Ky Thomas, Topeka High earn payback vs. Manhattan, rally for key 32-27 win

For the second straight year, Ky Thomas was on the wrong end of a controversial call inside the 1-yard line against Manhattan. The difference was, this time Topeka High had a chance to respond.

One year after being ruled inches short on a game-ending two-point conversion attempt in overtime, the Trojans’ star running back had a tying touchdown waved off 3 seconds before halftime Friday at Hummer Sports Park.

Losing seven points for a taunting call, and replacing them with a field goal, could have been the difference in a battle of evenly matched Class 6A powers. But the penalty for flexing in the direction of a defender didn’t keep Thomas from showing his strength the rest of the way.

The Minnesota commit added two second-half touchdowns, finishing with four total, and all of High’s offensive points, in a 32-27 win against Manhattan.

“We’ve got to keep playing every week, but it helps everything,” High coach Walt Alexander said of the game’s league and eventual playoff-seeding implications. “We’ve got to take care of business the rest of the way, and there’s a lot of good teams left on our schedule, but for now, that’s a big one.”

After scoring on its opening two drives for a 14-0 lead, Manhattan (1-1) found the end zone just once the rest of the way. Still, the Indians’ lone second-half touchdown put the team in good position to hand High (2-0) another early-season setback.

Quarterback Dayne Aschenbrenner ran 58 yards up the middle on the first play of a drive to put Manhattan ahead 27-20 with 5:46 left.

One play after the ensuing kickoff, Thomas answered. After rushing for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone, his third score came on a 74-yard run. A blocked extra point left High down one.

Da’Vonshai Harden led High’s next drive with a 22-yard pass to Kaden Smith and a 37-yard connection to a diving Thomas that set up the running back’s fourth score.

Harden’s two-point attempt was intercepted, but the touchdown gave High its first lead of the game with 1:21 left, and Donyel Evans picked off Aschenbrenner to secure High’s comeback win.

“Our kids were resilient tonight,” Alexander said. “We kept battling back, and the defense played hard. Both teams played well, but what courage we had to come down after we missed that extra point, get a good stop and go score. That was huge. Resilient team.”

The Trojans were forced to play from behind most of the game thanks to big first-quarter conversions by running back BJ Young. The Indians faced a fourth-and-3 on the opening drive, and got way more than they needed on a short pass that Young took 28 yards for a touchdown.

The senior running back came through in the clutch again on Manhattan’s second drive, this time snagging a 30-yard catch on third-and-8 despite being held on a pass interference call. The catch took the Indians inside High’s 10, and Aschenbrenner punched in a 4-yard score.

“(Defensive coordinator Blake Alexander) was mad all week cause we weren’t covering the verts, and we were lazy not quite lining up right in practice,” Walt Alexander said. “Sure enough, they came out and hit those on us and got up two scores. After that, we didn’t give them easy things. But you can’t get down two scores against a good team.”

High spent most of the second quarter in control to pull even. Harden drove the Trojans down the field with 204 first-half passing yards, and Thomas rushed for touchdowns of 5 and 3 yards.

One play after the Trojans made it 14-14, Young weaved up the middle for a 60-yard touchdown run. The extra point clanged off the upright to leave the Indians’ lead at six with 2:10 left in the second quarter, but that was just the beginning of the pre-halftime oddities.

Harden threw a 60-yard pass to Thomas, who came to a near-complete stop to flex both arms while crossing the goal line 3.8 seconds before halftime. A defender tackled him in the end zone, and a lengthy discussion between the officials ensued.

Several minutes later, High lined up for an extra point. But Manhattan called timeout, and when the teams returned to the field, it was announced the touchdown had been taken away.

“I’d never seen that,” Alexander said. “What happened is, they said (Thomas) turned around and looked at the kid. Well, the kid slammed him down and got a personal foul. But they called Ky for taunting. All Ky did was turn around and look at the kid, and the kid picked him up and slammed him, and we lost a TD out of that. To me, that’s critical.”

Unlike the September meeting in 2018, which Manhattan escaped with a 21-20 overtime win following an equally contested call, the Trojans had another half to take matters into their own hands and move on unbeaten.

“There’s not one year that goes by where us and Manhattan don’t play like this,” Alexander said. “It seems like it’s always a six-point or less game almost every year. You’ve got to give them tremendous credit.”

Manhattan;14;6;0;7;—;27

Topeka High;0;17;3;12;—;32

Manhattan — Young 28 from Aschenbrenner (Snowden kick)

Manhattan — Aschenbrenner 4 run (Snowden kick)

Topeka High — Thomas 5 run (Holloman kick)

Topeka High — Thomas 3 run (Holloman kick)

Manhattan — Young 60 run (kick failed)

Topeka High — Holloman 20 field goal

Topeka High — Holloman 24 field goal

Manhattan — Aschenbrenner 58 run (Holloman kick)

Topeka High — Thomas 74 run (kick failed)

Topeka High — Thomas 4 run (pass failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Manhattan: Aschenbrenner 21-123, Young 11-106, Wilhoite 1-22. Topeka High: Harden 12-19, Thomas 25-294.

PASSING — Manhattan: Aschenbrenner 6-16-1, 105 yards. Topeka High: Harden 13-20-0, 280.

RECEIVING — Manhattan: Marks 1-9, Hoover 2-11, Young 2-58, Reid 1-27. Topeka High: Deeter 1-5, Thomas 4-110, Geivonnii 4-99, Smith 4-66.