Chandler head coach Jack Gray said the Lions wanted to make a statement Friday night against Hugo.
Boy, did they. After leaving the playoffs early last year, Chandler dominated the Buffaloes and barged into the second round of the playoffs with 35-0 win.
They got a 200-yard rushing night from Javarious Wade, put up 35 points without having to complete a pass and logged their first shutout of the season.
Now, they head to Millwood Friday for a clash with the 10-1 Falcons, who are ranked No. 2 in Class 2A-I by Maxpreps.The Lions are ranked No. 7 and will take a 7-3 record into the game.
The winner will face the winner of the Kingston-Marlow game in the semifinals the following week.
“We wanted a replay from last year,” Gray said. “We didn’t feel we played well last year against Alva, and we wanted to make a statement.”
It didn’t take long. Cruz Jackson started the scoring with a 37-yard touchdown with a hair more than three minutes gone in the game.
Five minutes later, Chace Buchanan blocked a punt, which led to a safety, making the score 8-0.
Javarious Ward made it 16-0 later in the period on a twisting 30-yard run.
He also set up the next touchdown with a higlight reel run. He was hit behind the line of scrimmage, but broke three tackles and a lot of Hugo hearts when he sprinted to the 8-yard line before being pushed out of bounds.
“We thought they had him in the backfield but somehow he squirreled out of it and ends up running down the field,” Gray said.
Grant McGinnis paid it off with an 8-yard run to the end zone with 20 seconds gone in the half. Boston Estes nailed the point-after and the Lions led, 22-0.
McGinnis added a threeyard scoring run and Ty Garver added a one-yarder to close out scoring.
The Lions finished with 397 yards on the ground and held the Buffaloes to219 yards of total offense.
“We thought it was important to stay focused all week.
“We had a couple of little things when we got down in the red zone a couple of times and didn’t convert.
“They were sticking nine in the box against our line most of the night, but we just kept getting after it.”
Now comes Millwood, which has won eight in a row. The Falcons’ only loss was a 28-25 setback to Heritage Hall in the third week of the season.
“They’re athletic and really good.,” Gray said. “But this is where we wanted to be and who we wanted.