It was a difficult evening for the Salina South Cougars on a cold October night in northeast Wichita as they fell to the Kapuan Mt-Carmel Crusaders 63-7 to end their 2023 season.

The Cougar offense struggled to get going all night long, particularly on the ground as Salina South managed just 10 yards of rushing offense on the evening.

The Crusaders took control early forcing Salina South to punt on their opening drive and then proceeding to find the end zone on a 30-yard touchdown run by running back Omari Elias.

Elias finished the night with 159 yards on 17 carries. He totaled three touchdowns as well.

Kapaun kept the offensive momentum rolling from that point forward as they jumped out to a 42-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Salina South found some traction through the air late in the second quarter as Landon Putman connected with Dawson Dooley for a 73-yard reception that got the offense down to the 2-yard line.

Two plays later running back Alex Davison was able to punch it in from two yards out for the first score of the night for the Cougars.

That would be it for the scoring for the Cougars as the offense stalled in the second half as they had issues moving the ball both on the ground and through the passing game.

Kapaun led 49-7 at half and tacked on two more scores in the second half, one on a 59-yard run by wide receiver Jackson Daniels and another on a 40-yard punt return touchdown by wide receiver Will Thengvall.

Your Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game was quarterback Landon Putman. On a tough night for the offense Putman was able to show determination in keeping the offense on track when he could and constantly finding ways to try and generate plays.

The H&R Block of the game goes to right tackle Zachary Johnson as it was his work holding up against Daniels’ edge rush in the second quarter that allowed Putman to hit Dooley for the 73-yard gain.