Second half woes doom W-MU

WINFIELD - It was a wild first half in Winfield-Mt. Union's Class 8-Man playoff opener against Lone Tree on Friday night, but the Wolves' offense was calmed down in the final two quarters. After leading 36-28 at the break, W-MU was shut out 38-0 in the second half, and Lone Tree advanced 66-36.

Playing in his first high school playoff game, freshman running back Cam Buffington did it all early on. Buffington started the scoring with a 23-yard pass to quarterback Abram Edwards in the first quarter. Then he ran for three scores in the second and caught a tiebreaking 20-yard touchdown pass from Edwards right before the first half buzzer. Noah Sparrow ran in the 2-point conversion, and it was 36-28 Wolves at the break.

When the second half started, it was all Lions. Lone Tree tied the early in the third quarter when quarterback Cade Shield scored from one yard out and then made it 36-36 with a 2-point conversion. Shield then broke the tie for the last time on a 5-yard touchdown run that gave the Lions a 43-36 advantage.

Lone Tree would score once more in the third quarter and twice in the fourth to run away with the win.

Buffington finished the night with 109 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, along with his passing touchdown and receiving touchdown. Edwards had 24 yards and one touchdown passing, and 23 yards and a touchdown receiving. Andrew Brady was W-MU's second-leading rusher with 59 yards.

The Wolves' defense was led by Jack Jennings, who finished with 7.5 tackles. Eli Miller recovered one fumble.

W-MU finished its season at 4-4. Lone Tree (4-3) will head to Montezuma in Round 2.