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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The “War on 24” could’ve been the most highly anticipated matchup of the year, with the No. 1-ranked Rossville Bulldawgs traveling five miles to battle with their rival, No. 2-ranked Silver Lake.
Silver Lake had won four out of the last five appearances heading into Friday night, but Eagles couldn’t keep the hot streak going as the Bulldawgs came from behind for a 24-19 win in front of a packed house at Silver Lake.
Rossville Derrick Hammes knew Friday would be the biggest stress test of the season for the undefeated Bulldawgs, now 7-0.
“We finally were faced with some adversity,'' Hammes said. "We knew how tough this team (Silver Lake) was. We executed the game plan well and I thought we did a good job.”
Rossville senior Corey Catron flashes the No. 1 sign as he scores a touchdown in the Bulldawgs' 24-19 win over rival Silver Lake Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The defenses for both sides played a big part in the contest early.
Silver Lake was able to drive the ball down the field on the first drive of the game but Rossville denied the Eagles from scoring.
On the other side, Rossville was able to take a 3-0 lead on a 29-yard Pedro Arantes field goal on the first drive for the Bulldawgs.
In the second quarter, Rossville quarterback Torrey Horak turned up the volume. A series of quick slant passes, bubble screens, draws and option runs took the Dawgs down to Eagle territory in the middle of the second quarter.
Horak ended off the drive by running it in for a 2-yard rushing touchdown. This would give Rossville a 10-0 lead at the half.
Rossville was put in a tough situation during Friday’s contest, with Horak leaving the game due to an upper-body injury.
After the injury, Silver Lake took advantage of the situation and put up a couple of quick touchdowns to take a lead.
Silver Lake quarterback Daigan Kruger ran for two touchdowns and threw for a TD in the Eagles' 24-19 loss to Rossville. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake quarterback Daigan Kruger and running back Brogan Renfro didn’t make life easy for the Bulldawgs, coming up with big plays to spark the Eagles' offense.
Senior running back Corey Catron stepped up to the plate for Rossville with his front five offensive linemen and went to work.
Catron stepped in to play quarterback and made clutch passes followed by huge chunk running plays to help key Rossville's win..
After Friday's heartbreaking loss, Silver Lake (5-2) will hit the road and take on a tough Pleasant Ridge (5-2) team. Rossville (7-0) will make the trip up to Mission Valley (2-5) and collide with the Vikings.
“We are looking forward to a great week of practice,'' Hammes said. "We have some work to do, but I think tonight was a step in the right direction.”
ROSSVILLE 24, SILVER LAKE 19
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Coming off a big road win over Manhattan the week before, the Washburn Rural Junior Blues were back at home and taking on the Highland Park Scots.
The Junior Blues continued to roll while the Scots continued to struggle as Washburn Rural ran away with a 58-18 Centennial League win.
“I was happy with the performance early, and we were able to get some young guys into the game and get them some experience on a Friday night, but the most important thing is we got our sixth win,” said Rural coach Steve Buhler.
It was Highland Park which scored first, when junior Tyrell Reed took a rush 71 yards for a touchdown on just the fourth play of the game, providing a 6-0 lead.
That would be the last lead for the Scots as Washburn Rural scored a touchdown of its own four plays later on a pass from sophomore Branton DeWeese to senior Robby Bolin. That was one of two touchdown passes on the day from DeWeese.
Bolin would follow the play with a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown to double the lead.
Washburn Rural's JC Heim (25) celebrates a touchdown with teammate Shane Sexton during Friday's 58-18 Centennial League win over Highland Park. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The Junior Blues would score three more touchdowns in the quarter, including two from sophomore JC Heim on the ground.
“Our run game and our offensive line was amazing up front and the pass game did really well,” said Heim.
Two 35-yard passing scores from Washburn Rural in the second quarter would make it a 51-6 game at halftime as the offense continued to roll and the defense was suffocating.
“We talked about how we need to gang tackle and everyone needs to come to the ball, we did pretty good,” Heim said.
Washburn Rural's defense sacks Highland Park quarterback Kellan Spruce during Friday's 58-18 Rural win over the Scots. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The longest play for the Junior Blues came in the third quarter when junior Dayten Smoot took a 49-yard pass from junior Aiden Boleski for a touchdown.
The Scots would score twice in the final quarter including an 83-yard run from junior Tre Richardson right before time expired with the game ending 58-16.
The win moved Washburn Rural to 6-1 on the year while Highland Park fell to 0-7.
Washburn Rural will be back in action next Friday, hosting Seaman for Senior Night.
