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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University football opened the Zach Watkins era with a hard-earned 20–17 win non-conference win over Truman State Saturday afternoon at Yager Stadium.
Washburn (1-0) had to overcome a 10-0 first-quarter deficit and scored 20 unanswered points to take a 20-10 lead before using a clutch drive to run the final 4 minutes, 20 seconds off the clock and close out the victory in front of 4,025 fans.
Zach Watkins picked up his first win as a head coach on Saturday, with Washburn topping Truman State 20-17 in Yager Stadium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Wins will never come easy, especially in the MIAA and with a quality, playoff-caliber opponent like Truman State, so that was a great game for us to overcome some early adversity, battle back when things weren't going our way, and then to end the game with the offense on the field closing the game out was really special,'' Watkins said.
Saturday's win was not only a successful debut for Watkins as a head coach but was a big day for quarterback Justin Lewis and place-kicker Aidan Battle in their first games as Ichabods.
Justin Lewis passed for 352 yards and two touchdowns in Washburn's 20-17 season-opening win over Truman State Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Lewis, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound graduate transfer from Merrimack, completed 33 of 42 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns on the day and at one point completed a school and MIAA single-game record 20 straight passes.
Battle, a 5-6, 170 Butler Community College transfer, was also a difference-maker for Washburn, contributing eight points on the day with two field goals and two extra points, including a 51-yard field goal with 10:27 remaining that proved to be the difference in the game.
"We knew he had the leg strength and a little bit of wind and we knew we could get there, so I'll never shy away with him back there,'' Watkins said.
Former MIAA foe Truman State (0-1) struck first, marching 68 yards in nine plays before quarterback Dylan Hair found Jackson Overton for a 23-yard touchdown at the 8:22 mark of the opening quarter.
Truman added to its lead later in the quarter on a 32-yard field goal from Vinni Calvaruso to go up 10–0, but Washburn dominated the second quarter behind Lewis and junior wide receiver Chase Allen-Jackman.
Lewis connected with Allen-Jackman for a 16-yard touchdown to put the Ichabods (1-0) on the board.
Then, after Battle connected on a 37-yard field goal to tie the game at 10–10 midway through the second quarter, Lewis and Allen-Jackman connected again with 55 seconds left before halftime, this time from 27 yards out to give Washburn a 17–10 halftime advantage.
"That guy's unbelievable,'' Lewis said of Allen-Jackman. "He's done an awesome job since the spring, just me and him having communication on the field. I trust him that he's going to get open every single time, he's a tough guy to guard.''
Neither team was able to break through in the third quarter before Battle connected on his clutch 51-yard field goal early in the fourth stanza to give WU its biggest lead of the game at 20-10. Battle's 51-yarder was one yard shy of the school record of 52 yards set in 1972 by Russ Hill against Northern Colorado and Charles Goodnight against Emporia State in 1985.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabods will open their 135th season of football and their first season under Zach Watkins at 1 p.m. on Saturday as WU will host former MIAA foe Truman State in Yager Stadium.
Zach Watkins will make his debut as Washburn's head football coach on Saturday when the Ichabods host Truman State in a 1 p.m. contest at Yager Stadium. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods are coming off a 3-8 2024 season, going 2-7 in the MIAA, while Truman State went 8-4 last fall and 6-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference before ending the season with a 29-10 win over Tiffin in the America's Crossroads Bowl.
Watkins was named the 38th head coach in Washburn program history on Nov. 26, 2024, becoming the first Ichabod alum to fill the top spot on the Ichabod sidelines in more than 30 years. Watkins spent the previous 11 seasons as the co-defensive coordinator on the WU coaching staff.
Watkins was a four-year starter at linebacker for Washburn (2006–09), recording 100-plus tackles each season, finishing with a school-record 473 career tackles (third all-time in NCAA Division II at the time).
Watkins said it's time for the Ichabods to play a game.
"Absolutely,'' Watkins said. "The offensive and defensive guys have gone at each other for three weeks now, plus all the captain-led summer practices, and it's time to play somebody else.
"You think you're ready to play a game and you hope you're ready, but you just don't know until you strap it up against somebody else.''
The Ichabods and Bulldogs have not met since Truman State's last season in the MIAA before joining the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the 2013 season. Washburn topped the Bulldogs 35-24 on Oct. 13, 2012 in Topeka in the most recent meeting in the series.
Ichabod head coaches are 22-16-2 in their first game on the Washburn sidelines, with Dennis Caryl the last Ichabod head coach to win his Washburn debut in a 13-7 win at Missouri S&T on Sept. 1, 1990.
Division I transfer quarterback Justin Lewis (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) and Division I transfer running back Ky Thomas (5-11, 205) are slated to make their first starts for the Ichabods against the Bulldogs.
Lewis transferred from Merrimack while former Topeka High star Thomas transferred from Kent State after previously playing at Minnesota and Kansas.
