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Washburn Rural soccer tops SM East in PKs to capture first Class 6A boys crown since 2012
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural soccer came from behind to capture its first Class 6A boys state championship since 2012 with a 3-2 win over Shawnee Mission East Saturday night at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, thanks to a 4-2 edge in penalty kicks.
Washburn Rural's soccer team gets ready to raise the Class 6A championship trophy after Saturday night's 3-2 win over Shawnee Mission East in penalty kicks. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
The 19-1-1 Junior Blues, who had to come from behind in the closing minutes of regulation to force overtime, battled SM East (16-4-1) through two scoreless overtime periods before taking control in penalty kicks.
“State championship games, we told the boys the last couple of days that they're 50-50 games,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel told KSHSAA Covered. "The two best teams in the state usually make their way through the playoffs. We know how good Shawnee Mission East was this year. We just told them, ‘You can't worry about the outcome. You just got to come out and enjoy the last game with your brothers, your teammates. Everybody just give everything they got.’
“When we went down one, it didn't look good. And just like we've done all year, we found a way to get another goal. We felt if we got to PKs, we were going to win it.”
In penalty kicks, seniors Dylan Willingham, Brandon Hamilton, Brody Grogan and Liam Morrison all scored, with Morrison’s shot clinching the title and setting off a wild celebration.
Washburn Rural senior Liam Morrison, also a multi-time Class 6A state champion in track, celebrates after clinching Saturday's 3-2 win over SM East with a penalty kick in the Class 6A state championship game. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Junior Blues senior goalkeeper Miles Cook stopped two shots in penalty kicks and also had big saves in the second half and overtime sessions.
“Honestly, you can't read (penalty kicks) too much,'' Cook said to KSHSAA Covered. "You just have to guess a side. Turned out to be the correct side and made two big saves.
“When your team needs you to step up big, I'm always going to do it. (East’s) student section was talking a little bit, so it gave me an extra boost to make some big saves.”
Washburn Rural senior goalkeeper Miles Cook receives a hug from coach Brian Hensyel after Saturday's 3-2 win over Shawnee Mission East in penalty kicks. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Rural’s first goal was scored with 14:50 left in the first half when junior Broyde Kocher-Munoz headed in a corner from Hamilton
But East battled back to take a 2-1 lead with goals scored by Andrew Hastert with 33:16 left in the second half and Stephen Hlobik with 8:57 remaining in regulation.
Rural junior Myles Didde scored the game-tying goal with 5:20 left in regulation, getting a foot on a loose ball that got kicked around in the box.
“I remember seeing three guys slide past the ball,” Didde told KSHSAA Covered. “I think I took a touch then shot it. When I saw it go in the net I was so happy. I went over to the sideline and got a yellow card for stepping off the field.
“It was crazy. It was a great moment.”
Hensyel agreed.
“Soccer’s a strange sport,'' he said. "You can have all these great moments and shots, and then sometimes the goals that went in are just weird bounces, and they fall to somebody's feet and guys make a play. Myles Didde really came on the last month and had some big moments for us.
"It was really cool to see, on a senior-laden team, the two goals to be by both juniors, which was kind of crazy.''
Hensyel credited Cook for coming through in crunch time.
“Miles came up big,'' Hensyel said. I told him when we went to overtime, the only reason we were even there was he made two or three unbelievable saves.
"And we just felt like if it got to the shootout, we had the right guy in the net. Really happy for Miles, because he had some ups and downs in his career, but this was a shining moment for him.''
Sabetha downs Silver Lake 28-16 in Class 2A regional final with late fourth quarter surge
By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
The last time Silver Lake and Sabetha football met was back in 2023 in the Class 2A regionals and Sabetha took that game, 45-34. Fast forward two years later and the Blue Jays handed Silver Lake another loss in the regional round on Friday night, 28-16.
Silver Lake freshman quarterback Kip Kruger passed for 283 yards and two TDs in Friday's 28-16 Class 2A playoff loss to Sabetha. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Dayne Johnson caught 13 passes for 167 yards and a TD in Silver Lake's 28-16 loss to Sabetha. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“I just told them I’m proud of them and I love them,” Silver Lake coach Logan Pegram said. “What kids sacrifice in today’s society is so much to be a part of a football program like ours. We ask a lot of time of them, we ask them to do things that are abnormal in society today, to see them hurt as a coach and a leader of young men is probably the biggest pain to see that hurt, but I just told the how much I love them, I care about them and how proud I am of them because we started the season 0-2 and they responded with seven almost eight weeks of hard-nose grinding football.”
Sabetha has now won four straight against the Eagles in the playoffs, dating back to 2015 and 2017.