“It’s a big game for both of us, we got a lot at stake in the brackets that we are playing for so I am looking forward to a great game,” said Buhler.
WASHBURN RURAL 58, HIGHLAND PARK 18
Highland Park (0-7) 6 0 0 12
Washburn Rural (6-1) 37 14 7 0
First quarter
Highland Park -- Reed 71 run (conversion failed)
Washburn Rural -- Bolin 17 pass from DeWeese (Smoot kick)
Washburn Rural -- Bolin 27 interception return (Smoot kick)
Washburn Rural -- Lukas Hanks 3 pass from DeWeese (Smoot kick)
Washburn Rural -- Heim 16 run (Smoot kick)
Washburn Rural -- Team safety
Washburn Rural -- Heim 30 run (Smoot kick)
Second quarter
Washburn Rural -- Tibbetts 35 pass from DeWeese (Smoot kick)
Washburn Rural -- Sabbarini 35 pass from Boleski (Smoot kick)
Third quarter
Washburn Rural -- Smoot 49 pass from Boleski (Smoot kick)
Fourth quarter
Highland Park -- Drew-Gregory 6 pass from Spruce (conversion failed) 58-12
Highland Park -- Tre Richarson 83 run (conversion failed) 58-18
Individual statistics
Rushing- Highland Park: Reed 15-98, Richardson, 2-83, Spruce 7-2, James 4-6, Crawford 1-7. Washburn Rural: Heim 7-93, Keller 2-16, Krueger 3-1, Leonard, 1-5.
Passing- Highland Park: Spruce 6-11-1, 63 yards. Washburn Rural DeWeese 5-7-0, 102; Boleski 3-4-0, 87; Leonard 1-2-0 9.
Receiving- Highland Park: Drew-Gregory 4-35, McNair 1-2, Richardson, 1-26. Washburn Rural -- Tibbetts 2-72, Smoot 1-49, Sabbarini 1-33, Bolin 1-17, Hanks 2-13, #39 1-9(Not listed on roster), Hayes 1-5.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's offense ran a little hot and cold Friday night against Topeka High, coming up with some big plays, but missing out on some other scoring opportunities.
But the Viking defense was a constant, posting its second shutout of the season in a 20-0 Centennial League win over the Trojans on Senior Night at Seaman.
Seaman, which improved to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the league, limited Topeka High (2-5, 2-4) to just 53 yards of total offense while limiting Trojan senior star Tylan Alejos, who had a 400-yard, eight-touchdown game two weeks earlier, to just 55 yards on 25 carries.
"We treated it just like it was anyone else,'' Seaman senior Braden Colley said. "We knew we could dominate, we could stop the run. We knew we could do it and we weren't worried. We weren't scared at all.
"I thought we played really well. Any time you can keep a doughnut on the board of course you played well. We stayed pretty sound with minimal mistakes and we had a good game.''
Seaman coach Jared Swafford agreed.
"When you watch film you know what (Alejos) is capable of and they've got a big offensive line that does a nice job,'' Swafford said. "He's a heck of a runner and he runs hard and we knew we needed to rally to the ball and we put extra emphasis on that.
"We knew he's a big part of what they try to do and we wanted to take that away.''
Camden Barta .
Topeka High came up with some big defensive plays of its own and the Trojans were still very much in the game into the fourth quarter, trailing by just a 10-0 margin before Seaman broke the game open with a 44-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Camden Barta to senior Brody Gormley with 11:13 remaining.
Viking senior Gavin Wilhelm added his second field goal of the night, a 26-yarder, later in the fourth to account for the final margin.
Seaman turned the ball over on downs to end its first possession of the game after getting as deep as the High 24-yard-line, but the Vikings got on the board midway through the second quarter after a Topeka High mis-play in the punt game led to a 39-yard Wilhelm field goal with 7:07 left before halftime.
Wilhelm's field goal came after Topeka High punted the ball into the back of a Trojan blocker, allowing Seaman to take over at the High 32.
The Vikings got to the Trojan 15, but High's defense stiffened at that point, forcing Seaman to settle for the field goal.
After forcing a High punt, Seaman used a 31-yard pass play from Barta to senior Casen Stallbaumer and a 27-yard pass from Barta to senior P.J. Vargas to set up the game's first touchdown, a 9-yard Barta run with 3:20 left in the half (Wilhelm kick).
The score remained 10-0 through the third quarter as the Vikings missed a pair of field goal attempts, but Seaman put the game out of reach with the Gormley TD.
Barta completed 15 of 24 passes on the night for 158 yards and a TD while Stallbaumer had eight catches for 63 yards. Barta rushed for a team-high 29 yards on nine carries.
