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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
The year was 1991 and current Topeka High coach Carlos Kelly was the quarterback for the Scots the last time Highland Park's football team won a playoff game.
Jermaine Monroe's Highland Park Scots ended a 32-year playoff drought Friday night with a 55-7 Class 5A rout over KC-Harmon. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Amari Taylor (3) rushed for 144 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in Highland Park's 55-7 Class 5A playoff win over KC-Harmon Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Fast forward 32 years and several coaching changes later and the Scots have won another playoff game, rolling to a 55-7 win over Kansas City-Harmon Friday night at Hummer Sports Park.
Highland Park advanced to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs next Friday at Hummer to host Shawnee Heights, which took a 68-0 playoff win over KC-Sumner Academy Friday night.
Highland Park entered the playoffs winning one of their previous three games to close out the regular season while having a high of 22 players ineligible or injured at one point.
But those issues have improved significantly and that showed in Friday night's performance as Highland Park improved to 7-2 while notching its second rout of the season over Meadowlark Conference foe Harmon (1-8).
“I have to tip my hat to the educators at the school,'' Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe said. "It took a village to get the grades up and kids back onto the football field.”
Senior running back Amari Taylor led the Scots on the ground with 144 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Barring a major upset, Washburn Rural's football team was going to win Friday night's Class 6A playoff opener over winless Wichita North by a sizeable margin.
Titan Osburn (10) celebrates a touchdown with senior teammate Calvin Hayes (4), who also had a TD catch, in Washburn Rural's 48-7 Class 6A playoff win over Wichita North Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural senior quarterback Branton DeWeese scored on a 52-yard run and threw for a pair of touchdowns in Friday's 48-7 Class 6A playoff win over Wichita North. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
But Rural coach Steve Buhler and his coaching staff found a way to make it a special night for ninety-eight Junior Blues, who all got to play at least a small part as Washburn Rural improved to 9-0 with a 48-7 romp at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.
"We suited up 98 and unless somebody was hiding, they got in the game,'' Buhler said.
Buhler said that was the highlight of the night for him.
"We gave our freshman, who finished up their season on Monday, the opportunity if they wanted to stay and practice with us and continue to get better every week,'' Buhler said. "And those kids were out here every day, so it's really hard to look them in the eye and ask them here to play and not give them oportunities when they're available, so it was important for us to get them all in the game.
"When we told them yesterday they were all suiting up, their eyes lit up. They were excited to have a chance to get in here, so it's a good night.''
Washburn Rural will be back at home next Friday for a second-round playoff matchup with Centennial League rival Junction City, which advanced with a 27-18 win over Wichita Heights.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County volleyball teams got state off to a hot start on Friday, with Silver Lake in Class 3A and Seaman in 5A punching their tickets to the state semifinals with perfect 3-0 records in pool play.
Seaman went 3-0 in Class 5A pool play Friday at Salina, advancing to the state semifinals for the third straight season. [File photo/TSN]
Playing at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, No. 6 3A seed Silver Lake turned in a dominating 3-0 performance in pool play, rolling to three straight wins to capture the Pool II championship.
Silver Lake opened with a 25-23, 25-23 win over No. 3 seed Cheney before knocking off No. 2 seed Neodesha, 25-22, 25-16, and taking a 25-12, 25-16 victory over No. 7 Riverton.
Nine-time state champion Silver Lake advances to a 9 a.m. semifinal Saturday to face Pool I runnerup Smoky Valley, with the championship and third-place matches following the semis.
Seaman, the No. 4 seed in the 5A field, opened its fourth straight state appearance at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina with three straight-set wins to claim the Pool I title.
The Vikings started their day with a 25-15, 25-21 win over No. 5 seeed Spring Hill before taking a 25-14, 25-21 win over No. 8 seed Andover.
Seaman then hooked up with top seed Andover Central in its final pool play match and the Vikings handed Central only its second loss of the season in a 25-19, 25-12 decision.
Seaman, which has finished fourth in 5A the past two seasons, will play a 9 a.m. semifinal Saturday against Pool II runnerup Maize South, with the championship and third-place matches to follow the semifinals.
Defending state champion Washburn Rural opens 6A pool play at 3:30 p.m. Friday and will also play matches at 6:30 and 7:30.
CLASS 5A STATE VOLLEYBALL
At Tony's Pizza Events Center, Salina
SATURDAY'S SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS
9 a.m. -- Seaman (36-6) vs. Maize South (37-4); St. Thomas Aquinas (30-8) vs. Spring Hill (33-9).
(Consolation and championship matches will begin 25 minutes after last semifinal has concluded)
CLASS 3A STATE VOLLEYBALL
At Sports Arena, Hutchinson
SATURDAY'S SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS
9 a.m. -- Heritage Christian (36-5) vs. Cheney (37-5); Silver Lake (31-11) vs. Smoky Valley (31-12).
(Consolation and championship matches will begin 25 minutes after last semifinal has concluded)
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It took a marathon effort, but Shawnee Heights' boys soccer team is headed to the Class 5A state quarterfinals.
Shawnee Heights' boys soccer team poses for a team picture after winning a Class 5A regional title in PKs Tuesday at Piper. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
Shawnee Heights and Piper went all the way to penalty kicks in Tuesday's 5A regional final at Piper before the T-Birds took a 2-1 win over the Pirates with a 5-4 edge in penalty kicks.
Shawnee Heights improved to 10-7-1 with the win while Piper ended its season 14-2-0.
Tuesday's T-Bird win over the Pirates avenged a 1-0 United Kansas Conference loss to Piper earlier in the season.
The T-Birds will play a state quarterfinal game next Tuesday at Blue Valley Southwest, which is 15-2-1 on the season.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Playing a highly-regarded Free State team in Tuesday night's Class 6A regional soccer final, it was important for Washburn Rural to get out of the gate quick.
Washburn Rural celebrates its Class 6A regional soccer championship after Tuesday's 4-1 win over Free State. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural's soccer team poses for a team picture after winning a Class 6A regional championship with a 4-1 win over Free State. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The Junior Blues did exactly that, scoring two goals over the opening 13:21 of the game and three in the first half on the way to a decisive 4-1 win over the Firebirds at McElroy Field.
"We knew Free State was going to be solid,'' Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "They had a great season and beat some of the better teams in Kansas City, so this was a tough draw.
"We talked about getting off to a quick start and obviously you get an early goal, then you get a second goal and you make the other team play from behind the whole time and we were able to control the game.''
