It has been a magical ride for the F.L. Schlagle Stallions and their Senior Running Back Cornelius "Neil" Ruff.
However, their magical run would come to an end as Schlagle (8-2) would fall at home in the Kansas Class 5A Regionals to St. James Academy 53-17. Ruff led the entire state in rushing coming into their playoff match against the Thunder. However, the St. James (6-4) defense kept Neil from running wild and curtailed him for much of the game.
He rushed 14 times for 54 yards in the first half of the game. He needed 101 yards to have rushed 2,000 yards for the season - a feat that few running backs could achieve. He eventually eclipsed the mark late in the fourth quarter with a long run.
Neil, who was this school year's first Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week, finished the day with 23 carries for 141 yards. That pushed him over the 2,000 yard mark. Neil, who is certainly assured of playing with a Division I football team next fall, finished his year 2,040 rushing yards (1st), 27 total touchdowns (2nd) and 174 total points scored (3rd).
"We really just wanted to be relentless we kept saying. We preach that all the time. [We played] eleven hats to the football," St. James Academy Head Coach Tom Radke said. "You have to do that against a great back like that. He is a tremendous athlete and a great running back. And, we just had 11 hats to the ball as many times as possible."
Schlagle Head Coach Dwayne Williams was very emotional after the game, not just for his team losing in their final game of the year, but also facing the prospect of losing his star player and mentee.
"Neil's a special person," Coach Williams said. "It's hard to even talk about Neil [leaving]. Getting 2,000 yards, Neil worked hard all summer. You know, getting up at 5:30 in the morning, 5:00 in the morning to work to get his body in condition to have a helluva year like he had. And, you know, not just those 2,000 yards, the kid [has] a 3.8 grade point average. I'm mean he's just a special kid. And, he's gonna be missed."
Most of the troubles for the Stallions were compounded by early mistakes and miscues. Senior Quarterback Brayden Soza bobbled a snap on the very first play of the game. St. James Academy Senior Middle Linebacker Dominic Stean recovered the fumble. That led to a Jake Petz three-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion.
On their second possession of the game, F.L. Schlagle had a low snap on a punt attempt - recovered by Junior Defensive Lineman Nick Farnsworth. That also gave the Thunder great field position where they converted on a 20-yard field goal by Thomas Stark. F.L. Schlagle was quickly down 11-0 with 6:16 left in the first quarter.
It was certainly not the way Stallions Head Coach Dwayne Williams wanted to start the game.
Junior Running Back Jack Petz also put on a show for St. James and their fans who travelled well and packed half the stadium. Petz had four touchdown runs in the first half alone. He had TD runs of 3, 5, 42, & 86 yards in the first half. Coach Radke was please with his rushing effort.
"[Petz] missed five games with a high ankle sprain early in the season. To have him back has kind of changed our season the last three week," Radke said. "With him running the ball and Schmidt coming back in there too helping out, we've got a pretty good running game with Sammy too running the ball really well. You know, we like the way our offense was rolling right now.
Schlagle didn't get on the board until 9:03 left in the second quarter. Junior Kicker David Chacon hit a 19-yard field goal. Later in that quarter, Stallions Quarterback Brayden Soza found Sophomore Wide Receiver Courtez Payne down the field for a 30-yard touchdown. It was a play where the ball was lofted high in the air. Payne won the 50-50 jump opportunity and waltzed the final three yards into the end zone. F.L. Schlagle seemed to have life at that point. But, St. James Academy's touchdown just before halftime took whatever momentum away that Schlagle had mustered.
The Stallions never recovered in the second half as St. James Academy scored 19 unanswered points. The Thunder move on to face Mill Valley in the Class 5A Sectionals next Friday night.
"It's gonna be great. You know, we're a couple of miles apart. You know, we started a good rivalry with those guys. Coach Applebee is a good guy and even the coaching staff and other good players over there. So, looking forward to the opportunity. And, maybe it'll be our chance this year. We'll see," Coach Radke said.
F.L. Schlagle had a chance to further solidify their great season. However, they're going home obviously disappointed.
"I can't even put it into words. You know, it's kind of emotional because these Seniors mean so much to me," Coach Williams said while choking back tears. "You know, they turned this program around. They put us where we needed to be. You know, it's just sad to see them go like this. But, you know, I just wish them all the best. What they did for Schlagle this year is gonna go down for a long time. It's a lot of wins [for this team] to get no matter if it's Pop Warner or whatever. And, 2,000 yards is something special. They had a special season and I hope they remember this for the rest of their lives."
------
Ryan Marshall can be reached at Ryan.Marshall@KSHB.com.
