- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: TopSports.news has finished its tour of preseason football practices at all 10 Shawnee County high schools and will post preview stories over the coming days leading into the opening games of the 2022 season Sept. 1-3.
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You don't graduate nearly 30 seniors and not feel it, a fact no one knows better than 20-year Shawnee Heights head football coach Jason Swift.
But while the T-Birds aren't loaded with a ton of experience, Swift is counting on the veterans the T-Birds do have, as well the momentum gained from a strong second half of the 2021 season, to make Heights a competitive team on Friday nights.
Shawnee Heights head football coach Jason Swift, who is starting his 20th year at the school, is counting on a small but experienced group of seniors to lead the T-Birds to success this fall. [File photo/TSN]
"Losing 27 seniors and bringing in 10 seniors it looks like (we're short of experience) on paper, but a lot of our 10 seniors had roles with us on Friday night and several of them have two years of starting experience,'' said Swift, whose T-Birds are coming off a 5-5 season.
"We have several senior starters coming back and then we started seven sophomores last year, so even though we lost 27 seniors I think we have some experience. I just don't have a great deal of experience.''
And Swift doesn't want to downplay the fact that Heights has holes to fill this fall.
"We're returning five or six starters on both sides of the ball so we're middle of the road, but we lost a lot of awfully good football players,'' he said. "With 10 seniors I would say a majority of our starters will be juniors.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: TopSports.news has finished its tour of preseason football practices at all 10 Shawnee County high schools and will post preview stories over the coming days leading into the opening games of the 2022 season Sept. 1-3.
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Jared Swafford was very pleased with how Year 1 as Seaman's head football coach went.
The Vikings posted a respectable 6-4 record and were competitive from start to finish.
Seaman football coach Jared Swafford demonstrates a technique to his Vikings during a preason practice. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Swafford admits there's just a higher comfort level this fall as he and the Vikings begin a new year.
"There definitely is,'' Swafford. "I think from just even the kids' standpoint I can see that. They're more familiar with the way that things are going to operate now and practice procedures, offfseason procedures, all those types of things.
"That allows our older guys to now help lead the younger guys. We didn't necessarily have that last year. Not the kids' fault, but it was new to everybody. Now we have that level of comfort for everybody I think and you get into practice and things just kind of start to run themselves. There's always hiccups, but we feel really good about it right now.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Jacob Anderson
Jacob Anderson, Seaman
Anderson, a junior, is being counted on by new Seaman coach Tim Nussbaum to make an immediate impact for the Vikings in the 2022 season, coming over to the soccer program this fall after playing football a year ago.
Easton Bradstreet
Easton Bradstreet, Washburn Rural
A senior, Bradstreet helped the Junior Blues post a 19-1-0 record, including a runner-up finish in Class 6A and a 27th straight Centennial League championship (outright or shared) last fall. Bradstreet received first-team All-Centennial League recognition and All-City honorable mention after scoring 17 goals and dishing out eight assists.
Chris Brown
Chris Brown, Topeka High
Brown was named the Centennial League newcomer of the year as a freshman. A forward, Brown earned second-team All-Centennial League recognition and received All-City honorable mention.
Vellamy Diaz, Highland Park
Diaz, a senior forward, was a first-team All-City and All-Centennial League selection for Highland Park as a junior.
Jordan Garvin
Jordan Garvin, Shawnee Heights
Garvin helped Shawnee Heights win the United Kansas Conference championship last fall with a 9-1 record, earning second-team All-UKC honors. Garvin received All-City honorable mention.
Isaac Gonzalez-Talavera
Isaac Gonzalez-Talavera, Topeka West
Gonzalez-Talavera, who earned All-Centennial League honorable mention last season as a sophomore, will be counted on to provide leadership for the Chargers, who will be looking to take a step forward this fall after going 0-15-1 a year ago.
Chris Hayes
Chris Hayes, Hayden
A senior, Hayes helped the Wildcats reach the Class 4A state quarterfinals last fall, earning second-team All-Centennial League recognition and All-City honorable mention.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: TopSports.news has finished its tour of preseason football practices at all 10 Shawnee County high schools and will post preview stories over the coming days leading into the opening games of the 2022 season Sept. 1-3.
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Rossville graduated some very talented seniors off last year's Bulldawg team that claimed a second straight Class 2A state title while running its winning streak to 26 games with a second straight 13-0 season.
But although the players may change, Rossville coach Derick Hammes says the Bulldawgs' expectations to challenge for a state championship never will.
Kade Perine (left) is a top returner on both sides of the ball for two-time defending Class 2A state champion Rossville. [File photo/TSN]
Rossville coach Derick Hammes has led the Bulldawgs to five state titles over the past eight seasons, including two straight. [File photo/TSN]
"Not here, and that's not just from the community,'' said Hammes, who has led Rossville to five state titles over the past eight seasons. "We expect things from ourselves, too, so expectations are going to be high.
"We want to succeed, we want to win, we want to be the best we can be and I think it's more just having pride in yourself versus having something to prove to somebody else. I think we just kind of have a pride among ourselves to be the best we can be.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: TopSports.news has finished its tour of preseason football practice at all 10 Shawnee County high schools and will be posting preview stories over the coming days leading into the opening games of the 2022 season Sept. 1-3.
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Most of Highland Park's football players were about nine or 10 years old the last time the Scots won a varsity football game, with the most recent time Hi Park tasted victory coming in a 60-26 win over Kansas City-Harmon in the second game of the 2014 season.
Since then Highland Park has suffered 65 straight defeats and second-year Scots coach Jermaine Monroe knows it's way past time for the program to put that frustrating skid in the past.
"I have a list of goals every year that I look at and I was staring at my goals all summer long and I ended deleting the whole Google doc and I just put, 'Win,' '' Monroe said. "My one and only goal this year is win, and that's what I told the boys.''
Highland Park senior Tre Richardson, who has orally committed to New Mexico State, was a TSN All-Shawnee County Top 22 selection last season. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Kei'Juan Johnson (7) returns to quarterback Highland Park this season as the Scots look to snap a 65-game losing streak. [File photo/TSN]
Highland Park has had some close calls over the past seven seasons since its last victory -- two losses by a single point, two by two points and another by just four points -- and the numbers-strapped Scots held leads in multiple games a year ago before running out of gas in the second half.
"I think our guys, even in the losses that we had, were very resilient,'' Monroe said. "Our guys came out to play and now our goal this year is to finish games. Last year we were leading games, we were leading at half and we were happy about that, but we just didn't finish. There were a few games that we were up by a few touchdowns and we ended up losing when we started gassing out.
"We want to be in the best shape that we can be in and be competitive enough to finish games. That's the goal.''
