BonnerSprings.com

Lansing — Bonner Springs played its second game in five days Friday night and fell in heartbreaking fashion to Lansing, 19-13.

The loss came with a lot of controversy - three Bonner touchdowns were called back on penalties. Two were called back in the last two minutes alone.

The referees were escorted out of the stadium by three police officers after the game, though they weren't needed.

Despite the Bonner section booing loudly in disgust at the referees' calls, the Braves had nobody but themselves to blame for the loss to Lansing. That is precisely what the coaching staff told the visibly dejected players on the field immediately after they shook hands with the Lions.

The mistakes came early for the Braves. On their second possession, junior quarterback Brandon Eastland threw off his back foot to an open Jonathan Walker, but the ball floated a little allowing linebacker Nathan Wessel time to intercept the pass and return it 25 yards for a touchdown. After the extra point the Lions were in front, 7-0.

Penalties, dropped passes, dropped interceptions - three of them - and missed tackles filled the rest of the first half for the Braves.

Near the end of the half, Lansing set out on a 10-play, 77-yard drive that was capped by an 8-yard touchdown run by running back Brenton Smith. The extra point was blocked by Jeremy Walker making the score 13-0.

"We came out flat again tonight," a distraught Jeremy Walker said. "We need to start working as a team in the beginning."

Bonner returned the ensuing kickoff to the Lion's 35-yard line. Eastland hit senior wide receiver Luke Terrell for 21 yards making it first-and-goal with little time remaining. Running back Jonathan Walker fumbled on the next play and Lansing recovered. Instead of going into halftime trailing by one score, the Braves were still down by 13 points.

The Braves forced Lansing to a quick three-and-out and mounted a good drive to start the second half. Eastland connected with Jonathan Walker on a screen pass for what appeared to be a touchdown that would slice the lead in half, but the score was called back due to a holding penalty. The Lions eventually forced a punt by the Braves that was returned all the way to the Brave's 45-yard line. Four plays later Smith was in the endzone for the second time making the score 19-0 after the extra point was missed.

BSHS had an 11-play drive and got on the board with an Eastland 1-yard quarterback sneak on the second play of the fourth quarter. They went for two and failed, making the score 19-6. Lansing fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Braves were in the endzone again only four plays later on a 6-yard run by junior fullback Max Barren. The kick was good and Bonner now trailed 19-13 with 9:13 left in the game.

Bonner forced another three-and-out and drove the ball down to the Lansing 14-yard line before turning it over on downs. With only two minutes remaining, Jonathan Walker intercepted a pass and took it to the endzone for the tying score. However, for the second time in the game a touchdown of his was wiped away due to a blocking penalty.

No matter. Three plays later Jonathan's twin Jeremy made the Lions pay for leaving him one-on-one on the outside. Eastland dropped a perfect spiral into a leaping Jeremy's hands in the endzone for 32 yards and the game-tying score.

Again, there was a flag back by the line of scrimmage: another illegal blocking penalty against the Braves. This time they could not recover and score, turning the ball over on downs with 30 seconds remaining.

"I told the official that you don't score three touchdowns and have them all three called back. That doesn't happen. I'm not faulting the officials, but those things don't happen," BSHS coach Lew Kasselman said. "I told the kids that there is nothing you can do about it. We don't fault anybody but ourselves. Lansing is a good football team and we are a good football team; sometimes it just comes down to the little things."

As for ramifications on the season for BSHS, according to Kasselman they are just fine.

"The season isn't done, it's not over," he said. "We're going to take this loss and learn from it, even though it's hard to swallow - it should be because we worked too hard, but we aren't going to quit. That is the easy way out and my kids don't quit."

Smith finished with 112 yards on 20 carries for Lansing. Walker had 27 carries for 181 yards for Bonner Springs.

The Braves (2-1) will play host to Mill Valley at 7 p.m. Friday.

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