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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Just when it seemed the War on 24 couldn’t possibly get any better, the rivalry turned in yet another classic. The battle between Rossville and Silver Lake ended in overtime for the second year in row, this time in favor of the Bulldawgs, 28-27 in Rossville.
Senior Cameron Miller scored a pair of touchdowns Friday night, helping Rossville outlast Silver Lake 28-27 in overtime. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior quarterback Canann Mitchell (14) scored Rossville's touchdown in overtime as the Bulldawgs took a 28-27 win over Silver Lake. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake scored a touchdown with six seconds remaining in regulation, at which point the Eagles opted to kick the extra point to send the game to overtime rather than attempt a two-point conversion.
The visitors then took the ball first in overtime and scored on a 10-yard pass from freshman quarterback Kipton Kruger to senior Dayne Johnson. But Rossville collapsed the wall protecting the Silver Lake kicker and tipped the extra point, sending it sailing wide right.
The Bulldawgs sensed the opportunity to avenge last year’s 33-26 overtime loss at Silver Lake. On the second play of the ensuing possession, senior quarterback Canann Mitchell bulled his way into the end zone to tie the score at 27-27. For the win, junior kicker Austin Dohrman booted the ball through the uprights and was mobbed by his teammates.
“It was so much pressure. So much pressure,” Dohrman said. “I was just thinking ‘I gotta’ make it.’ ”
“We were in the same situation last year and we were a yard short. We got in there on this one,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “We’ve been close the last couple of years, so I’m glad that they just had some toughness and some resiliency and they showed some strength down the end.”
Hammes recalled the manner in which Silver Lake sent last year’s game into overtime with a late field goal.
“It’s kind of the same scenario as how last year’s game played out, so I’m glad that we didn’t let that creep into our minds and we just kept playing the football game,” Hammes said. “Gritty effort by the kids. We had plenty of mistakes. They probably could say the same. But this is a heck of a start. (Silver Lake is) a good football team and I’m proud of my kids for their effort.”
Rossville shocked the Eagles early in the contest when sophomore Landen Lewis snatched a fumbled Silver Lake snap and dashed 45 yards for the game’s first score.
After the opening series, Silver Lake subbed in the freshman Kruger at quarterback and went to the air. The Eagles drove the length of field to tie the game on a two-yard run by Paxton Willett.
In the middle of the second period, Kruger completed a 51-yard catch-and-run by Johnson. But then Kruger tried a long pass into the end zone which was intercepted by Rossville’s Connor Bush, preserving the 7-7 tie.
The Eagles missed another golden opportunity at the close of the first half. Silver Lake drove quickly into the red zone as the time ticked down. But after advancing ball to the one-yard line, the Eagles attempted a run into the middle of the line on what could have been the final play of the half. The exchange was fumbled in the backfield and recovered by Rossville.
That’s when Rossville senior Cameron Miller took center stage. He hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell on the third play after halftime to put Rossville up 14-7.
After the Eagles responded to tie the score, Miller came up big again. Forced to punt deep in its own end, Silver Lake watched the snap sail over the punter’s head. The Eagle punter chased down the ball and rushed a punt that cleared the line of scrimmage by just seven yards, far from where Miller had lined up to return the kick. From out of nowhere, Miller raced up to catch the ball in the air and scramble 36 yards to paydirt.
“For a second, (Cameron) was going to let the ball hit the ground and then he (came up to make the catch),” Hammes said. “It was clutch for us. That was a momentum changer for us at that point in the game.”
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Before Friday night the last time the Hayden Wildcats were on the football field was Nov. 30th in the Class 3A championship game against Andale.
Fast forward to Friday and Hayden began its mission to get back to the title game and win it.
Hayden senior Kade Mitchell scored two touchdowns and set up another TD in Friday's 28-6 win over Eudora. [File photo/TSN]
Connor Hanika opened his senior season with three touchdown passes in Hayden's 28-6 win over Eudora. [File photo/TSN]
The Wildcats would host the Cardinals from Eudora for the season-opener and things would get off to a big start for the Wildcats as senior Kade Mitchell would return the opening kickoff 70 yards all the way to the 10-yard-line.
