- Details
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Silver Lake made big plays down the stretch to ward off a challenge from visiting Council Grove with playoff implications on the line, winning 29-12 at home Friday.
Eagle quarterback Dysen Schooler shook off a second-quarter injury to complete 22 of 27 passing attempts for 242 yards. He also ran for a 31-yard fourth-quarter touchdown to seal the victory.
Silver Lake senior quarterback Dysen Schooler passed for three touchdowns and also ran for a TD in the Eagles' 29-12 win over Council Grove. [File photo/TSN]
With the win, the Eagles claimed second in Class 2A District 3. They will await the matchups for the first round of the playoffs to be announced Saturday. Council Grove, however, saw their hopes of playing on dashed with the loss at Silver Lake.
Eagle coach Logan Pegram was quick to credit the seniors who made sure their last regular-season game would be a good one.
“I told the kids before we came out that it’s a special night,” Pegram said. “I love seeing seniors compete. At this time of the year when the sand runs low in the hourglass, it’s fun to see them show up and we had that all night.”
Silver Lake quickly drove to a touchdown to open the contest on a short pass from Schooler to fellow senior Logan Cathcart.
Council Grove then dominated time of possession for the rest of the first half, running 30 plays to just 17 for Silver Lake. But the Braves had just six points to show for it and trailed 7-6 at the break. When the visitors scored on their opening possession on a catch and run of 48 yards by Ace Monihen, the tide seemed to have turned against the Eagles.
On the ensuing possession, a pass by Schooler was batted into the air by a Silver Lake receiver and intercepted by Council Grove at the Eagle 36-yard line. Looking to pad their 12-7 lead, the Braves reached the 13-yard line before their drive stalled. They turned the ball over on downs.
“It’s been in that defense all year,” Pegram said. “I think we finally saw tonight where it all clicked and we got off the field, forced some turnovers and earned the privilege to get after the quarterback a little bit, which helped us in the second half.”
The Silver Lake offense responded to the stop by the defense, going 81 yards to finish with a second touchdown pass from Schooler to Cathcart, reclaiming the lead,15-12.
The Silver Lake defense then took over the game for good. The Eagles harried the Braves’ quarterback into interceptions on back-to-back plays, with a short Eagle touchdown drive sandwiched in between. They forced a third interception a few minutes later, slamming the door on the Braves’ chances.
“The kids really responded in the second half,” Pegram said. “I thought our seniors really stepped up and made some plays. It’s fun to see, when it got hard, I thought our kids got together for the first time and just leaned into it, which is what we talk about as a program.”
Schooler was nearly perfect, throwing to six different receivers for three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion.
“My receivers were getting open. Huge shout out to them,” Schooler said. “The play calls were good. I was just seeing it really well.”
The senior quarterback led the Eagles to improve to 6-2 on the season. He said he believes the team has even bigger things ahead.
“I think we’re capable of going all the way,” Schooler said. “I think we can play with any team in the state on any given night when we’re at our best. So, I’m really excited to see how this thing unwinds.”
Gritty senior running back Monihen provided most of the attack for Council Grove in his final game. He rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 60 yards and the Braves’ other score.
SILVER LAKE 29, COUNCIL GROVE 12
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A year ago, Seaman pulled off a major upset over top seed De Soto in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
The Wildcats gained a measure of revenge in Friday's rematch, building a 28-7 halftime lead and thwarting a second-half Seaman rally to take a 42-28 United Kansas Conference win over the Vikings on Senior Night at Seaman.
Senior Max Huston threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns in Seaman's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto Friday night [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman junior Kaden McKinney scored one of his two second-half TDs in Friday's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"The first half falls squarely on me,'' Seaman coach Jared Swafford said. "I didn't do a good enough job and the kids played hard, the coaching staff did a nice job, it's on me. You play a team of that caliber you definitely can't put yourself in that kind of deficit early.
"Things like that happen. It's sports, that's life, so you've got to be able to move on from it and grow, but I thought our effort in the second half was phenomenal and the kids really bonded together. It would have been real easy to quit and we didn't, so I am proud of the guys from that standpoint and, again, the first half's on me.''
Friday's Viking loss left Seaman, De Soto and Basehor-Linwood all tied atop the UKC standings at 6-1 but the conference does not recognize co- or tri-champions and Seaman was declared the league champion as a result of the conference's tiebreaker formula.
But Swafford said the Vikings' focus now is on getting ready for next week's playoff opener, which Seaman will host. The Vikings are the No. 3 West seed and will host city rival Topeka West (1-7), the No. 14 West seed.
