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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 2024 season on Sept. 6.
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Silver Lake football will begin competition in a new league and a new district this fall, but the main focus for the tradition-rich Eagles will continue to be on putting themselves in the Class 2A title picture.
Third-year Silver Lake coach Logan Pegram talks to his Eagles during a preseason practice. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Eagles, who are coming off an 8-2 record in 2023, are now a member of the 11-school Big East League, which has the potential to be one of the state's premier small-school leagues, and will compete in 2A District 3 but third-year Silver Lake coach Logan Pegram said it will be business usual for his team.
"We're just kind of worried about us,'' said Pegram, a former Silver Lake standout. "Not in a selfish way, but we can only control what we can control and I think our kids are looking foward to the challenge.
"Everybody's like, 'Oh man, that new league you're in,' but KSHSAA kind of dictates our districts and our districts are also no slouch. There's quality teams in there and there's going to be a good team not in the playoff race.''
But as is the case every season, Silver Lake's expectations will remain the same as the Eagles take aim on the ninth state title in program history.
"Our expectations are pretty clear,'' Pegram said. "I think anyone that knows us knows how we define success and our kids know that. We're honest with them and all six of us coaches played here, so we know the expectations and we define success with footballs (state titles) on the fence over there.
"We haven't gotten there yet, but we're going to keep working.''
Logan Pegram's Silver Lake Eagles will be looking to take another step this fall after an 8-2 campaign in 2023. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Silver Lake has posted a 14-5 record over Pegram's first two seasons and the Eagle coach said his team turned in a solid offseason as it looks to take another step this fall.
"We did a great job,'' Pegram said. "We had a lot of kids out here getting better and we had a lot of kids that are stepping up and really embracing the challenge of replacing some of our talented seniors that left.''
Prep parade: Shawnee Heights counting on newcomers to deliver after graduating talented senior class
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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 2024 season on Sept. 6.
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After graduating 20 of 22 starters on offense and defense from last year's 8-3 team, veteran Shawnee Heights coach Jason Swift can either look at the T-Birds' lack of varsity experience as a problem or as an opportunity for those players remaining in the program.
Veteran Shawnee Heights football coach Jason Swift talks to his team after a preseason practice. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Swift, who is starting his 22nd season at Heights, is taking the latter approach.
"We lost all 11 starters on offense and we lost nine starters on defense so we're starting the year with two potential starters that started last year on defense and other than that it's everybody's chance to go find a spot,'' Swift said. "It's an awesome opportunity for all those young guys because now you're not fighting for three or four positions, you're fighting for 20 positions.
"We go by the mantra of, 'Work while you wait,' so they've been waiting for their opportunity and it comes down to how much work they have put in and we're going to see. I'm excited about it.''
Swift feels like the T-Birds set the tone for a productive season with their work in the offseason.
"The way we improved throughout the summer has me feeling really good about the season,'' Swift said. "I think we're going to continually grow because in the summer we strived to get better every day. We had a great turnout in the summer. We had some football opportunities and we had the kids there.
"The buy-in was phenomenal and our growth from May 28th to July 18th was night and day and we expect the same thing from Week 1 to Week 3 to Week 6 and throughout the season.''
Junior Tyren Parker is a top returner for Shawnee Heights, which is coming off an 8-3 season in 2023. [File photo/TSN]
The T-Birds return 20 lettermen, led by returning defensive starters Parker Busenitz, a senior safety, and junior Tyren Parker, a junior defensive back. Heights also returns junior kicker Camden Granado.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Turnpike Tussle is a big game no matter when it's played.
But the fact that Thursday's 7 p.m. Washburn-Emporia State showdown at Welch Stadium is the 2024 season-opener for both schools adds a little extra lustre to the 120th meeting between the two rivals.
Craig Schurig, the winningest football coach in Washburn University history, will begin his 23rd season Thursday night at Emporia State. [File photo/TSN]
"You could play anyone on opening night and you're excited, but Emporia adds excitement and then Emporia's a good football team and they return a lot from last year's team that was one of the best in the conference so you're also anxious for that, too,'' Washburn coach Craig Schurig said. "You put all those things together and it certainly adds to the enthusiasm and that's what these guys want to be involved in so this is exactly what you want.''
