By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Recent Hayden product Carter Charvat was right in the middle of the East's 36-25 Kansas Shrine Bowl victory ... literally.
Hayden product Carter Charvat (middle) blocks for East quarterback Dylan Dunn during Saturday's 36-25 East win over the West at Emporia. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
Charvat was pressed into service at center for the East and played the unfamiliar position for all but the last few plays as the East posted its first Shrine victory since 2018 Saturday night at Emporia State's Welch Stadium.
"It was a great experience, I loved it all,'' said Charvat, a Benedictine signee. "I was playing center, which I hadn't done in a while. I was a linebacker, but I guess center, might as well. They just told me first day, 'Center,' and I was like, 'I'll take it, thank you,' and it worked out.
"It was pretty fun to play alongside those best in the state. That was a lot of fun. They're good and they know a lot and they helped me a lot.''
Hayden's Carter Charvat (54) celebrates with Lyndon's Tanner Heckel and Olathe South's Bryce Noernberg during Saturday's 36-25 East Shrine Bowl win at Emporia. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
Charvat did his part, performing flawlessly on his snaps in the shotgun formation.
"That's scary because you can't really fire off when you're snapping the ball,'' he said. "It was weird, something to get used to for sure.''
The West took the opening kickoff and went up 3-0 on a 42-yard field goal from Blaise Harper of McPherson at the 10:35 mark of the first quarter but the East scored the next 20 points to take control.
Brigham Young University signee Dylan Dunn (Blue Valley Southwest) got the East on the board with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Adrion Seals (Eudora) at the 5:41 mark of the first quarter and Dunn hit Elijah Hakim (Olathe West) for a 2-point conversion to put the East up 8-3.
Tanner Heckel (Lyndon) scored from a yard out (conversion pass failed) to increase the East's lead to 14-3 with 3:13 left in the first and the East opened the second quarter with Dunn's second TD pass of the night, a 25-yarder to Olathe South's Bryce Noernberg (conversion failed) to give the East a 20-3 halftime advantage.
"The first half we kind of put them in the dirt a little bit and I feel like second half we came out a little sluggish but I feel like our defense really picked it up and our offense got it going for us in the second half,'' said Seaman product Callen Barta, who will play at Kansas State.
At the start of training camp Barta thought he would play wide receiver but was changed to defense early in the week.
"We were a little short on corners so they said, 'You still like corner,' and I said, 'Of course,' '' Barta said. "I'm happy wherever I play.''
Barta capped his night with a fourth-quarter interception.
"It feels good,'' he said. "I did pick it on fourth down, I probably should have batted it down, but we're also in an all-star game,'' Barta said.
The West scored its first touchdown of the night at the 10:45 mark of the third quarter when McPherson's Teegan Haines blocked an East punt and Brody Hayes (Clay Center) scooped up the ball and rambled 20 yards for the score (Hoover kick).
The East answered less than a minute later when Dunn set a Shrine Bowl record with his third touchdown pass of the night, a 73-yard completion to Hakim. Dunn then hit Noernberg for the 2-point conversion to give the East a 28-10 advantage.
Cheney product Jackson Voth caught a 9-yard TD pass from J. Brooks Kappelmann (Liberal) and Hoover added the extra point to cut the West's deficit to 28-17 at the 8:25 mark of the third but Dunn added TD pass No. 4 late in the quarter, a 7-yard pass to Seals.
Declan Battle (Louisburg) ran for the 2-point conversion to give the East its biggest advantage of the night at 36-17.
The West added a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kappelmann to Teegan Haines (McPherson) with 8:34 left in the game and the East took a late safety to account for the final margin.
Dunn, named the East Most Valuable Player, went 25 of 33 on the night for 307 yards and his record-setting four touchdowns while Hakim had a 119-yard receiving night on three receptions.
"We threw the ball a lot tonight, but it was fun,'' Dunn said. "I knew we were doing to throw, but that much? I'm all for it though.''
Heckel had five catches for 33 yards while Noernberg had four grabs for 52 yards and Seals four catches for 51 yards.
Gabe Hoskins (Shawnee Mission Northwest) led the East with six tackles while Barta and Justyce Betts (Bishop Miege) added five stops apiece.
Former Washburn Rural star JC Heim registered three tackles, Shawnee Heights product Christian Gonzales two stops and Rossville's Barrett Lietz a solo tackle for the East.
Hayden's Finn Dunshee had two kickoff returns for 36 yards and also saw spot duty in the offensive backfield.
Kappelman completed 29 of a whopping 51 pass attempts for the West for 235 yards and two TDs, with 11 different players catching passes for the West.
Hayes was named the West MVP after recording a game-high 12 tackles, including a tackle for loss and a pass breakup.
The East cut its deficit in the series to 31-18 with two ties.
EAST 36, WEST 25
West 3 0 14 8 -- 25
East 14 6 16 0 -- 36
West -- Hoover 42 FG
East -- Seals 23 pass from Dunn (Hakim pass from Dunn)
East -- Heckel 1 run (pass failed)
East -- Noernberg 25 pass from Dunn (run failed)
West -- Hayes 20 return of blocked punt (Hoover kick)
East -- Hakim 73 pass from Dunn (Noemberg pass from Dunn)
West -- Voth 9 pass from Kappelmann (Hoover kick)
East -- Seals 7 pass from Dunn (Battle run)
West -- Haines 15 pass from Kappelman (pass failed)
West -- Safety
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- West: Bah 3-7, Kappelmann 1-6, Dickman 1-2, Mesa 3-0, Fisher 1-(minus)-10. East: Battle 14-59, Heckel 6-17, Huffman 3-4, Noernberg 1-3, Dunshee 1-0, Brusven 7-(minus)-1, Dunn 7-(minus)-14.
Passing -- West: Kappelmann 29-51-2, 235 yards; Voth 1-1-0, 22. East: Dunn 25-33-0, 307; Noernberg 1-1-0, 19; Battle 1-2-0, 3; Heckel 0-2-1, 0.
Receiving -- West: Collier 7-68, Fisher 6-58, Bah 5-9, Voth 3-34, Davidson 2-28, Hoover 2-15, Haines 1-15, McCarty 1-14, Mowery 1-9, Mesa 1-4, Dickman 1-3. East: Heckel 5-33, Noernberg 4-52, Seals 4-51, Huffman 4-18, Hakim 3-119, Purdy 2-22, Parks 2-19, Brusven 2-3, Hull 1-12.
Punting -- West: Hoover 4-30.0. East: Purdy 3-34.7.
Tackles -- West: Hayes 6-6-12, Haines 2-7-9, Felder 2-5-7. East: Hoskins 4-2-6, Barta 4-1-5, Betts 4-1-5.
