HESSTON 23, HOISINGTON 16

HESSTON — The Hoisington Cardinals were a few first downs away from a hard-fought Central Kansas road victory over Hesston.

But Hesston standout Gavin Larson made the Cardinals pay for a late-game fumble by catching a miraculous 54-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Jerick Humphreys.

Cardinal Leighton Eubanks played perfect defense, but Larson deflected the football and raced into the endzone.

Larson scored a 14-yard pass from Humphreys and converted a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Hoisington quarterback Kolter Hahn delivered several highlight plays, keyed by a dazzling 27-yard cutback run. Hahn converted the 2-pointer for a 16-15 lead.

Tight end Corbyn Holinde caught a 7-yard scoring pass from Hahn. Preston Merlau caught the 2-point conversion pass.

The Cardinals were unable to overcome four offensive turnovers.

"I was proud how we played with great effort. But this one hurts, and we've got to learn from this," said Hoisington coach Zach Baird. "We're close, but we're not there yet. We've got to have a better attention to detail."

The Cardinals will work on ball security, first and foremost. Baird knew the Swathers were a dangerous passing team, but he didn't like the way Hesston ran the football effectively at times.

"When you combine putting the football on the ground with some blown assignments, that's the result you'll get," he said. "We've got things to clean up."

Hoisington (1-1) 0 8 0 8 — 16

Hesston (2-0) 0 7 8 8 — 23

HESS—Larson 14 pass from Humphreys (Lange kick); HOIS—Holinde 7 pass from Hahn (Merlau pass from Hahn); HESS—Larson 20 interception return (Landis run); HOIS—Hahn 27 run (Hahn run); HESS—Larson 54 pass from Humphreys (Bartell pass from Humphreys)

RUSHING—HESS—; HOIS—Pfannenstiel; Merlau; Turner; Hahn; Cossel; Martin

PASSING—HESS—; HOIS—Hahn

RECEIVING—HESS—; HOIS—Pfannenstiel; Cossel; Gruis