"Let this one soak in a little bit, it won't feel so good, but plenty of learning moments and plenty of opportunities to get better and to grow and I think that's exactly what we'll do and now you get into the playoffs and it's win or go home time,'' Swafford said.
"I think we can still be a very scary team and I think we've shown that throughout the year and now we're at that point.''
Seaman senior Bryer Finley had 145 receiving yards and two touchdowns in Friday's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman, which fell to 6-2 overall, drew first blood on its opening drive of the night, with senior quarterback Max Huston hitting senior Bryer Finley for a 58-yard touchdown (Ethan Geiger kick).
But the rest of the opening half belonged to the Wildcats (7-1), who scored on all four of their first-half possessions.
De Soto senior Jayden Lang scored four touchdowns in Friday's 42-28 UKC win at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Jayden Lang capped De Soto's first drive with a 23-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Drew Parks. The Wildcats then took the lead to stay on a 2-point conversion run from Lang at the 6:29 mark of the first stanza. De Soto lined up to kick the extra point but Seaman jumped offsides to move the ball inside the 2 and the Wildcats opted to go for 2.
De Soto added to its lead with three second-quarter scores -- a 26-yard pass from Parks to Joe Meehan, a 16-yard Lang run and a 7-yard pass from Parks to Will Morton.
Seaman came out firing in the second half, getting within seven points on two occasions (28-21 and 35-28), but an 80-yard Lang kickoff return and a late interception clinched the Wildcats' victory.
Seaman got second-half TDs from junior Kaden McKinney on a 26-yard run, Finley on a 9-yard pass from Huston and a 27-yard pass from Huston.
Huston rushed for 136 yards on 15 carries and passed for 208 yards on a 16 of 24 performance while Finley had seven catches for 145 yards and McKinney rushed for 83 yards on 18 carries and caught three passes for 36 yards.
Lang rushed for 133 yards on 16 carries for De Soto and caught two passes for 56 yards and scored four touchdowns while Parks threw for 120 yards on a 6 of 6 performance.
DE SOTO 28, SEAMAN 7
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Fresh off its most dominant performance of the season, Washburn University football will be shooting for its second straight win on Saturday, going on the road for a 1:30 p.m. MIAA road contest at Central Missouri.
Washburn is coming off a dominating 42-21 home win over Missouri Southern last Saturday and heads to Central Missouri on Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn (2-5 overall, 2-4 MIAA) is coming off a 42-21 home win over Missouri Southern last Saturday at Yager Stadium while Central Missouri (4-3, 2-3) topped Northwest Missouri, 35-30, in Maryville last time out.
Washburn never trailed against Missouri Southern, scoring on its first three possessions of the day, and also blocked two field goals and had defensive lineman Chase McCoy return an interception for a score en route to the 21-point win.
"It was nice to go out and play a complete game where we were kind of just dominating the whole entire game and really just showcase the resilience of this team and the continual fight,'' said WU standout junior safety Jordan Finnesy.
"That was really good to see and above all to be able to get a win at home in front of our fans, who have been showing out week after week for us.''
The Ichabods opened the game with a six-play, 58-yard drive, capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman Keller Hurla to former Highland Park star Tre Richardson.
Ichabod freshman JC Heim, a former Washburn Rural star, forced a Missouri Southern fumble on the Lions' opening drive that was recovered by Julius Jackson. Two plays later Lucas Oitker followed up a Richardson 41-yard reverse with a 4-yard run for the score and a 14-0 lead 5:51 into the game.
Washburn then forced the Lions to punt and Ichabod quarterback Sam Van Dyne moved the Ichabods 65 yards in eight plays, finishing it off with a 7-yard run up the middle for the score as Washburn led 21-0 with 4:13 to play in the first quarter.
Van Dyne tied a school record in the win over Southern for completion percentage with at least 10 attempts as he was 9 for 10 for a .900 percentage, tying a program record that has stood since 1980 when Jerry Raushelbach was 9 for 10 against Missouri Valley.
Washburn averaged 7.0 yards per carry against the Lions, rushing for 279 yards on 40 carries -- the ninth-best average in program history.
"We're going to keep working and just continue to fight the rest of the year and hopefully win these last four games,'' said Finnesy, the Ichabods' second-leading tackler with 48 stops on the season while also contributing an interception and a blocked kick.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman junior cross country standout Brody Anderson and Hayden junior golf standout Lauren Borjon 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 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Anderson and Borjon over the past week:
Seaman junior Brody Anderson has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week after winning the individual title in last week's UKC cross country championships. [File photo/TSN]
BRODY ANDERSON, Seaman
Anderson followed up his city championship with the individual title in last Thursday's United Kansas Conference meet at Pierson Park in Kansas City, Kan.
