By Joel Muhs
The McPherson Sentinel
BUHLER, Kansas – The final week of the regular season in high school football brought one of the best rivalries in the state along with it, but this year’s edition of the McPherson versus Buhler battle on the gridiron fell lopsided after a 49-6 Bullpup victory Friday night.
Last season, one of McPherson’s three losses came against Buhler in a 42-30 defeat. This year, the Bullpups would not let history repeat itself and used a dominant 35-point first half performance and suffocating defense to stifle the Crusaders on their home turf during senior night.
“I think you got to start it off with our defense. They were lights out all night,” McPherson head football coach Jace Pavlovich said on what led to the decisive win. “Our tackling was tremendous all night and they’re finally starting to buy into some of the things that we’re doing in practice.”
That Bullpup defense allowed zero points in the entire first half, recorded three interceptions, and didn’t allow a Buhler point until the second half when a McPherson fumble later led to a touchdown score for the Crusaders. There was one player for the Bullpups that proved to be a thorn in the side of Buhler throughout the night, and that player would be Jaytin Gumm.
Gumm has played both sides of the ball for McPherson in recent weeks after not having taken a single defensive snap in his high school career. The senior running back and defensive end nabbed an interception, rushed for a touchdown, and tossed a dime to tight end Logan Roth on a trick play that set up Gumm’s rushing touchdown several plays later.
“He’s a tough kid,” Pavlovich said with a grin about Gumm. “He’s also very unselfish. He’s pretty close to breaking the school rushing record and he doesn’t really care. I don’t think he’s aware of it and it doesn’t matter to him because he just wants to win football games. We put him on the defensive line and he was ecstatic in practice. Turns out, it was a pretty good decision because he’s doing well.”
After trading punts in the opening moments of the game, running back Dawson Gottwald decided to break the ice and Buhler’s defensive line by plowing through for a 57-yard touchdown run. A little over a minute later, quarterback Hunter Alvord found wide receiver Tucker Pelnar for a 65-yard bomb that opened up a 14-0 first-quarter lead. A receiving touchdown by Blaise Hoover, Gumm’s rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown by Mason Miller capped off McPherson’s first half scoring for the 35-0 lead at halftime.
The lone Buhler score in the second half was shortly celebrated, as defensive back Jaret Myers returned one of his two interceptions during the second half to the house for a 42-6 lead. The final score of the evening came with six minutes and six seconds to go when backup quarterback Hadlee Backhus found Roth for the catch and run touchdown, which helped end the game at a score of 49-6 and give McPherson a 7-1 record heading into the postseason.
“I was just really proud of our kids tonight. We talked about this not being anything more than another opportunity and another football game, and they took that to heart,” Pavlovich said about the way his team handled the hostile environment in a rivalry game. “Yes, they had a chip on their shoulder because it was Buhler, but we have a ton of respect for Buhler, coach (Steve) Warner, and everything that they’ve done and will continue to do.”
The win over Buhler gives McPherson the No. 2 seed in the west bracket of the class 4A playoffs. They will meet No. 15 seeded Mulvane in the first round next Friday at McPherson Stadium, a team that the Bullpups defeated 46-21 in week seven. A win over the Wildcats would pit the Bullpups against No. 7 Buhler or No. 10 Arkansas City, which are two teams that have given McPherson fits in the playoffs in the past.
However, McPherson’s focus will turn to a Mulvane team that ousted the Bullpups in the playoffs a season ago. Despite Mulvane’s 1-7 record heading into the postseason, Pavlovich realizes any win is hard to come by.
“It could be Mulvane again, who’s a solid football team,” Pavlovich said when asked about next week’s potential playoff matchups. “We expect that it’s going to be really tough when it comes to the playoffs and it is. I would imagine the seven versus ten matchup, which would be our matchup in the second round, will be Buhler and Ark City. We all know what Ark City is capable of doing and we’re well aware of Buhler too. Every win, you got to cherish them because they’re hard to come by.”
