In the last two weeks, the Salina South Cougars have run through the gauntlet of their schedule. After facing the top ranked 6A squad of Derby last week, South on Friday had to go up against another formidable foe, the unbeaten Maize Eagles. At K.T. Woodman Stadium, it was all Eagles on their homecoming.

Maize took the opening kickoff and some trickeration on the return set them up at the South 40 to begin. Seven plays later, running back Caden Cox ran it in from eight yards out to put the hosts up 7-0.

Later in the first, Cox saw a running lane to the right get shut off, so he swiftly cut back to the left, turned on the jets and sped 64 yards to the house for a 14-0 Eagles lead. And that big play would set the stage for what was still to come.

Just moments into the second quarter, Maize quarterback Camden Jurgensen hit wide receiver Preven Christon for a 76-yard touchdown catch and run to make it 21-0.

With just under seven minutes left in the second quarter, the South defense thought they had Maize stopped at the South 45. But a direct snap in punt formation to Scott Adams took the Cougars by surprise and Adams went 45 yards for another touchdown. A failed two-point conversion on a lateral snap out of the swinging gate kept the score at 27-0.

Maize would add on right before the halftime gun as kicker Cole Seagraves nailed a 35-yard field goal and Maize led 30-0 at the break. The Eagles were dominant in the trenches with over 300 yards of offense in the first half, while South was held to 56 total yards.

The Eagles kept it going as Jurgensen scored on a QB sneak with 8:16 left in the third to put Maize up 37-0.

The Cougars would then mount their lone scoring drive of the night, marching 64 yards. A 31-yard pass from quarterback Terran Galloway to wideout Ty Garrett set up a 13-yard touchdown run by Brandt Cox on the next play and South trailed 37-7.

Maize would come right back with not one but two more scores in the period. Jurgensen completed his final drive as the signal caller with a 13-yard TD run and then backup Avery Johnson tossed a 23-yard scoring strike to Josh McLaughlin with 20 seconds left in the third.

Reserves from both sides played out most of the fourth quarter. In the end, Maize rolled to 6-0 with a 51-7 win, dropping South to 1-5.

The Eagles were led by Caden Cox who ran for 276 yards on 24 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Maize accumulated 517 total yards while South finished with 142. Brandt Cox rushed for 63 yards on 13 carries for the Cougars.

Salina South will look to have a good week of practice as they will now look to their next game at home against Hutchinson. Then a road trip to Newton ends the regular season.