By Anthony Gorges
JC Post
The Junction City Blue Jay football team will travel to Topeka to take on Washburn Rural in the second round of the playoffs on Friday night.
Both teams had home games in the first round of the playoffs and both teams defeated Wichita schools. Junction City defeated Wichita Heights 27-18 in round one of the playoffs last week, while Washburn Rural defeated Wichita North 48-7.
The Blue Jays and Junior Blues will face each other for the second time this season. Washburn Rural won the first matchup 28-7 back on September 29th at Blue Jay Stadium. Despite the 21-point victory for the Junior Blues, Junction City had more offensive plays, more offensive yards, and more first downs in the game as well.
Washburn Rural's offense only scored one touchdown on the night. The other three scores came off Junction City miscues or a great play by the Junior Blue defense and special teams units. Junction City attempted to punt out of their endzone, but the ball was dropped and recovered by Washburn Rural for a touchdown. Another score came off a blocked punt scoop-and-score in the third quarter. Lastly, to cap off the game, the Junior Blues sacked Junction City quarterback Brock Bazan and Rurals JC Heim scooped the football and ran it in for a 78-yard touchdown.
Junction City head football coach Randall Zimmerman described that just a couple of plays described that first meeting between the two teams. “We always tell our kids that in every football game, especially close games, you can point to five or six different plays that affect the outcome,” Zimmerman said. “Washburn Rural is tough enough. We cannot compete against Washburn Rural and ourselves. That has been our theme all year long. We had a great week of practice, and I look forward to getting this thing kicked off."
You can hear the game on 107.9 FM/1420 KJCK. The pregame broadcast starts at 6:30, kickoff is at 7:00. You can watch the live stream at JC Post.com