By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's Desmond Purnell and Rossville's Bo Reeves have been selected to play for the East team in the 2021 Kansas Shrine Bowl all-star football game, which will be played at 7 p.m. June 26 in Hutchinson at Gowans Stadium.
Purnell is a 6-foot-1, 210-pound running back/defensive back who is headed to Kansas State. Purnell helped lead Hayden to a 7-2 record as a senior, rushing for 811 yards on 74 attempts, catching 34 passes for 469 yards, recording 80 tackles and scoring 22 total touchdowns.
Reeves, 6-4, 205, was an All-Mid-East League selection at receiver and defensive back and helped lead Rossville to an undefeated season and the Class 2A state championship. Reeves has orally committed to Central Missouri.
The East and West rosters for the 48th annual game were announced by the Kansas Shrine Bowl Board of Directors on Saturday. The East will be coached by DeSoto's Brian King while the West will be coached by Norton's Lucas Melvin.
Players are selected each year by a combination of media votes and selections from the Kansas Shrine Bowl coaching staff. Players must be nominated by their high school coach or athletic director.
“We are very excited about the great group of young men selected for this year’s game,” said B.J. Harris, executive Director of the Kansas Shrine Bowl, in a release. “These players and coaches now have an incredible opportunity ahead of them, one that is sure to have a lasting impact in their life.”
“This is a very talented group of kids,” King said in the release. “Getting the roster down to 36 was tough, there are a lot of special players out there. I’m impressed by this group and I’m excited to get to work with them.”
"There are so many great players out here in the West,” Melvin said about the West squad. “I feel like we have tremendous talent at every position. I don’t think they’re just talented players, but great young men and I’m excited to get to work with them.”
Assistant coaches for the East team are Lawrence's Steve Rampy (6A); Blue Valley Southwest's Anthony Orrick (5A); Basehor-Linwood's Rod Stallbaumer (4A); Holton's Brooks Barta (3A), Osage City's Andrew Gantenbein (2A) and Olpe's Chris Schmidt (1A).
West assistants include Junction City's Randall Zimmerman (6A), Hutchinson's Mike Vernon (5A), Arkansas City's Jon Wiemers (4A), Wichita Collegiate's Troy Block (3A), Hoisington's Zach Baird (2A) and Oakley's Jeff Hennick (1A).
East
Tanner Barcus, Parsons 3A 5-10 180
Jordan Barnard,Olpe 1A 6-1 200
Malik Benson, Lansing 4A 6-1 170
Danny Carroll,St. Thomas Aquinas 5A 6-2 260
Leo Clennan, Blue Valley Northwest 6A 6-4 215
Max Close, Shawnee Mission South 6A 6-4 225
Tristen Everard, Blue Valley Southwest 5A 6-1 165
Ma'rrell Fountain, Olathe East 6A 5-9 190
Denver Gardner, Spring Hill 5A 6-2 275
Tyler Gerety, Nemaha Central 2A 6-0 175
Jacob Hartman, Mill Valley 5A 6-1 175
Austin Holthaus, Centralia 1A 6-0 245
Darell Jones, Coffeyville 4A 6-0 175
Canon Karn, Holton 3A 6-0 205
Miles Kitselman, Lyndon 1A 6-5 260
Ethan Kremer, Mill Valley 5A 6-1 275
Branden Martin, Tonganoxie 6-1 200
Jackson Miller, De Soto 5A 6-0 185
Mack Moeller, Bishop Miege 4A 6-3 200
Cole Mondi, Lawrence 6A 5-11 200
Caleb Murillo, Columbus 3A 6-2 295
Clayton Power, Blue Valley 6A 6-2 303
Desmond Purnell, Hayden 3A 6-1 210
Bo Reeves, Rossville 2A 6-4 205
Ethan Reynolds, Gardner-Edgerton 6A 5-9 155
Hayden Robb, Perry-Lecompton 3A 5-10 230
Drew Schmelzle, Sabetha 3A 6-5 210
Andrew Schwinn, Maur Hill-Mt. Academy 2A 5-11 200
Carter Stanchfield, Paola 4A 6-3 255
Isaac Stanton, Basehor-Linwood 4A 6-1 185
Kolby Talbot, Axtell 8-man II 6-0 225
Dane Whalen, Osage City 2A 5-10 250
LaJames White, St. James Academy 4A 5-8 186
Dee Wideman, Girard 3A 6-2 245
Cameron Wise, West Franklin 2A 6-5 230
Luke Zegunis, Olathe West 6A 6-0 255
West
Ethan Abell, Oakley 1A 5-10 180
Nic Allen, Riley County 3A 6-0 180
Shadryon Blanka, St. Francis 8-man II 6-2 205
Julius Bolden, Wichita Northwest 5A 5-11 195
Noah Bolticoff, Rose Hill 4A 6-5 285
Carter Brown, Inman 1A 6-0 180
Tanner Cash, Clearwater 3A 6-2 215
Spencer Davidson, Minneapolis 2A 6-2 220
Trevor Erickson, Chapman 3A 6-2 185
Kenny Fehrman, Wellington 4A 6-3 270
Jayden Garrison, Little River 8-man I 6-2 170
Doug Grider, Halstead 3A 6-2 236
Holt Hanzlick, Hoisington 2A 6-0 205
Gaven Haselhorst, Hays 5A 6-1 230
Christien Hawks, Norton Community 2A 6-5 260
Jack Hawver,Hutchinson 5A 6-0 202
Nick Herrman, Wichita Collegiate 3A 6-0 245
Damian Ilalio, Manhattan 6A 6-2 270
Jake Johnson, Maize South 5A 6-1 190
Wetu Kalomo, Wichita Northwest 5A 6-0 180
Koy Kenny, Ulysses 4A 6-1 217
Andrew Khoury, Junction City 6A 6-1 200
Isaiah Maikori, Andover 5A 6-1 180
Trey Nuzum, Garden City 6A 6-3 290
Harlan Obioha, Hoxie 8-man I 6-10 315
Oz Perez, Holcomb 3A 6-2 290
Ben Purvis, Bishop Carroll 5A 6-3 285
Jacob Rees, Andover Central 4A 5-10 182
Darby Roper, Haven 2A 5-11 170
Josh Sanders, Maize 5A 5-7 180
Maximus Shannon, Arkansas City 4A 5-11 285
Jake Shope, Goddard 5A 6-1 185
Ty Sides, Phillipsburg 2A 5-9 160
Ethan Stuhlsatz, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 5A 6-4 205
Lem Wash, Derby 6A 5-11 210
Cayden Winter, Andale 3A 6-1 235
