Comets power past Westville

Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Kansas junior Easton Wiggins runs around the right side Friday against Westville at Dee Neel Stadium in Kansas, Okla.
Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Kansas junior Easton Wiggins runs around the right side Friday against Westville at Dee Neel Stadium in Kansas, Okla.

KANSAS, Okla. -- Kansas used a stingy defense and just enough offense to defeat Westville 12-7 on Friday at Dee Neel Stadium.

The Comets finished with 273 yards of offfense and held the Yellowjackets to 117 yards -- all on the ground.

"Kids played well," said Kansas coach Jimmy Dushane. "They played hard and gave what they could, and you can't ask them to do anything more. They played their hearts out."

Kansas led 6-0 at halftime with the only score in the first half coming on a 22-yard pass from Ethan Whaler to Easton Wiggins.

A dreadful series of penalties led to Kansas getting a punt blocked in the third quarter and Westville capitalized with a four-yard touchdown run to take a 7-6 lead in the third quarter.

The Comets responded on the next drive to take the lead. Whaler hit a 19-yard pass to Deaven Noe to the Westville 31. Wiggins then ran for a 31-yard touchdown to get the lead back.

"If we can stop our own bleeding, we're not too bad," Dushane said.

Wiggins finished with 10 carries for 109 yards. He also caught five passes for 83 yards. Whaler was 8 of 17 for 117 yards.

Defensively, the Comets held Westville to 117 yards on 39 carries. Trenton Fields had an interception and the Comets had a fumble recovery in the first half.

"We didn't feel like they had that one breakaway kid that could take it to the house," Dushane said. "So we tried to fill up the gaps and just play hard tough-nosed defense."

Kansas (2-1) is back in action on Friday at Nowata (0-3) to open District 2A-4 play.

Sports on 09/22/2019