Sophomore linebacker L.J. Minner Jr. (6-0, 205) led Washburn with 103 tackles last fall (59 solo) while senior safety Jordan Finnesy (6-1, 200) had 89 tackles (49 solo).
Like Watkins, Finnesy said the time has come for the Ichabods to line up against another team.
"We're ready to just get out there and face an opponent other than our teammates,'' Finnesy said. "Obviously with camps and stuff we've just been butting heads offense-defense and making each other better, but you can only do that so much and it's time to face an opponent.
"We'll be ready for that and excited for that on Saturday.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After posting an outstanding 27-6 record over a three-year span from 2021-2023, Washburn Rural football struggled to a 3-6 mark last season.
Veteran Washburn Rural football coach Steve Buhler is starting his 13th season at Rural, with the Junior Blues coming off a 3-6 record last fall after going 11-1 and advancing to the Class 6A semifinals in 2023. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
This fall Steve Buhler's Junior Blues will be out to prove that last season was an simply an anomoly and that Rural is ready to get back on track.
"The previous three years were really good for us,'' said Buhler, who is starting his 13th season at the school. "You kind of hope you have something that's going to be continuous, then you hit a road bump.
"Part of that's the schedule, part of it's some other issues, but it wasn't as good as we hoped. But at the same time, you still want to live off the previous three years.''
And with a veteran cast returning, including 26 seniors, Buhler thinks the Junior Blues know what it's going to take to get the job done this season.
"There's enough kids on this team that have been around and that were part of that previous group and the success they had,'' Buhler said. "This year's seniors, they know.
"They had a really good offseason in the weight room and we saw some good senior leadership so far in the summertime, so hopefully they learned from the negative part of last year record-wise and couple that with their knowledge of what it takes to be really successful and they'll put the two together for us.''
Buhler said that the 2024 Junior Blues had their moments where they played very solid football, but were plagued by inconsistency, something they'll need to change moving forward.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Six Shawnee County schools earned Top 10 spots in the Kansas Volleyball Association's preseason state rankings released Wednesday.
Hayden tops the county contingent with a No. 2 ranking in Class 4A while perennial state contender Washburn Rural holds down the No. 5 spot in 6A.
Hayden, which won a Class 4A sub-state title before posting a third-place state finish, is ranked No. 2 in Class 4A in the KVA Preseason State Rankings. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman and Shawnee Heights are ranked No. 8 and 9, respectively, in 5A while Silver Lake is ranked No. 8 in 3A and Rossville is ranked No. 10 in 2A.
Seaman was the 5A runnerup last season while Hayden finished third in 4A and Washburn Rural was a state qualifier in 6A.
Current classifications for the rankings are based on enrollments from the 2024-25 school year.
The rankings will be adjusted when the updated KSHSAA classifications are released at the end of September.
Kansas Volleyball Association Preseason Rankings
CLASS 6A
1. Mill Valley
2. Blue Valley West
3. Olathe West
4. Blue Valley North
5. Washburn Rural
6. Gardner-Edgerton
7. Manhattan
8. Olathe North
9. Wichita Northwest
10. Olathe South
CLASS 5A
1. St. Thomas Aquinas
2. Blue Valley Southwest
3. St. James Academy
4. Maize South
5. Kapaun Mt. Carmel
6. Lansing
7. Bishop Carroll
8. Seaman
9. Shawnee Heights
10. Great Bend
CLASS 4A
1. Bishop Miege
2. Hayden
3. Rock Creek
4. Clay Center
5. McPherson
6. Andale
7. Eudora
8. Concordia
9. Holton
10. Buhler
CLASS 3A
1. Halstead
2. Nemaha Central
3. Hoisington
4. Beloit
5. Neodesha
6. Royal Valley
7. Girard
8. Silver Lake
9. Frontenac
10. Riverton
CLASS 2A
1. Ellinwood
2. Valley Heights
3. Inman
4. Sedgwick
5. Maranatha Christian
6. Oakley
7. Wichita-Central Christian Academy
8. Hillsboro
9. Doniphan West
10. Rossville
CLASS 1A Division I
1. Little River
2. Centralia
3. Clifton-Clyde
4. Rock Hills
5. Goessel
6. South Gray
7. Spearville
8. Pretty Prairie
9. Greeley County
10. Rawlins County
CLASS 1A Division II
1. Hanover
2. Ingalls
3. Marais des Cygnes Valley
4. Lebo
5. Wheatland-Grinnell
6. Argonia
7. Attica
8. Cheylin
9. Linn
10. Dighton
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Athletic Department has announced its 2025 Hall of Fame class, which will be enshrined on Oct. 18 in a brunch ceremony prior to the Ichabod home football game with Central Missouri.
[Graphic by Washburn Athletics]
The 2025 Hall of Fame class includes four individuals, including a current head coach and a complete team.
The newest inductees include Jenna Hatlestad (women's soccer), Steve Ivanisevic (football), Matt Warnock (golf), current Ichabod volleyball coach Chris Herron and Herron's 2007 Washburn volleyball team.
Hall of Fame capsules:
