The Braves won their first playoff game in program history last Friday night at Legion Stadium. Convincingly, the Braves defeated Fredonia 48-8, had 361 yards of total offense (7.1 per play), and held the #1 rated passing attack in 2A football to 129 yards through the air.

Sitting at 1-7 at this time just a season ago, CG hosted Goodland and was soundly defeated 56-0. Although 8-9 starters would return, it seemed as if CG had to climb a mountain just to become an average program. At times last year, the team had six freshmen players on the field. Fast forward to today, and this group has grown faster than anyone in Kansas anticipated. The players have earned a 7-2 record and matched the most wins by a CG team since 1987 (also had 7 in 2006). 

The Fredonia game opened with a defensive stop on the second set of downs for Council Grove. A big tackle for loss by Joey Andres forced the punt. CG moved quickly offensively on their first drive. Ace Monihen found Kahle Jones on the 4th play for a 43-yard TD pass. Jones caught a crossing pattern with 1-hand for about 10 yards and did the rest of the work, cutting back across the field for the score. Loup Charlier kicked the extra point (7-0 Braves). The Braves defense held strong again on the ensuing drive. A sack by Bradley Eldridge forced a Yellow Jacket punt. The CG offensive line took control the next drive, allowing the team to move down the field before Monihen punched it in from the 3-yard line. Charlier kicked the extra point to follow (14-0 Braves). That ended the scoring for the first quarter.

Fredonia opened the second quarter by driving into Braves' territory. They got to the CG 34-yard line when Eldridge batted down an attempted screen pass on a 4th & 6 for the Yellow Jackets. After a few nice gains for the CG offense, Monihen has a pass intercepted. Fredonia pushed forward the necessary 23 yards to score in a span of 6 plays (14-8 Braves). Council Grove responded to the potential momentum change. Landon Dody returned the kickoff to the Yellow Jacket 41-yard line to give the Blue & Gold good field position. Consistent runs by Hayden Buttrey, Cade Goodell, Jay Johnson, and Monihen got the Braves inside the Fredonia 10-yard line. Monihen ran the final score of the half in with less than 30 seconds to go, Charlier kicked the PAT (21-8 Braves).

In the 3rd quarter, the Braves offense broke out in a big way, scoring 3 touchdowns. The first came on the opening drive of the second half. Monihen threw a second touchdown pass to Jones. Jones again came down with a one-handed snag and extended the CG lead. Charlier kicked the extra point (28-8 Braves). The Braves defense took the field with confidence and forced a fourth down turnover on downs. Hayden Buttrey smacked the Yellow Jacket receiver on the 42-yard line, giving CG the ball back. After a few plays, Monihen scrambled, made the defense miss with a side-to-side motion, and went 31 yards to the endzone. The point after kick by Charlier was good (35-8 Braves). Council Grove's defense forced a punt quickly on the next drive. Jay Johnson had an exciting return during the change of possession. He took the ball at the CG 27-yard line and scurried to midfield. Johnson didn't stop there. Two plays later he bounced a run to the outside and took it 45 yards for a scire. The kick after was good by Charlier (42-8 Braves). To close out the exciting 3rd quarter, Keegan Brown intercepted a deep pass attempt by Fredonia.

Council Grove's final score came at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Cade Goodell rushed for a 5-yard touchdown. Charlier's PAT was blocked (48-8 Braves). The running clock began after this, and the game came to a close with a 40-point scoring margin in favor of the Braves.

Head Coach Butch Hayes earned his 60th career coaching victory and his 6th playoff win. Quarterback Ace Monihen found his way into the record book with his 209-yard (128 rushing, 81 passing), 5-TD performance (3 rushing, 2 passing). Ace broke Derek Ziegenhirt’s record for passing TDs in a season (has 14 now). He also tied Luis Hill’s single-season TDs resp. for record at 25. This statistic includes total TDs + passing TDs. Tight End Kahle Jones led the team on the receiving end with 2 catches for 71 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. Jay Johnson was the second-leading rusher. He had 5 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown.

The Braves offensive line accumulated 9 pancakes on the night. Holden Ziegler had 5 himself. Connor Garver received the BMOC award for his efforts on the offensive line (2 pancakes). Jayden Moseley-Cannon and Dax Myers also had a pancake block.

Defensively, Landon Dody and Ahmed Mansaray led the team in total tackles with 7 each. Bradley Eldridge received the Defensive MVP award. He had 4 total tackles, 3 TFL, and a sack on the night.

Players of the Week vs. Fredonia

Stat Leaders