The Eagles controlled much of the first half but throughout the game, the Blue Jays run game was too much to handle. In fact, the Blue Jays did not attempt a pass in the game.
Senior William Voos led the Sabetha rushing attack with 24 carries for 191 yards and two touchdowns.
“Their program prides themselves on grinding you down and I felt like the first half we responded to that well but in the second half I think they just got some big plays,'' Pegram said. "Credit goes to them and their coaching staff and their community, hats off to them,”
This game at least stat-wise showed it could’ve been a defensive battle and it played out like that in the first half. Out of the nine games coming into Friday, the Eagles held their opponents to one score in six of them.
The Blue Jays were just as good, recording four shutouts and had three games with one score.
Sabetha’s defense forced two straight three and outs of Silver Lake and the Eagles only had one first down in the first quarter.
The game's first score would come from Silver Lake freshman quarterback Kipton Kruger, on a screen pass to senior Dayne Johnson for 22-yards, which almost was negated after a penalty flag was picked up, making it 7-0 with 8:22 left in the half. That was Johnson’s eighth of the season.
The Eagles couldn’t get the ground game going, totaling just 28 yards, but the Silver Lake passing attack was working. The screen passes to Johnson, the Blue Jays couldn’t figure out, and check down throws to Dom Monhollon.
Kruger in that first half went 18-19 passing for 148 yards and Johnson had eight catches for 88 yards in that first half alone.
Kruger went a perfect 18-18 until an incomplete pass on a third and nine on their own 10 to Johnson forcing a fourth down, but then the Eagles missed the field goal to keep the score, 7-0 at halftime.
“I think we were controlling the game pretty well,” Pegram said. “I felt like we were taking advantage of what the defense gave us and we were just trying to find space out there but Kipton did a great job of that. The first half it felt like we played really well and the second half I felt like the momentum got back on their side and we were trying to get over that hump to get it back on our side, had that turnover so just some things didn’t go our way tonight.”
It remained 7-7 until the third quarter where Sabetha started with possession and drained nearly nine minutes of the clock, as junior quarterback Micah Lang went off the line to the right and punched in the score.
Silver Lake would then take over, running 12 plays for 70-yards into the fourth quarter. Kruger found senior Grady Bergmann, but dropped the pass on third and four after getting popped by a Sabetha defender to force a fourth down. Junior Mason VanVactor nailed a field goal to make it, 10-7 Silver Lake.
But then, the wheels fell off for the Eagles. On the ensuing kickoff, Sabetha’s Cole Menold ran 83 yards to the 4-yard line, followed by a Voos touchdown as the Blue Jays took a 14-10 lead.
“I think that kick return and right after that I think on the next possession we had a fumble and then they got a big chunk play so just a couple of haymakers that landed and we didn’t respond really well to that adversity,” Pegram said.
Still about 10 minutes left in the game, Silver Lake looked to respond, but the Eagles fumbled near mid-field, and Sabetha recovered.
The Blue Jays would then score on another Lang QB sneak from four yards out to make it a 21-10 game. Sabetha would tack on another score after a turnover on downs from Silver Lake, Voos got loose for 38 yards, pushing it to 28-10.
Kruger did throw an interception in the end zone but followed it up a couple of minutes later with a 11-yard pass to senior Joel Miller and that’s where the game ended, 28-16.
Kruger finished 30-35 for 283 yards with two passing touchdowns.
Henry Laubach, Brynn Spencer the Dan Key Farmers Agency Rising Stars of the Week
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural sophomore cross country standout Henry Laubach and Seaman junior cross country standout Brynn Spencer have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2025-2026 school year.
Here's a brief look at the recent accomplishments of Laubach and Spencer over the past week.
Henry Laubach, Washburn Rural [Photo by Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]
HENRY LAUBACH, Washburn Rural
Bouncing back from an injury, Laubach finished a team-high 22nd individually in last Saturday's Class 6A cross country meet at Rim Rock Farm, helping lead Washburn Rural to the state team championship.
Laubach posted a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 40.66 seconds to lead a strong pack performance for the Junior Blues, who won the team title by a one-point margin (100-101) over runnerup Blue Valley.
Laubach is a two-time All-Shawnee County honoree.
Brynn Spencer, Seaman [Photo by Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]
BRYNN SPENCER, Seaman
Spencer earned her second straight Class 5A state medal in last Saturday's state meet at Rim Rock Farm, placing 16th individually.
Spencer, who had placed 18th as a sophomore, clocked a five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 26.82 seconds and was the lone Shawnee County runner to earn an individual state medal (top 20).
The Seaman athlete is a three-time All-Shawnee County honoree.
