The Council Grove High School Braves opened the 2026 football season with a 62-6 victory over the Mission Valley Vikings Friday, Sept. 4, at Council Grove.
Council Grove, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, scored 28 points in the first quarter and added 34 in the second to take a 62-6 lead into halftime. Neither team scored in the second half. The victory was Council Grove’s fifth consecutive season-opening win.
The Braves finished with 378 yards of total offense, including 211 passing and 167 rushing yards. Council Grove also accumulated 555 all-purpose yards. Mission Valley was limited to 52 yards of offense on 33 plays and three first downs. The Braves forced three turnovers.
Senior quarterback Luke Stewart completed 10 of 13 passes for 203 yards and five touchdowns. The five touchdown passes brought Stewart to 50 total touchdowns for his career. According to school records, the win also gave Stewart 17 victories as a starting quarterback, tying Gaylord Edwards, who played from 1920-23, for the most in program history.
Senior Mason Samuels caught four passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns. His touchdown receptions covered 17, 51 and 41 yards. The performance moved Samuels past Ethan Burton for the Council Grove career receiving-yardage record. Burton had held the mark with 1,072 yards.
Bradley Doornbos accounted for two touchdowns on returns. He returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and returned an interception 13 yards for another score in the second quarter. Doornbos finished with 223 all-purpose yards on 13 touches. According to school records, he became the first Brave since Dusty Maas against Lyndon in 2008 to score both a return touchdown and a defensive touchdown in the same game.
Junior Cooper Andres led Council Grove’s rushing attack with 96 yards on seven carries. He scored on runs of six and two yards during the second quarter. The Braves averaged 9.8 yards per rushing attempt. The offensive line included Ty King, Andrew McLaren, Maddox Ziegler, Leo Salas, Cooper Sommer and Mason Bowman.
Reid Buttrey also caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Stewart. Defensively, Buttrey recorded five tackles, raising his career total to 177. David McDiffett led Council Grove with seven tackles and increased his career total to 182. School records list Hayden Buttrey as the career tackle leader among defensive backs with 211.
Carter Bremer converted eight extra-point attempts. His eight PATs were one short of the school single-game record of nine, set by Loup Charlier against Northern Heights in 2022.
The Braves will travel to Osage City Friday, Sept. 11, for a 7 p.m. game against the Indians. Osage City also opened its season Friday with a 20-7 victory over Olpe.