That would allow senior quarterback Connor Hanika to throw the first of his three touchdowns as he would hit senior Makhi Kidd for the first touchdown of the night.
Eudora would get the ball and use up all the clock in the first quarter on its first drive and score at the start of the second quarter and Hayden would block the extra point.
Hayden would fumble on the next drive and force Eudora into punting and that would set up a Mitchell 55-yard punt return touchdown to put the Wildcats up 14-6 with eight minutes left in the half.
Hayden would force another Cardinal turnover and force the Cards to pay as Hanika would find junior Mason Becker in the air for a 52 yard pass to go up 21-6 with 605 left in the quarter. The Cats would force another turnover and Hanika would air it out again and find Mitchell for the 22-yard touchdown pass, giving the Wildcats the 28-6 lead going into halftime.
“I thought we executed some good things early, a little disappointed in the way we came out In the second half.” Arnold said. “They did a really good job slowing down our running game, they jammed the box and have some really physical kids on their D-line. And Hanika did a good job throwing the ball.”
“We had a great game plan going into the game and coach called some really good plays,” Hanika said.
“I ran my routes and found ways to get open for Hanika to get me the ball to make some plays,'' Becker said.
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Seaman football was unable to overcome a slow start in Friday's season-opener at Don Pierce Field, dropping a 33-22 United Kansas Conference decision to Piper.
Jared Swafford's Seaman Vikings rallied late but dropped a 33-22 UKC decision to Piper Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Friday was the first time the Vikings didn’t feature guys like Max Huston, Bryer Finley and Kaden Jordan, just to name a few, over the last couple of years and in the post-game huddle Seaman coach Jared Swafford said Friday's loss was on him and said he loved his team’s fight in the end and that they didn’t fold. He knows he’s got a young group but he said that’s not going to stop them.
“Anytime you lose, it’s easy to look at all the issues or what you think is an issue,'' Swafford said. "I’m really proud of our team. It could’ve gotten ugly. We kept fighting back. We gave ourselves chances to go out and still be in a ballgame. It’s one of those things, give credit to Piper, they have a good squad, a running back that is unbelievable and they did stuff to put us in a bind and it’s on me.
“Our team is only going to get better and I’m really excited about it… we’re going to continue to build… we have a lot of great pieces, the coaches worked their tails off, but obviously just not the result we were hoping for on Week 1.''
It was a sluggish start for the Vikings to begin the game, as penalties hurt them both on offense and defense in the first half. Piper booted a field goal in the first quarter to make it 3-0 with one minute left in the quarter.
Piper would get the game's first touchdown in the second quarter after Kole Schaunaman picked up a sack on third down to give the ball back to the Pirates. About three minutes later, Piper running back Roman Byers punched it right up the gut for a 1-yard TD to make it 10-0 with six minutes left until halftime.
Right after the Piper score, Seaman immediately marched down the field, finished off by a Quentin Moravec 2-yard rushing touchdown to make it 10-7 with 4:13 left in the half.
The Pirates would not back down and respond with their own score, Byers ripped off 59-yard rushing touchdown straight up the middle of the field to make it a 16-7 game after a muffed snap for the point-after attempt. The junior running back finished with 29 carries and 206 yards on the ground.
“That’s a very talented young man (Byers). He runs really hard, he’s got great vision, he makes cuts where you think you got him and then he’s gone,” Swafford said. “He’s a really good player, but we won’t be the last defense who has to stress spending all week about how to slow him down. They’re going to be a really tough team. That’s what I said in the handshake line, ‘You guys got a great team and keep grinding.’ ”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
At 5-foot-6, 170 pounds, place-kicker Aidan Battle is the smallest player on the 2025 Washburn University football roster.
