in the first quarter and then his 27-yard touchdown catch from Noah Johnson made it 14-0.
Johnson boosted the lead to 20-0 on a 14-yard touchdown.
From there, the teams traded scores to make it 26-14 at the break.
South Harrison’s Graydon Linathacum ran for a 67-yard touchdown, but the conversion run failed. Brayden Cogan had a 27-yard pass from Johnson, but the conversion kick for the second straight time missed. West Platte saw its lead extended to 26-6.
Late in the first half, Weller hit Braydon Sunderman for a 43-yard touchdown. Linthacum ran in the conversion to pull the Bulldogs within two scores at the break.
Collin Haffey had a 30-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter and the conversion run made helped South Harrison pull within 26-22.
Weller capped off his night with a 78-yard touchdown to Sunderman. Haffey’s conversion run made it 30-22.
Weller threw for 194 yards, with Sunderman accounting for 140 of the yards on six catches.
South Harrison added 109 yards on the ground, while Weller and Haffey both had 55 yards in a balanced attack.
Johnson threw for 151 yards and led the team with 50 yards on the ground, on a team-high 20 carries.
Looking ahead
The Cardinals come into Weston winners of six straight in the series and seven of eight this decade. The lone exception was a 36-30 win by the Bluejays in 2011. In 2010, Lawson won 37-8 and handed West Platte its only regular-season loss.
Since then, Lawson has scored no less than 23 and haven’t allowed more than 19 in the six wins.
The Cardinals enter the game with a 2-0 mark and coming off a 35-0 win against Lafayette County, then No. 5 in Class 2 in the Missouri Media poll. Now, the Cardinals find themselves tied for No. 5 in the poll in Class 2 with fellow KCI Conference school Lathrop.
Lawson was ranked No. 9 in the initial poll and made the jump up.
The Cardinals have rushed for 543 yards this year, while opponents have gained a mere 44 in two games. Overall, the offense is churning out 342.5 yards per game and has 41 first downs, compared to only seven yielded by the defense.
“Lawson will be the best team we have faced to date,” West Platte coach Paul Thomas said. “Coach Dunn and his staff do an outstanding job of coaching their kids. They are big and physical and we will have to stop the run on defense and limit the big plays. Defensively, they fly to the football and gang tackle. It will be a great challenge for us offensively.”