Wayne had never won two playoff games in the same season — until tonight.
A solid effort by the big guys up front and a hard-earned 148 yards and three touchdowns by Reid Korth helped the 11th seeded Blue Devils upset the previously-undfeated and No. 3 Ashland-Greenwood with a 28-13 win in the quarterfinals of the Class C-1 playoffs Friday night at Wayne State College’s Memorial Stadium.
The Blue Devils scored on their opening drive when Korth rolled in from four yards out for a 6-0 advantage.
Ashland-Greenwood came back with a pair of scores to take a 13-6 advantage, but the Blue Devils took advantage of a fumble and scored just before the half on another Korth touchdown to give Wayne the 14-13 halftime advantage.
Wayne got a big touchdown in the third when Victor Kniesche took a reverse and ran 32 yards down the near sideline for a 21-13 lead, and the Blue Devils were able to seal it early in the fourth on a one-yard run by Korth.
Wayne’s defense was outstanding, limiting the balanced Bluejay attack to 224 yards in total offense. Korth had 148 yards rushing on 31 attempts and Tyrus Eischied was 4-of-9 passing for 44 yards, with Kniesche catching three balls for 36 yards.
Wayne (9-2) reaches the semifinals for the first time in school history, and will face No. 2 seed Wahoo in the semifinals next Friday at 7 p.m. in Wahoo. The winner advances to the state championship game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
Complete story in next week's edition of The Wayne Herald.
