By Dustin Armbruster
Hays Post Sports
Hutchinson, KS - The Hays High Indians visited the Hutchinson Salthawks in the Regional round of the 5A playoffs on Friday night. It was the second consecutive playoff meeting between the two in Hutchinson.
Hays never trailed in a 27-6 win over Hutchinson to continue their 2025 postseason run.
Hays (8-2) won the toss and chose to receive the football. Ten plays later Holden Lind put the first points of the night on the scoreboard with a one yard run. The Carson Moore extra point put the Indians up 7-0.
Hutchinson's (7-3) first play of offense for the night was the final play of the first drive. Caleb Thompson intercepted a pass deep down the middle. Zane Viegra found Jarek Purdy for a 41 yard pass play to set up another Lind touchdown. Lind's four yard score also broke the school record for career rushing yards.
Hays led 13-0 after one quarter and held that score to halftime. Hutchinson had two drives of double digit plays in the second half. Neither resulted in points. The first drive was cut short on fourth down at the Hays 40. The second drive ended on the final play of the half. Thompson intercepted a pass in the end zone. His ninth career pick tied the school record.
Highlights
Hutchinson opened the second half with a 53 yard reverse-pass. The Salthawks scored their only points of the game five plays later. A five yard touchdown made the score 13-6. The point after attempt hit the upright to keep the score idle.
Hays scored the second half points through the air. Four plays after Hutchinson scored Viegra found Brogan Albers on the team's longest pass play of the season. The 46 yard score was also the first career receiving touchdown for Albers. The Salthawks could not string together a series longer than six plays for the remainder of the game.
Hutchinson failed to convert on fourth and six from their own 26 in the fourth quarter. Viegra found Albers for a second score four plays later. The Moore extra point gave the final margin of 27-6.
Coach Tony Crough
Lind ran for 177 yards on 27 carries. He broke the school record for career rushing previously held by Malik Bah. Lind has run for 3,662 in his career. 1,984 yards have come in the 2025 season.
Viegra threw for 120 yards on four completions.
The Hays defense allowed 203 yards. 53 of those on one pass play.
The Indians will travel to Great Bend (10-0) next week.