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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After four years at Northwest Missouri State, and with a college degree in hand, Sophie McMullen thought she was ready to say goodbye to volleyball and move on with her life.
Washburn has given the McMullen sisters, Sophie (front) and Corinna, their first opportunity to play on the same volleyball team this fall. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"I was done at Northwest, I didn't really want to keep playing and I was like, 'I'll just be done playing. I graduated, I'll go get a job and do my thing,' '' McMullen said.
But a chance meeting with Washburn University coach Chris Herron and the opportunity to play with freshman sister Corinna brought Sophie back to the sport.
"I've always been friends with coach Herron,'' McMullen said. "He recruited me at a younger age so when Corinna was like, 'Yeah, I'm going to Washburn,' I was like, 'That's great, how fun.'
"I talked to coach at a tournament and told him I was done playing volleyball and he said, 'Why don't you come play with your sister? I would love to have you on my team, I've always wanted you on my team and why not?' ''
Playing on the same team was something the former Louisburg High School stars had discussed, but had faced the reality that it might never happen.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Thursday night's MIAA season-opening football matchup between a team that made the NCAA Playoffs a year ago and a team that was winless had all the makings of a rout.
And Washbun University made sure there were no surprises, with the Ichabods opening up a 31-0 lead on the way to a 45-3 romp at Yager Stadium.
Washburn senior star James Letcher Jr. scores the Ichabods' first touchdown of 2022 on a 69-yard reception. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
James Letcher Jr. (13) is congratulated by his Washburn teammates after a 69-yard touchdown Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Ichabod senior All-American James Letcher Jr. set the stage for the night when he turned a short pass from sophomore quarterback Kellen Simoncic into a 69-yard touchdown at the 11:11 mark of the opening quarter (Kameron Lake kick).
"I'm looking forward to not getting tackled this year so it was a great night for me,'' Letcher said. "I didn't get tackled too much on offense but we're going to work on the special teams. I'm trying not to get tackled on those either.''
Lake kicked a 28-yard field goal and Simoncic completed a 13-yard TD pass to Washburn Rural product Collin Wilson to make the score 17-0 Washburn at the end of the first quarter.
Sophomore Tyler Bowden scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns on runs of 5 and 14 yards before Lincoln got on the scoreboard with three seconds left in the first half on a 30-yard field goal from Javier Moreno.
Simoncic, making his second career start, completed 15 of 21 pass attempts for 351 yards and three TDs, adding a 17-yard TD pass to Peter Afful at the 11:45 mark of the third quarter.
Letcher said he and the rest of the Ichabods have a lot of faith in Simoncic.
"I've got a lot of confidence in him,'' Letcher said. "He's been working hard this spring and summer and you can see through his play that he has a lot more confidence in himself.
"I'm super-excited to see him grow throughout the season and see how much of a better player he becomes for us.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the first time since 2014, the Highland Park football team had a victory to celebrate Friday night, snapping a 65-game losing streak with a 60-47 Meadowlark Conference win over Kansas City-Wyandotte at Hummer Sports Park.
The Scots, who had not won since a 60-26 win over KC-Harmon in Week 2 of the '14 season, trailed Wyandotte by as much as nine points and had to come from behind five times in the contest, but rode a huge performance from senior star Tre Richardson and 26 unanswered points in the second half to the streak-snapping victory.
Highland Park celebrates Friday night's 60-47 win over Wyandotte, which snapped a 65-game losing streak dating back to 2014. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park's Jermaine Monroe gets doused with Gatorade after picking up his first win as the Scots' head coach in Friday's 60-47 win over Wyandotte. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I can't even hold it in right now,'' said an emotional Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe. "I know this community has been waiting a long time for this, I know these players have been waiting a long time for this.''
Richardson, who has orally committed to New Mexico State, carried the Scots on his back for most of the night, rushing for 224 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries, catching a 51-yard touchdown pass from senior Kei'Juan Johnson and throwing for a 44-yard TD to senior A'Ydren Drew-Gregory.
Highland Park senior Tre Richardson accumulated more than 400 all-purpose yards and had a hand in six Scot touchdowns in Friday's 60-47 win over Wyandotte. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I couldn't let the team down,'' Richardson said. "It was necessary to get past that streak and we did that. It feels amazing. What can they say about us now? We're 1-0.
"From the moment I woke up I knew it was going to be the game we broke the streak.''
Including 86 yards on two kick returns, Richardson finished the night with 405 all-purpose yards.
"I told him, 'Look, you just put the whole community on your back and you brought us a victory man,'' Monroe said. "Him and his teammates brought this victory in and I'm just so proud of my boys.
"The monkey's off our back and we've got to get back to coaching because we don't to have just a one-win season, we want to win multiple games.''
