Chanute hunts Orioles in opener

Quelling early season concerns of roster upheaval, the Chanute Blue Comets never trailed in Week 1’s 22-6 win over the Augusta Orioles on Friday night.

“We had a bunch of guys that are new to Friday night football, so you never knew how it was going to go,” Chanute head coach Clete Frazell said. “We’ve seen special things and we were pretty darn good at the jamboree. But you never know how they’ll react in a real game. We sputtered and made mistakes. At the same time, we competed the whole night. Guys stepped up and played hard. The effort was there. The intent was there. So we’ve just got to learn to play smarter football as we go.”

With the 2025 Blue Comets debuting an almost entirely new batch of skill players, Jalen Duncan cooked to perfection.

Duncan, a junior, rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries while also registering eight tackles.

“Jalen’s a great athlete and a great kid,” Frazell said. “He had a great game. In his sophomore year last year, we thought we had a good one in him. He just never quite got the chance to show it. It was awesome to see him run the ball physically and play defense the way he did. He had a fantastic night. He was aggressive. It was great to see that from him. He’s really made a transformation and he’s more confident.”

Chanute’s secondary thrived in limiting Augusta’s aerial assault. The Blue Comets tallied a whopping four interceptions — two from Gage Cummings and one apiece from Kris Harding II and Kasen Audiss. The Blue Comets also recovered two fumbles as part of a six-takeaway evening.

“Gage Cummings had two interceptions and he was phenomenal,” Frazell said. “Augusta had a 6-foot-4 receiver and Gage is 5-foot-8. But he scrapped with him all night and held him to one catch. He just shut him down. Augusta’s quarterback is a freak and he’s so elusive. He won’t get sacked a ton. We were nervous about him because he can Mahomes it up a bit. To be able to contain that side of the game was great. Because we were scared of those extended plays. Our secondary did a great job covering downfield.”

Harding II, the senior gunslinger captained with calming the waters of the roster transition, was 8-of-17 passing for 112 yards and two touchdowns. He added 39 yards and a score on the ground.

“We had some drops on some plays we should’ve converted on,” Frazell said. “We had some routes that weren’t run well. But Kris was nails all night. He made some insane throws on the money. He played really well. A lot of his incompletions were just drops. The receivers are a young group we’re breaking in. So his stat line is skewed.”

Kemper Manly was the top target through the air for Chanute, catching three balls for 59 yards.

Kysen Seamster and Audiss each caught a touchdown pass.

Up next

Chanute, which has just three home games throughout the regular season, plays it second in Week 2 as it welcomes the Coffeyville Golden Tornado to kick off SEK League action. Coffeyville lost to Circle in Week 1, 55-8.

“This is a good week to focus on getting better,” Frazell said. “We need to get some offensive production going. Coach talk is always saying the biggest game is between Week 1 and Week 2. We need to fix some things. That’ll be brought to light in meetings and practice. We want to make a big jump and get some momentum going. The next two games after this one are really tough. So we want to stay in the win column.”