A Great Battle in Basehor: Basehor-Linwood/Atchison Playoff Game

On Friday night, the Basehor-Linwood Bobcats defeated the Atchison Redmen 35-16 in the 1st round of the playoffs.  Several players on both teams played great throughout the game.  Here are the top 5. <strong>Zach Sisemore</strong> RB Basehor-Linwood The 6’0 175 Junior was a workhorse during the game showing great durability as he ran for 195 yards on 35 carries and 2 rushing TD.  He also caught a pass for 22 yards.  He has rushed for 1,382 yards and 17 TD this season and has  rushed for 100 yards in every game except for one.  He is also effective in the passing game as he has caught 18 passes for 178 yards and 2 TD.  Looking at the film, he shows very good burst through the hole and is a tough runner who doesn’t shy away from contact as he lowers his shoulder and drives through the DB or LB while falling forward for a couple of extra yards.  He displays good hands as he can make on target catches with his hands with ease and accelerates quickly into the open field with the ball in his hands. <strong>Xavier Cushinberry</strong> FB Atchison The 6’3 237 lb Senior played a lot like NFL great Derrick Henry on Friday night as he dominated offensively for 202 yards rushing and a TD on 25 carries.  He rushed for 1,416 yards and 14 TD this season on 186 carries and has rushed for at least 100 yards in every game this season with a pair of 200+ yd games against Basehor-Linwood and Bonner Springs.  He shows excellent vision as he finds the open hole combined with good patience as he waits for the block to set up.  He displays good athletic ability for his size as he uses his quickness and play speed while in the open field leading to large gains.  He also uses his play strength and size to run over LB and DB. <strong>Peyton McGee</strong> DL Basehor-Linwood The 6’1 180 lb Junior DE looked impressive on Friday with his contribution of 4 tackles with .5 TFL and a sack with a fumble recovery.  In 2020, he had 24 tackles with 4.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.  He uses his very good quickness off the ball as well as his pad level to beat the OT and enter the backfield.  He uses his good leverage and play strength to stop the RB progress and wraps him up before bringing him down.  An effective pass rusher who uses his play speed and motor to catch the QB for the sack. [player_tooltip player_id="35578" first="Jordan" last="Brown"] WR Basehor-Linwood The 6’4 180 lb Junior was a reliable QB for QB Isaac Stanton as he hauled in 7 passes for 94 yards and scored 2 TD.  In 2020, Brown has 55 receptions for 855 yards and 15 TD.  In addition, he also has 6 games where he caught at least 2 TD with an impressive 4 TD game against Leavenworth in week 2.  He plays as an X and he shows a quick first few steps off the ball, uses fluid hips to break off his step at a 45 or 90 degree angle on dig and slant routes and also uses his play speed and quickness to get behind CB on go routes.  He possesses very good manual dexterity to catch passes both in and out of his strike zone whether the ball is on target, thrown low or high as well as over his shoulder. <strong>Sam Hicks</strong> LB Basehor-Linwood The 6’0 200 lb Junior had a big game against Atchison with 11 tackles and 1.5 TFL.  In 2020, Hicks has made 64 tackles, 7 TFL and 1.5 sacks.  He plays as a MLB and uses his good football intelligence to key and diagnose the play, uses his pad level, play strength, athletic ability and physical toughness to shed blocks from larger OL, uses his closing speed to catch the ball carrier and is able to bring him down with force.  Displays good pass rush ability as he uses his quickness to burst through the A gap and uses his quickness and play strength to catch and sack the QB. &nbsp;