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Undefeated Hayden rolls to 53-22 Class 3A district win over Holton
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For a football team with Class 3A state championship aspirations, Hayden knows there's still work to be done.
But the Wildcats gave a glimpse of what could be ahead in Friday's 53-22 Class 3A District 4 romp past traditional state power Holton at Hayden.
Senior quarterback Connor Hanika threw for three touchdowns in Hayden's 53-22 district win over Holton Friday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Overall it was good,'' said Hayden coach Bill Arnold. "We came out and did some nice things on both sides of the ball. I'm a little disappointed we weren't quite as consistent as what I would have liked to have been.
"At the same time I'm happy with the progress that we're making, but we're not done. We've still got a ceiling to get to and that's what I challenged them with after the game. We've got to get better in practice. Our practices need to be cleaner than what they have been, but I'm happy with their effort.''
Hayden senior standout Kade Mitchell agreed with his coach that the Wildcats can still get a lot better moving forward.
"There's plenty of room to grow,'' Mitchell said. "As you saw there, we kind of settled down towards the second half and gave up way too many big plays in the second half. We've got to come together and finish games.
"We've got a lot of room to grow on defense and offense.''
Now 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the district, Hayden led by just a 7-6 margin a play into the second quarter, but turned the game into a rout with 29 unanswered points in the second quarter to build a 36-6 halftime advantage and eventually went up 53-14 before Holton (3-3, 1-2) added a late TD.
Mitchell, a 5-foot-9, 180 pound senior, had a game-high 128 rushing yards and 1 and 8 yards on 16 attempts and also scored a third TD on a 9-yard pass from senior quarterback Connor Hanika.
Hayden senior Xander Blasing had a 23-yard touchdown reception in Friday's 53-22 district win over Holton. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hanika, 6-6, 195, went 15 of 22 through the air for 205 yards and three TDs -- a 23-yard TD to senior Xander Blasing, a 21-yard scoring strike to senior Jude Krentz and the 9-yard TD to Mitchell.
Junior Mason Becker scored on a 27-yard run, kicked a 40-yard field goal and was six of six on extra points in Friday's 53-22 Hayden district win over Holton. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Wildcats also got a 5-yard touchdown run from senior Jackson McGivern to open the night's scoring, while junior Mason Becker scored Hayden's final TD on a 27-yard run, kicked a 40-yard field goal and went 6 of 6 on extra-point kicks.
Holton got a 1-yard TD plunge and a 17-yard run from senior Cael Frazier and a 48-yard TD run from senior Korban Wilson, who had 95 yards on 14 carries. Frazier had 85 yards on 18 attempts.
Hayden will travel to Perry-Lecompton next Friday while Holton will be at home to host Hiawatha.
HAYDEN 53, HOLTON 22
No. 9 Washburn volleyball records fourth straight sweep in home MIAA win over Tigers
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 9 Washburn University volleyball recorded a fourth straight sweep on Friday night in its return to Whiting Fieldhouse, taking down Fort Hays State, 25-21, 25-17, 25-22.
No. 9 Washburn volleyball improved to 16-1 Friday night with its fourth straight MIAA sweep. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods are back in action at 2 p.m. Saturday, hosting No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney in a top-10 battle.
Washburn improved to 16-1 overall and 5-1 in the MIAA Friday night.
With the score tied 4-4 in the first set against Fort Hays State, a three-point rally was finished by two straight kills by Bella Limback.
Fort Hays State came back to tie the set at 10 before another three point burst by the Ichabods put them back in front. The lead was at five when the Tigers strung together five straight to tie the set at 19, and again at 20. An offense that hit .387 in the set led the way for WU, with Austin Broadie knocking down a kill to end the set.
A solo block at the net by Limback capped off a 5-1 start to the second set by Washburn. The lead grew to five at 10-5 on another solo rejection, this time by Alex Dvorak. Fort Hays State kept it within five until a three-point rally with kills by Dvorak, Broadie and Keilah Rivers created separation. Corinna McMullen set up Dvorak for the set-ending kill.
Washburn soccer rides Henke hat trick to 5-1 win at Missouri Southern
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University soccer team rode freshman Leah Henke's three-goal hat trick to a 5-1 MIAA road win at Missouri Southern Friday night.
Washburn freshman Leah Henke had a hat trick in Friday's 5-1 win at Missouri Southern and now has eight goals on the season. [File photo/TSN]
"I thought we did well in most aspects of the game tonight,'' Washburn coach Davy Phillips said. "It's always tough to get points on the road in this conference, so I'm very happy with the team performance today. We have to make sure we continue to grow, but I'm really proud of the progress the team continues to make."
The first half was filled with goals. Missouri Southern opened the scoring with a goal in the 11th minute from a penalty kick. Washburn responded directly back in the 13th minute with a goal from Henke, then Henke would score two more in the 15th minute (assisted by Grace Peterson) and 17th minutes to complete her hat trick.
Henke recorded the first hat trick by an Ichabod player since 2022 by Khloe Shuckman, who also did so against Missouri Southern. Henke now has eight goals on the season and has scored in three straight games.
Washburn recorded 15 shots in the opening half, with nine of them on target, while only allowing three shots in the half.
Washburn would add a fourth in the 55th minute on freshman Kate Hinck's third goal of the season, and was assisted by Brynn Alison. Washburn would wrap up the scoring with a fifth goal by Jules Wardlaw (assist by Bricelyn Betts) in the 73rd minute. Washburn took five second-half shots with four on goal.
Washburn will be back on the road against Pittsburg State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