Aidan Battle is off to a quick start in his first season as Washburn's place-kicker, including a 51-yard field goal. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But the former Atchison and Butler Community College standout has already come up big in just two games for the Ichabods this fall.
Battle, who received All-Jayhawk Conference recognition in both of his seasons at Butler, made an immediate impact in his Washburn debut on Aug. 30, kicking 37 and 51-yard field goals and connecting on both of his extra-point attempts as the Ichabods topped Truman State, 20-17.
Battle's 51-yarder, which proved to be the difference in the game, was the longest by an Ichabod kicker since 2013 and helped him earn MIAA Player of the Week honors.
Battle only got one kicking opportunity in last Saturday's 34-7 MIAA loss to Northwest Missouri, but kicked the extra point after WU's lone touchdown to remain perfect on the year.
Despite his success at Butler, Battle didn't receive much recruiting attention after his sophomore season until Washburn came calling to save the day.
"It was about the middle of December and it was kind of time to decide whether I was going to go back (to Butler for the spring semester) or stay at home and take a gap semester,'' Battle said. "Then in the middle of one night I had contact with Coach (Zach) Watkins and I've been an Ichabod ever since, so I'm just blessed for that opportunity for sure.
"The facilities are amazing, the school itself is a great academic school and I could come in and get the degree I was looking for. It's a great environment with the coaching staff and it just felt like home. As soon as I stepped in on my visit the campus just felt amazing and I just had a great time, so I didn't look back from the moment I got here.''
Battle transferred to Washburn for the spring semester, which he said was an advantage.
"It really helped because I was able to get used to a new environment and a new coaching staff and everyone and everything's been awesome since I got here,'' he said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Friday's city showdown between Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights featured enough big plays to fill a couple of highlight reels and more than a few miscues by both teams.
But when the dust finally settled after nearly three hours, the visiting Junior Blues had prevailed in a 51-41 shootout.
Washburn Rural celebrates after Friday night's 51-41 win at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The tone for the night was set when Rural and Heights traded 64 and 73-yard touchdowns over the opening three minutes and the pace barely slowed the rest of the night in the non-league battle between the two longtime city rivals.
"It was a typical first ballgame,'' Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler said. "Cramps on cool weather, lots of great plays, great athletes on the field, big plays in big games, guys stepped up. We've been talking about that, who were going to be the guys to step up?''
After trailing 14-7 at the 4:47 mark of the opening quarter, Washburn never trailed after scoring 20 straight points to build a 27-14 advantage with 5:26 left in the first half.
But Shawnee Heights, which trailed by as many as 16 points, clawed back time and time again to get as close as three on multiple occasions and the game wasn't officially decided until Junior Blue senior Nate Selm fielded a T-Bird onsides kick attempt and rambled 47 yards for the night's final TD with 14 seconds remaining.
"Nate Selm, a great baseball player, and he showed it on that last play,'' Buhler said. "He scooped that thing up on that hop and he was gone.
"It was great to see that and one thing we've been preaching already is the idea of being persistent and staying with it and playing through and I was really happy with our kids. There were times where we could of just kind of let off the gas a little bit and been upset about some things, but our guys played through a lot of mistakes and kept playing hard and that's what we've been preaching all fall.''
Selm, who caught a 31-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game, had an idea of what he wanted to do on the onsides attempt, beginning with making he sure he caught the ball.
"You've got to,'' Selm said. "I was just kind of reacting. I saw it come off his foot and I was just like, 'There's no one coming to get me and I might as well take this one to the house.'
"I watch You Tube videos and knew the rule that you can go get it before 10 yards and I saw that little gap and took off.''
Selm said that Rural knew it was going to have to come up with big plays to hold off a talented Shawnee Heights team.
"A crazy game,'' Selm said. "Heights is really good and their offense can score and those dudes are all really good. They can throw the ball and catch the ball. They've got a ton of great athletes. Aiden Scott (Heights' star quarterback), I grew up with him and he can heave the ball, man.''
