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SALTHAWKS WILD RIDE ENDS WITH RUNNER-UP

It is hard to describe the ups and downs that come with a football season. But there may not be a more qualified group to tell a tale of two emotional polar opposites than the 2014 Hutchinson Salthawks. After starting a dismal 2-4 in the regular season, Hutch turned it around to rip off six-straight wins for a state championship appearance. But an eighth title in 10 years wasn’t meant to be, and Shawnee Mission East got its first title with a 33-14 win. More from CatchItKansas.com And although the pain of the loss in Emporia is real, the accomplishments of this team are not lost and there are some lessons to be passed down to the next Salthawks in line. “We are going to remember to teach people to always fight back and don’t listen to what other people say, even though they doubt you,” said Hutch running back Blaik Middleton. “Even though we came up short, we had a good season. But, I don’t know, it just hurts.” On October 10, the Salthawks were in a bad spot. Hutchinson had lost 27-12 to Salina Central. It put the finishing touches on a 2-4 run through the non-district games. “We didn’t self-destruct,” said Hutch head coach Ryan Cornelsen. “A lot of schools probably would have at 2-4. But we kept battling.” Starting with Garden City to open districts, things started to click with the Salthawks. A 62-14 beat-down set the tone for a six-game winning streak that landed Hutch, a team that had two wins in the regular season, in the state championship game. From the low of wondering how one of the best programs of the last decade could only muster a couple of wins to the celebration of hoisting a sub-state trophy with a convincing 42-14 win over Lawrence Free State. When the ball started rolling, it appeared to be tough to stop. In the six games leading up to the state title game, the Salthawks were beating teams by an average of more than three touchdowns. Through having to fight out of trouble, the team began to grow together. The fight made them stronger. “We have battled through adversity,” said quarterback Turner Wintz. “I am really proud of those guys. We’d do anything for each other. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys.” With the momentum Hutch had built up meant the abrupt halt it came to was painful. In the state championship game, the Salthawks were close enough to be able to taste it, but were a few plays too many from getting the job done. When the pain wears off, there will be a realization that getting your hands on a runner-up trophy after a 2-4 start is an unbelievable accomplishment of its own. “It’s been a wild ride, to start off the way we did, and to come back and to play as well as we have the last few weeks and get to the state title game is exciting,” said Cornelsen. “I am very proud of our kids. You know, they will look back and some day they will realize what they accomplished. Today is not that day. Today is frustrating. But it doesn’t take away from who they are and one game doesn’t define us.”

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