Waubonsie Valley makes sure of playoffs

Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy wanted no part of having to wait and see if his Warriors would get an invitation to the state football playoffs.

After all, his program went 5-4 a couple years ago, piling up what it had thought were enough qualifying points and was still left out of the dance. So when the 5-3 Warriors played host Friday night to a 4-4 Larkin squad, Murphy wanted nothing more than a win that would guarantee his team a playoff berth.

After a pair of 30-minute lightning delays and a tough first-half fight from the visitors, the Warriors eventually broke open a 14-7 lead at the break and turned it into a 51-13 victory over the Royals (4-5).

"It's not worth taking a chance," Murphy responded when asked if he thought his team would have been playoff-bound even with a loss in the season finale. "We wanted to come out here tonight and get a win and leave nothing to chance."

The Royals took advantage of a fumble by the Warriors in the second quarter to set up a 1-yard run by Jalen Williams that tied the score at 7-7. But Waubonsie Valley quarterback Tyler Castro put his team ahead with a 4-yard keeper in the final minute of the first half, and then led a second-half outburst that saw the hosts total 44 unanswered points before Larkin got its second TD of the night, a 2-yard pass from Justin Kalusa to John Hosey in the waning seconds.

"We knew they were a solid football team, but we knew they had eight kids playing both ways and we thought we would wear them down in the second half," said Murphy, who will be guiding his third Warriors team into the postseason in his four years at the school.

After a solid first half of football, Larkin lost 2 fumbles and Waubonsie Valley linebacker Cory Connolly added an interception. The turnovers helped Castro toss TD passes to Scott Kuehn and Alex Stokowski in the second half, while running back Ken Clay added a 38-yard touchdown run as the Warriors turned a close contest into a runaway win.

"To be 0-3 was kinda tough but it's been a great six weeks," said Kuehn, who had 7 catches for 53 yards despite the tough conditions. "We don't intend to let this stop anytime soon."

Larkin coach Matt Gehrig saw his team take a solid week of preparation onto the field and put it to work, at least for a half on Friday.

"I thought the guys worked hard to prepare and keep alive the possibility of making the playoffs (with a win Friday)," he said. "Waubonsie just came out with a lot of determination in the third quarter, which you have to give them credit for. They really started running the ball hard at us."