The Eagles defeated Ark City 22-20 at the 5A football playoff game last Friday.

Defense dominated the first quarter with no touchdowns scored. Sophomore Caleb Grill was filling in as starting quarterback for injured Brayden Payne. 

Early in the second quarter, Ark City scored a touchdown to make the score 7-0. Midway through the second quarter, the Eagles were driving when Ark City intercepted a pass at the 32 yard line. With less than three minutes left in the first half, the Eagles started a drive at the 32 yard line. Then with less than a minute left in the first half, the Eagles scored a touchdown. There was a defensive penalty on the point after attempt and the Eagles opted to go for a successful two point conversion. The half ended with a score of 8-7 in favor of the Eagles.

It took until just over five minutes left in the third quarter for more points to be scored. Ark City scored to put the Eagles down 14-8. Then with less than four minutes left in the third quarter, sophomore Jordan Helm took a pass 47 yards to the six yard line. Junior Dalyn Johnson took it from there and scored. The Eagles were back on top.

The fourth quarter started with the score 15-14 in favor of Maize. There was no scoring in the fourth until Johnson scored with a minute left in the game. The score at this point was 22-14 Eagles. Ark City quickly turned around and scored a touchdown of their own to make the score 22-20 Eagles, with 33 second left in the game. 

The Eagles will move on to the second round where they will play on the road at Valley Center this Friday.