Washburn senior defensive back Caeden Spencer agreed that playing the Hornets in the opener adds a different aspect to the rivalry.
"It does feel a little weird,'' Spencer said. "Usually it's midseason -- Week 5, Week 6 -- but starting out with them first it's a pretty exciting first game for us.
"I don't think that there's really a better way to start than to have them first. I haven't beaten Emporia yet in my career and this is the final one, so we've got to get it done.''
Emporia State coach Garin Higgins said that ESU-WU is a highligh no matter when the game is played.
"Whether it's the first game of the year or the 10th game of the year it's still the same,'' Higgins said. "At the beginning of the year, the first game, you're going to get a lot of college students all coming back and they're looking for something to do, 'Well go to the game on Thursday night.' I think there's little added excitement there.
"I like it and I think it's good for Division II football.''
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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 2024 season on Sept. 6.
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At some point in its building process, most every high school football program needs that one signature win that propels it from pretty good to a state contender.
Jared Swafford's Seaman Vikings are coming off a 6-5 record and a trip to the Class 5A state quarterfinals last fall. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Jared Swafford's is hopeful that last season's 31-28 second-round playoff win over No. 1 East seed De Soto was that kind of victory for his Seaman Vikings.
"It had been 2016 since we had gotten past that second round and I think this was one of those things that we can hopefully build off of,'' Swafford said. "It was a close game, we find a way to win, and we did the same thing against Piper at one point, but there were three other games in there (two losses by 3 points and one by 7) where we were close and you get tired of being close and I know the kids do.
"It would have been really easy to shut it down at that point, but they kept working and kept working and kept working and in the playoffs got to see some of that pay off. I think it's somthing to build off of and help motivate kids and just continue to push the program forward.''
Seaman was sitting at 3-4 after a stretch that saw the Vikings drop four of five games, but the Vikings won three of their last four games, with their lone loss coming against 5A champion Mill Valley, to finish at 6-5.
And Swafford, who is entering his fourth season at Seaman, said his Vikings have rode that momentum through the offseason to get ready for the upcoming 2024 campaign.
"It's the most motivated I've ever seen a collective group without a doubt and everybody that's out here now only knows me as a head coach and what we do now, so I think as far as continuing to build and progress in the way we want to they are hungry, they are excited,'' Swafford said. "We have 120 kids out there again, so we've got great numbers and the numbers in the summer were amazing so we've got really good things going and I'm proud of the work ethic that the kids put in.''
- 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 2024 season on Sept. 6.
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Rossville is facing a lot of new heading into the 2024 football season -- a new league (Big East), a new classification (Class 1A) and an earlier than usual showdown with arch rival Silver Lake.
Derick Hammes' Rossville Bulldawgs make the move to Class 1A and the Big East League this fall. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But veteran coach Derick Hammes said his Bulldawgs are approaching all the changes with a positive attitude while keeping the same goal they've always had, to put themselves in the state title picture.
Rossville, which has captured five state championships in Hammes' previous 11 seasons at the school, begins its first season in the new 11-school Big East League, which also includes Nemaha Central (Class 2A), Riley County (2A), Royal Valley (2A), Sabetha (2A), Silver Lake (2A), St. Marys (2A), Hiawatha (3A), Holton (3A), Jefferson West (3A) and Perry-Lecompton (3A).
"In our league schedule we'll have two common opponents from our the old Mid-East League,'' Hammes said. "We were able to maintain the rivalry with Silver Lake and St. Marys and then we have Nemaha Central the third game and in my 12 years here I think we've ran into them seven or eight times, so it's probably not a big change for us but I think overall it's going to be a good thing for all the communities and schools that are in the new league.''
The longstanding Rossville-Silver Lake rivalry game has normally been played later in the year, but with the Bulldawgs and Eagles now in different classifications the storied "War on 24'' will kick off the 2024 campaign for both schools on Sept. 6 at Silver Lake.
"I'm looking forward to it because we've been able to make that a point of emphasis through the course of the summer,'' Hammes said. "We remind the kids who they open up with and I think we get a little extra out of them and I'm sure they do as well, so let's play it, let's get it going and it will be a good opportunity for us and we'll find out early with the schedule that we have what we're going to need to do as a football team to compete.''
