BY CHARLES CHANEY
WICHITA, Kan. — Rose Hill flashed the fight Petty keeps preaching, an early takeaway, a first-quarter score and a clock-chewing drive, before Wichita Collegiate finished off a 21-10 win Friday night.
This isn’t the same Rose Hill team we’ve seen the last couple of seasons.
“This is Game 2,” first-year head coach Reece Petty said. “We’re just trying to build a culture in the program and get things going the right direction.
Rose Hill punched first, absorbed the counterpunch, and kept swinging through a penalty-heavy middle stretch and a late two-score deficit before Wichita Collegiate finally closed it out Friday night.
From the opening series, the Rockets’ sideline had a different feel. Junior defensive back Kooper Dees set the tone with a first-quarter interception that flipped the field and the mood.
Three snaps later, junior running back Kai Kirchhoff-Jones slipped through a crease on the right side for a 10-yard touchdown with 49 seconds left in the opening quarter. The 7-0 lead didn’t hold. Collegiate answered with two second-quarter touchdown passes but the message that Rose Hill would not be pushed around landed.
“We were right there,” Petty said. “We just didn’t get the job done today.”
Collegiate steadied itself in the second quarter behind quarterback Isaac Vanderburg. A short goal-line toss to A.J. Batiste at 7:32 knotted the game and a 15-yard strike to Carson Malaise, who scored a very physical touchdown right before half.
The plan looked to grow as the start the third quarter when the Rockets opening drive had just about everything. There was a false start that turned third-and-one into third-and-six (and a 9-yard answer), two defensive facemask penalties, an ineligible-man-downfield flag, a fumble that the Rockets recovered, and a steady run diet that kept the chains moving.
The payoff came from senior kicker Josh Herrera, who drilled a 34-yard field goal at 4:08 to pull Rose Hill within 14-10. It was the sort of possession that doesn’t show up as a headline, but does show up in a locker room’s belief.
“Our defense did really well in the run game and stopped the run game,” Petty said, nodding to a front seven that fit gaps and limited leaky yardage on early downs.
“We got the ball moving on offense in the run game pretty well at times too. We just got to get to the point where we can break one loose and get a big play.”
The big play that followed belonged to Collegiate. With 5:35 left, Vanderburg dropped a deep ball over the top to Julian Johnson for a 35-yard touchdown that restored a two-score margin. Even then, Rose Hill kept clawing. Zander Ford converted a fourth-and-10 with a 16-yard strike to Sebastian Bentley to cross the 50.
The defense forced punts and a short field with stand-up tackling on perimeter screens. The final series ended the way the night began with the ball in the air and bodies contesting it. Only this time the Spartans got the turnover that sealed it.
The Rockets’ stat sheet won’t light up a scoreboard watcher, but it will read like a blueprint for where Petty wants this to go. Rose Hill ran it 30 times for 114 yards and held Collegiate to 102 yards on 33 carries, workmanlike balance against a program that has too often pulled away with explosive runs in this series.
Kirchhoff-Jones carried 11 times for 62 yards and the opening touchdown. K.J. Jones ground out 34 yards on eight totes while battling through illness during the week, and Ford added 13 rushing yards on seven carries while distributing four completions among three receivers.
When the Rockets needed a late spark, Bentley provided it with that fourth-down grab; Dees’ early interception was the first step in a night of stubborn defense.
If the through-line sounded familiar, it was by design.
“We talk about a process-oriented program, and that means you take play by play by play, and you keep moving on. When you get knocked down, you get back up,” Petty said. “We got knocked down tonight but we’ve got to keep getting back.”
Petty has talked openly about how this roster’s spine, a junior class 19 players deep, is built to grow together. Kirchhoff-Jones and Ford headline that group, but the larger value showed up in the rotations with runners absorbing hits and returning; two-way players taking special-teams snaps and answering the bell again; receivers blocking into the boundary on perimeter runs.
Petty acknowledged the grind of that workload and the little realities (from conditioning to cramps) that can stall an offense in early September, especially when so many starters play both ways. He also pointed out how his guys kept their head up after the end-zone interception and the fourth-quarter deep ball.
“We’ve got a lot of really good athletes. We’ve got a good mentality,” Petty said. “They’re going to play hard every single snap. We saw that tonight and I know we’ll continue to see it.”
Vanderburg’s three touchdown passes and Johnson’s heavy-duty ground work ultimately made the difference for Collegiate. But the Rockets left with evidence that the gap is narrowing, including a first-punch touchdown, a reset after a gut-punch turnover, and an eight-minute, third-quarter statement drive that cut the margin to one score on the road.
For Petty, that’s not a consolation but a compass for Rose Hill.
“It’s a mentality we’re going to keep preaching it,” he said. “And I think they will respond.”
The Rockets now welcome in 3A No. 1 Andale on Friday night. The Indians have outscored their first two opponents 181-20, including the 77-20 win over Wellington on Friday night.
Rose Hill hasn’t beat Andale since 2011 when the Rockets won the state title. That year, they beat Andale twice.
Collegiate 21, Rose Hill 10
Rose Hill 7 0 3 0 — 10
Collegiate 7 7 0 7 — 21
RH — Kirchhoff-Jones 10 run (Herrera kick)
WCS — Batiste 3 pass from Vanderburg (Nate Toon kick)
WCS — Malaise 15 pass from Vanderburg (Toon kick)
RH — FG Herrera 34
WCS — Johnson 35 pass from Vanderburg (Toon kick)
RUSHING – Rose Hill: Kirchhoff-Jones 11-62, Jones 8-34, Ford 7-13, Stuhr 2-3, Bentley 1-(2), Merlau 1-4. Totals: 30-114. Wichita Collegiate: Johnson 23-82, Vanderburg 5-6, Batiste 1-0, Manspeaker 3-17, Team 1-(3). Totals: 33-102.
PASSING – Rose Hill: Ford 4-22-2-33. Wichita Collegiate: Vanderburg 9-20-0-155, Salyers 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING – Rose Hill: Bentley 2-19, Dees 1-8, Merlau 1-1. Wichita Collegiate: Hines-Turner 4-56, Batiste 4-39, Johnson 2-50, Malaise 1-15.