Anderson won the UKC title in a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 21.42 seconds, leading the Vikings to a second-place team finish behind conference champion De Soto.
In just his second year of high school cross country, Anderson captured his first UKC title after winning his first city crown a week earlier and has posted five individual wins on the season.
Hayden junior Lauren Borjon has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after leading the Wildcats to their second straight Class 4A girls golf title. [File photo/TSN]
LAUREN BORJON, Hayden
Borjon posted a career-best third-place individual finish in Tuesday's Class 4A girls golf tournament at Hesston, leading Hayden to its second straight double-digit team championship.
Borjon finished third with a 36-hole total of 157, carding rounds of 76 and 81 as the Wildcats repeated as the team champ by a 15-stroke margin over runnerup Wellington (698-713).
The Hayden standout is now a three-time state medalist, finishing 20th as a freshman for the third-place Wildcats and placing 15th as a sophomore as Hayden won the team crown by 37 strokes.
- Details
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A wild night from start to finish ended with a 38-28 Highland Park win over Kansas City-Washington that gave the Scots second place in the Meadowlark Conference.
Senior Jamon Wilson had a huge night for Highland Park in Thursday's 38-28 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Washington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore G'Honi Montgomery (35) celebrates a touchdown with Highland Park teammate Tremaine Savage Thursday night in the Scots' 38-28 win over KC-Washington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Late in the first period, with the Scots leading 6-0 on a touchdown run by G’Honi Montgomery, both teams were sent to the locker rooms and fans were sent to their cars by a severe thunderstorm. They returned at 8:55 p.m. after an hour and a half delay.
Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe praised the Scots for how they handled the disruption.
“At first, because we thought it was only going to be 30 minutes, we told the boys to be quiet, leave your cell phones away, just stay focused on the game,” Monroe said. “But when we knew it was going to be longer than an hour, we let them take their shoulder pads off, call their parents to make sure everything was OK.
"Then we put some music on, had everyone jump around and have some fun, just keeping the energy high. And that’s what they did. They came out with a lot of energy after that.”
Jamon Wilson sent a jolt of energy throughout the stadium whenever he touched the ball.
When Highland Park needed a big play, Wilson came through. After recording his first score from 14 yards out, he bailed the team out of a jam midway through the second period. Following a botched kickoff return, the Scots found themselves pinned at their 1-yard line. But after giving the Scots some breathing room on his first carry of the drive, Wilson outraced the Wildcats 94 yards to the end zone on the second play of the drive.
Wilson took a short pass from Dontrail Fox 25 yards for the Scots’ fourth touchdown of the first half, increasing the lead to 26-6 as the clock struck 10 p.m.
Early in the second half, the Scots increased their lead to 32-6 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Wilson. Even when the Wildcats responded with a touchdown late in the third quarter, it appeared the Scots would cruise to an easy victory. Both teams began inserting substitutes in the fourth quarter.
But with Highland Park leading 38-12 midway through the final period, things went a little crazy. KC-Washington quarterback Savion Stone began throwing and running for big chunks of yardage, racking up two Wildcat scores in just a few minutes time.
With the outcome no longer in doubt, the point spread became the issue. Both teams were battling for playoff seeding. The battle raged until 11:30 p.m., with the Wildcats attempting on-side kicks and the Scots throwing long passes rather than taking a knee to run out the clock.
“I wanted us to just focus on the down that we’re in, not focus on championships or seeding or anything like that. Just think about the next play,” Monroe said. “But then when it got down to where they cut it to 10 and we needed to win by 13, that’s when we started thinking playoffs.”
The Scots failed to gain the desired 13-point margin and will await their playoff seeding. But with second place in the Meadowlark Conference locked up, Wilson took a moment to reflect on how far the Highland Park program has come.
The Scots went 0-9 in Wilson’s freshman season and owned a losing streak that stretched back eight years. The fact they are concerned at all about playoff seeding is monumental.
“It’s been a great experience changing history,” Wilson said. "When I first got here, it was definitely tough. The buy-in was tough. And then we finally got guys to buy in and we changed the culture. This was a big win for the seniors being our last game with playoff seeding playing a huge factor.”
HIGHLAND PARK 38, KC-WASHINGTON 28