Sophomore Jamon Wilson added 92 rushing yards for the Scots, including a 41-yard TD run, on nine carries while Johnson threw for the touchdown to Richardson and also ran for a score and Drew-Gregory added a second touchdown on a 95-yard Pick-6 which turned out to be one of the biggest -- and strangest -- plays in a game that lasted well over three hours and included more than 200 total penalty yards.
With Wyandotte leading 25-22 and threatening to add to its lead, Drew-Gregory picked off a Shaun Carter pass at the Highland Park 5-yard-line and raced down the sideline into the end zone on the final play of the first half, beginning his TD celebration just before he got into the end zone.
And that's when things got weird.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University football will kick off its 130th season at 6 p.m. on Thursday when the Ichabods host Lincoln in an MIAA contest in Yager Stadium.
And veteran WU coach Craig Schurig said it's definitely time to get things going.
All-American James Letcher Jr. is a top returner for Washburn University, which went 9-3 and made the NCAA Playoffs last fall. [File photo]
The veteran Ichabods are coming off a 9-3 season, a second-place tie in the MIAA standings and an NCAA playoff berth.
"Luckily, with kind of a veteran crew, you feel like we're ready to play,'' Schurig said. "Some years you're like, 'Man, I wish we had another week,' but we don't need another week. We need to play.''
Washburn will be facing a Lincoln team, picked 12th in the MIAA, that went 0-10 a year ago and has 59 true freshmen on its roster with just 24 juniors and seniors.
Washburn took a 76-12 road win in Jefferson City, Mo. last fall.
Thursday is definitely a game the Ichabods should win, but Schurig said there are several things WU wants to accomplish.
"I want us to play well and really execute on offense because I feel like we're kind of a veteran group on offense,'' he said. "You're not going to be mistake free in the first game but we want to execute at a high level and get guys an opportunity to show what they can do, distribute the ball well, get a lot of first downs and move the ball.
"Defensively I think we're pretty fast and we haven't had the chance to tackle a quarterback and do those kind of things because we've been going against each other, so we'll get a chance to see the physicality of our defense.''
Schurig said the Ichabods got through preseason camp in relatively good shape physically and said he was pleased with the progress the Ichabods have made.
"It feels like the guys played aggressively toward each other, they were very competitive, and we did pretty well (getting ready),'' Schurig said.
Washburn is 79-46-6 all-time in season-openers and 2-0 when playing the Blue Tigers in the first game of the season.
The Ichabods have won their last seven games played in Yager Stadium, which is the 10th-longest streak in the NCAA D2 ranks starting the season. The longest streak in the nation belongs to Northwest Missouri at 12 games.
The Ichabods, picked fourth in the MIAA preseason media and coaches polls, averaged 32.5 points last season while allowing 21.9 points per game.
Washburn All-American James Letcher Jr. ranked 10th last season in the NCAA in all-purpose yards, averaging 154.7 yards per game, and he was fourth in the NCAA in combined kick returns and ninth in the nation in kickoff returns averaging 28.5 per attempt.
Peter Afful was 19th in the nation in yards per reception at 19.3 per catch, which was second in the MIAA.
The Ichabod offensive line returns four of its five starters from last season -- C.J. Murray (right tackle), Jacob Glendinning (right guard), Bergan Hofer (left guard) and Andrew Funk (left tackle).
On defense the Ichabods return six of their top eight tackle leaders from 2021.
Peyton Lane had 70 tackles last season while Kevin Neal Jr. had 65 stops, Grant Bruner 60 tackles in seven games, Channon Ross 42 stops, Jordan Finnesy 41 and Landen Urban 38.
Urban was second on the team with 12 tackles for loss and his six sacks were also second on the team.
Washburn will travel to Central Missouri on Sept. 8.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University sophomore quarterback Kellen Simoncic was a very valuable backup for the Ichabods a year ago, coming on when All-MIAA quarterback Mitch Schurig went down with an injury and helping WU post two of its biggest wins in a 9-3 campaign.
Sophomore Kellen Simoncic will start the 2022 season as Washburn University's No. 1 quarterback after serving as a valuable backup last season. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Now, with the graduated Schurig moving into a coaching role for Washburn, Simoncic is in a transitional stage of his own, taking over as "The Guy'' as the Ichabods get set to open the 2022 season at Yager Stadium Thursday night against Lincoln (6 p.m. kickoff).
"I feel very comfortable,'' said Simoncic, a 6-foot-3, 205-pounder out of Smithville, Mo. "Credit to all my teammates that have given me a lot of confidence. When your teammates believe in you it really helps out mentally for yourself. I feel really good.
"I've really been working on my leadership side of everything and trying to be a servant leader to everybody and serve others the best that I can. That's how my parents taught me to do things and that's how I try to do things around here.''
Simoncic redshirted as a WU freshman and had the 2020 season canceled due to COVID before seeing his first on-field action last fall, appearing in seven games with one start.
Simoncic completed 42 of 81 pass attempts for 525 yards and six touchdowns in 2021, including a clutch relief appearance in a 17-16 win over No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri.
