AURORA | The destination of this season’s Wagon Wheel had nothing to do with the ground this time: it was all air Thursday night at Stutler Bowl.
In a lengthy game that stretched more than three hours and saw rivals Smoky Hill and Overland score a combined 13 total touchdowns in their 40th all-time meeting, 12 of them came through the air.
Senior quarterback Leslie Richardson III had his second six-touchdown throwing performance of the coronavirus-shortened season — and mixed in the lone rushing score of the night — to key coach Tom Thenell’s Buffaloes to a 49-39 win and custody of the Wagon Wheel traveling trophy for a third straight season. Smoky Hill (2-3, 1-3 in Centennial League) also cut into Overland’s all-time lead in the series that is now 26-14.
Smoky Hill’s talented trio of receivers — junior Anthony Harris Jr. (3) and seniors Davien Norman (2) and Alec Pinkowski (1) — accounted for the six touchdown receptions, with the last one from Norman with just over three minutes that gave enough cushion to hold off the Trailblazers, who kept coming until the final seconds.
Though it fell to 0-5, Overland played its most competitive game of the season for coach Kyle Reese and had a night filled with big plays.
Senior quarterback Kai Ilela threw six touchdown passes — more than he had all season combined coming into the game — and found sophomore Ismael Cisse with three of those scoring strikes, with senior Kamari Brown hauling in two and junior Jamille Humphrey the other.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
SMOKY HILL 49, OVERLAND 39
Score by quarters:
Overland 0 19 0 20 — 39
Smoky Hill 7 14 14 14 — 49
SCORING
First quarter
Smoky Hill — Anthony Harris Jr. 40 yard pass from Leslie Richardson III (Eli Brown kick), 1:13
Second quarter
Overland — Kamari Brown 24 yard pass from Kai Ilela (kick failed), 11:15
Smoky Hill — Harris Jr. 18 yard pass from Richardson III (Brown kick), 8:33
Smoky Hill — Alec Pinkowski 18 yard pass from Richardson III (Brown kick), 8:16
Overland — Ismael Cisse 8 yard pass from Ilela (run failed), 4:01
Overland — Cisse 14 yard pass from Ilela (Valdon Thomas kick), 0:35
Third quarter
Smoky Hill — Richardson III 2 yard run (Brown kick), 8:11
Smoky Hill — Davien Norman 42 yard pass from Richardson III (Brown kick), 6:27
Fourth quarter
Smoky Hill — Harris Jr. 12 yard pass from Richardson III (Brown kick), 8:05
Overland — Cisse 48 yard pass from Ilela (run failed), 5:52
Overland — Brown 23 yard pass from Ilela (Brown from Ilela), 5:07
Smoky Hill — Norman 27 yard pass from Richardson III (Brown kick), 3:04
Overland — Jamille Humphrey 12 yard pass from Ilela (pass failed), 0:19
RUSHING
Overland: Christopher Linzy 10-74, Khalil Ali-Fisher 11-73, Kai Ilela 10-16, Jaheim Roper 1-5, Jamille Humphrey 4-(minus 5)
Smoky Hill: Leslie Richardson III 16-32, Kobe Williams 5-19, Anthony Harris Jr. 1-15, Marvin Jones 2-5
PASSING
Overland: Ilela 18-42, 262 yards, 6 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
Smoky Hill: Richardson III 21-40, 354 yards, 6 touchdowns, 1 interception; Kamari Lewis-Stallworth 0-1
RECEIVING
Overland: Ismael Cisse 5-91, Humphrey 6-69, Kamari Brown 4-63, Siem Tekle 1-18, Ali-Fisher 1-12, Linzy 1-9
Smoky Hill: Davien Norman 7-165, Harris Jr. 6-93, Alec Pinkowski 4-62, Jones 4-34