Junction City is now three victories away from being claimed 2015 Class 6A Football State Champions. This title would be the third for Junction City, last time being 2008. After crushing a team that was thought to be arguably better than the Blue Jays, the window to achieving the championship has only been opened even more for JC.

Last Friday night was the first night of the class 6A playoffs. In a regional matchup with the Hutchinson Salt Hawks, the Blue Jays came in with several questions about their defense in the loss of Safety Aryus Jones to his season ending broken leg.

Despite the loss of Aryus Jones, Bradley Breckenridge made his return to football just in time for the playoffs with of course a limited number of snaps.

Junction City came into the game after finishing off what was a remarkable undefeated regular season.

Hutch came into the game with a 6-3 record still being considered a possibly better team than JC. This was due to the difference in strength of schedule. Junction City has had a relatively easier schedule the majority of the league as Hutchinson is the opposite, beating teams like Dodge City and losing close games to Garden City and undefeated Wichita Northwest.

The Blue Jays quickly showed why they were a better team scoring in their first drive with a touchdown by Jovon Baldwin. This was set up by a huge run by quarterback Ryan Hennington, something even Junction City didn’t see coming as he switched sides of the field with his 50 yard gain.

Hutchinson answered with a touchdown of their own making the score 7-7 coming into the second quarter.

This was the first time since the Manhattan Rivalry game October 9th that Junction City has been scored on in the first half; and also the first time JC has allowed a score at home in the first half.

The second quarter was a completely different story for both teams. Raye Wilson owned the quarter with his touchdown hat trick scoring on two runs and a reception quickly putting JC in a lopsided lead now up 28-7.

After the Junction City defense stopped the Hawks in the red zone late in the quarter with a great tackle by LaTrell Miller on 3rd down forcing a 4th and goal situation. After the Hutchinson running back broke through two tackles, he dove towards the end zone, meeting a JC defender on a huge hit at the one yard line giving JC the ball.

This defensive stand by JC put the Blue Jay offense in position for a last minute touchdown by Jovon Baldwin finishing off the half with a 35-7 lead.

The second half wasn’t as slow as expected for either teams.

After JC had allowed two touchdowns by the Hutchinson quarterback in the 3rd quarter along with scoring one of their own making the score 42-21 the Blue Jays entered the 4th quarter with an offense motivated to finish off the opponent.

In the final quarter the Blue Jays offense finished strong as Jovon Baldwin broke free of the defense to score on a 55 yard run.

The Blue Jay defense held the Hutchinson offense scoreless in the 4th quarter, stopping Hutchinson on one of their final drives giving the Blue Jay offense the ball. The offense capitalized on this defensive stop scoring one final touchdown on a 5 yard run by Raye Wilson.

The Blue Jays put away Hutchinson in a very convincing win offensively. Defensively, they gave up more points than they have all season at 21.

The vaunted defense of Junction City will host the 9-1 Derby Panthers this Friday. Derby is second in the league in points scored and is also on a 7 game win streak. The number two offense will be facing the number one defense this Friday in what looks to be a great matchup.