Hays Post Sports
HAYS – The TMP-Marian Monarchs took advantage of the big play on offense and forced four Norton turnovers on their way to a 26-14 win Friday night at Lewis Field in Hays.
After both teams failed to score on their opening offensive possessions, the Monarchs got on the board in the final minutes of the first quarter.
TMP’s defense forced Norton to turn the ball over on downs inside the red zone, setting TMP up with the ball at its own 12-yard line.
On third down, freshman quarterback Austin Liles connected with wide receiver Grant Nehls for 40 yards, moving the ball to the Norton 48-yard line.
Nehls scored on the very next play, taking an end-around 48 yards for a touchdown to make it 6-0 TMP with just under two minutes left in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Norton fumbled on a punt, giving TMP the short field at the Norton 7-yard line.
Liles found Jacob Seib from 7 yards out for the first of two touchdowns on the day for the senior wideout, making it 12-0 TMP with just over eight minutes left in the first half.
Norton (0-1, 0-1 MCL) got on the scoreboard on the very next play with an 80-yard touchdown run, cutting TMP’s lead to 12-7 with seven minutes to play in the first half.
On the next Norton possession, a deflection by Seib resulted in a Jakson Gillespie interception, which he returned to the Norton 14-yard line.
Liles found Seib four plays later on a 14-yard touchdown pass. It was their second connection of the night and gave TMP a 20-7 lead after the two-point conversion with 14 seconds left in the first half.
Neither team found offensive success on its first drive of the second half, but on its second drive, Norton strung together a 14-play drive that ended with a touchdown to make it 20-14 TMP.
The Monarchs (1-0, 1-0 MCL) quickly answered with their big-play offense when Liles found Nehls again, this time for a 53-yard touchdown, as TMP went on to the 26-14 win.
TMP finished with 190 total yards of offense.
Liles was 9-of-14 passing for 171 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Seib and Nehls each finished with four receptions. Nehls racked up 137 receiving yards.
TMP will take on Russell next week in Hoisington.