By DAREN DUNN
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. -- It didn't take long for Hutchinson's offense to get on the board Sunday in the opening round of the Region VI playoffs against Highland.
On the second play from scrimmage, Malik Benson broke free on an intermediate route and took the ball 77 yards to the house. Hutchinson scored less than three minutes later on a four-yard TD grab from Rykem Laney.
Less than three minutes rolled off the clock again before Anwar Lewis raced in from 21 yards out for a score. Lewis extended his streak to seven straight games with a touchdown.
"Anwar ran really well on limited opportunities," coach Drew Dallas said. Lewis ran 11 times for 86 yards and a TD on a day the passing game thrived.
National championship game MVP Tye Edwards finally got some quality touches after spending most of the season sidelined with injury. Edwards ran for 70 yards on 11 touches.
"(We'll) hopefully have that two-headed monster rolling the rest of the way," Dallas said about Lewis and Edwards in the backfield.
Hutchinson (6-2) led 21-0 with 7:08 left in the first quarter. The Dragons only put up 20 points against Highland earlier this season on the road in a 20-7 victory.
"(I'm) pleased with the progress that was made since we played them last," Dallas said.
Laible capped the first quarter with another touchdown pass to Laney, this one from 20 yards away.
Laible got his fourth touchdown pass to start the second quarter when he hit Demariyon Houston for a six-yard TD. The play capped an 8-play, 47-yard drive, the longest of the day.
A Dragon punt downed at the one spelled trouble for Highland as running back Andrew Burnette was tackled for a safety. Burnette led the Highland rushing attack with just 25 yards.
The next two touchdown passes from Laible went to Cortez Braham. The first came three plays after the safety and from 42 yards out. The second came on a one-handed grab that Braham took 95 yards for the score.
Laible ended his record day the way it began, with a TD pass to Benson. The 65-yard touchdown with 5:43 left in the second quarter put Hutchinson up 56-0. Laible finished with a program-record seven touchdown passes and put up 365 of the team-record 485 yards on the day.
"Those are some pretty special numbers," Dallas said when hearing about the receiving combo of Benson and Braham. The duo caught five passes for 292 yards and five touchdowns.
Daisean Cash then took snaps at quarterback and hit Braham for a 13-yard touchdown just before halftime. The Dragons took a 63-0 lead into the locker room.
Laney got in the scoring action again in the fourth quarter on a 43-yard strike from Collin Shields.
Jaheim Simmons finished the scoring on a six-yard run with 6:51 left.
FINAL: Hutchinson 77 Highland 0
Laible's record seven touchdowns came on 11 completions.
Hutchinson held Highland to 70 total offensive yards on 61 plays.
The Dragons racked up 659 yards on 62 plays. Highland converted just one of 15 third-down tries.
Zy Strong led the defense with eight tackles, three tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks.
Hutchinson is on the road next Sunday to face Independence in a 1 p.m. kickoff.