Seaman will travel to Washburn Rural to face the 6-1 Junior Blues next Friday while Topeka High will take on USD 501 rival Topeka West at Hummer Sports Park.
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THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The grass, or in the case of college football, the turf, isn't always greener elsewhere and Washburn University star receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. is thankful he figured that out before making a life-changing decision.
Washburn star receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. is having another banner season for the 4-2 Ichabods, who host Northwest Missouri on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
There was a recurring rumor this past spring and summer that Letcher was mulling over the possibility of entering the NCAA Transfer Portal and trying to make the jump to a Division I program.
The rumor wasn't that hard to believe, considering the fact that Letcher was coming off an All-MIAA year in 2019 and that the transfer portal had became the 'in' thing to do for players all over the country.
But while the former Piper star admits that he did consider all his options during the Ichabods' long layoff due to COVID-19, he also knows he made the right decision in staying right where he was.
"A lot of it was just talk, a lot of it was looking at things,'' Letcher said. "I got pulled into a bit of the conversation because my roommate, Collin Wilson, ended up entering the transfer portal. Since we were so close and we were kind of feeding off each other back in 2019, I could see why people thought that.There were some long talks I had with a few of my teammates and my family back home and I feel like we all made the right decision for me to stick it out here.
"This is definitely home and it's right down the street from my personal home. I've been here so long I've got good connections with the coaches and the players and it was the right decision for me to stay.''
There were several family and football factors that entered into Letcher's decision to remain at Washburn.
For one thing, Letcher wanted to be close to home to help his father, a former football star himself, recover from serious health problems.
"He ended up getting sick right before COVID hit with his gallbladder,'' Letcher said. "He had to get that removed and he ended up having a lot more complications with that. He ended up having two massive strokes and went into a coma, but he's doing much better now. He's getting back to his old self and walking a lot better than he was and he's getting his feet back under him.''
Over the summer Letcher spent a lot of time in Kansas City, Kan. doing what he could to help out.
"That's one of the main reasons I stayed home, so he could see me working hard and I could see him getting better and better.every day.''
Washburn star James Letcher Jr. has caught 34 passes for 559 yards and six TDs for the 4-2 Ichabods. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Another major consideration was the fact that Letcher knew the 2021 season could be a big one for himself and the Ichabods.
That is proving to be true thus far, with Washburn taking a 4-2 record into Saturday's home tilt with undefeated and second-ranked Northwest Missouri State (1 p.m. kickoff) while Letcher has caught 34 passes for 559 yards (16.4 yards per catch) and six touchdowns and ranks 13th in the nation in all-purpose yards with 158.8 yards per game.
Letcher and the Ichabods are coming off a big 23-20 overtime win over Fort Hays State, with Letcher hauling in the 19-yard game-winning touchdown pass from senior quarterback Mitch Schurig. On the day Letcher had five catches for 56 yards and two TDs.
"It was great, it felt amazing,'' Letcher said. "It's always good to get another 'W' under our belts, especially coming off a hard loss (35-30 at Emporia State). It's good to get the momentum back and we've got to keep it going.
"Me and my teammates know it's going to be a dogfight every game and we're going to have to fight to the best of our ability.''
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys soccer team has been looking for its elusive first win all season and the Chargers came oh so close Thursday on Senior Night at Hummer Sports Park before dropping a 1-0 overtime decision to Centennial League rival Hayden.
The Chargers have shown signs of improvement from week to week and heads were held high after Thursday's close call.
Hayden midfielder Nick Padilla was the hero for Hayden, taking the ball off a throw-in with 7:14 left in the fiirst overtime and drilling it in the goal from midfield.
The first half was all defense, with Hayden’s Ty Schroeder, Michael Sandstorm, Tyler Broxterman, Ethan Christy and Daxton Ham preventing the Chargers from getting any open space in Wildcat territory.
On the flip side, West also did its part in shutting down Hayden in the first half. Isaac Gonzalez, Carmelo Foy, Caleb Noonoo and Jackson Snyder were flying all over the field, keeping the Wildcats silent offensively.
The second half remained a stalemate for the Chargers and Wildcats.
Outstanding efforts from Hayden goalkeeper Gabe Rankey and Topeka West goalkeeper Giann Perez kept the scoreboard empty, forcing overtime.
Hayden goalkeeper Rankey was a wall all night long that Topeka West couldn’t get through, earning the shutout.
HAYDEN1, TOPEKA WEST 0
Hayden (9-5) 0 0 1 -- 1
Topeka West (0-13-1) 0 0 0 -- 0
Hayden -- Goal: Padilla. Shutout: Rankey.
