Christian Hedrick and Matthew Lange sack Trinity Quarterback Ethan Bennett.

By James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — After a somewhat sluggish first half, host Conway Springs took control in the third and fourth quarter, beating Wichita Trinity 54-14 Friday night.  The Cardinals, now 5-0, turned a 20-14 halftime lead into a 40-point romp.

Conway Springs scored on all five of its second half possessions, and the defense had two interceptions and a fumble recovery on a kickoff.

Conway Springs coach Matt Biehler credited his defensive unit with carrying them in the first half while the offense struggled, and with dominating the game especially in the second half. See stats here.

“I think we wore them down some. They had some big players who were hard to move in the first half,” he said.

In the end, Conway Springs dominated offensively accumulating 503 yards to Trinity’s 157. The Cardinals had 255 yards in passing and 248 rushing.

Conway Springs scored on the first possession with a 1-yard run by Riley Akiu. That was set up by a 65-yard pass from Josh Dugan to Chase Ast on the first play of the game.

Trinity managed to score twice before the quarter ended though and led 14-7. Conway Springs did not convert a fourth down at midfield, and later in the quarter threw an interception. Both of those set up scores for the Knights.

The first Trinity score came on a pass from Sammy Hardin to Sam Schroeder. The second one came on a three yard run by Jake Windholz.

Conway Springs got two touchdowns in the second quarter, one on a 30-yard run by Trenton Jones and the second one on a three yard run by Akiu.

Riley Akiu rushes for three touchdowns.

Conway Springs put together a long drive at the end of the half, that included a 30 yard pass from Colton Terhune to Jones to give the Cardinals the ball at the Trinity two yard line with two seconds left. A pass as the half ended failed but the Cardinals still led 20-14.

At halftime Conway Springs had twice as many plays and three times as much yardage, 285-94, but it wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.

That changed quickly in the second half, as Chase Ast grabbed an interception and returned it to the Trnity five yard line. Akiu scored from five yards out to put the score at 27-14. Terhune connected with Jones again on the next possession for a 62-yard catch and run for a score.

Akiu intercepted a pass on the next Trinity possession, and that set up the Cardinals deep in Trinity territory.

Jacob Winter scored from 13 yards out after the interception.

Trinity fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Conway got the ball at midfield. That set up a four yard run by Jones for another touchdown and a 47-14 lead as the third quarter ended.

The last touchdown was a one yard run by Akiu.

The Conway Springs defense was even more dominant in the second half. Biehler said they were able to get more pressure in the second half and made some defensive adjustments.

Conway Springs is also throwing the ball more this year. Biehler credited some fast players with making good plays. “It isn’t just one guy, it’s several coming along” he said.

Conway Springs completed six of 11 passes for 243 yards. Jones had 130 yards receiving, and he had 76 yards rushing and accounted for three touchdowns.  Josh Dugan had three receptions for 109 yards.

Trinity finished the game with 100 yards rushing and 117 yards passing.

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