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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A year ago, Seaman pulled off a major upset over top seed De Soto in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
The Wildcats gained a measure of revenge in Friday's rematch, building a 28-7 halftime lead and thwarting a second-half Seaman rally to take a 42-28 United Kansas Conference win over the Vikings on Senior Night at Seaman.
Senior Max Huston threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns in Seaman's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto Friday night [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman junior Kaden McKinney scored one of his two second-half TDs in Friday's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"The first half falls squarely on me,'' Seaman coach Jared Swafford said. "I didn't do a good enough job and the kids played hard, the coaching staff did a nice job, it's on me. You play a team of that caliber you definitely can't put yourself in that kind of deficit early.
"Things like that happen. It's sports, that's life, so you've got to be able to move on from it and grow, but I thought our effort in the second half was phenomenal and the kids really bonded together. It would have been real easy to quit and we didn't, so I am proud of the guys from that standpoint and, again, the first half's on me.''
Friday's Viking loss left Seaman, De Soto and Basehor-Linwood all tied atop the UKC standings at 6-1 but the conference does not recognize co- or tri-champions and Seaman was declared the league champion as a result of the conference's tiebreaker formula.
But Swafford said the Vikings' focus now is on getting ready for next week's playoff opener, which Seaman will host. The Vikings are the No. 3 West seed and will host city rival Topeka West (1-7), the No. 14 West seed.
"Let this one soak in a little bit, it won't feel so good, but plenty of learning moments and plenty of opportunities to get better and to grow and I think that's exactly what we'll do and now you get into the playoffs and it's win or go home time,'' Swafford said.
"I think we can still be a very scary team and I think we've shown that throughout the year and now we're at that point.''
Seaman senior Bryer Finley had 145 receiving yards and two touchdowns in Friday's 42-28 UKC loss to De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman, which fell to 6-2 overall, drew first blood on its opening drive of the night, with senior quarterback Max Huston hitting senior Bryer Finley for a 58-yard touchdown (Ethan Geiger kick).
But the rest of the opening half belonged to the Wildcats (7-1), who scored on all four of their first-half possessions.
De Soto senior Jayden Lang scored four touchdowns in Friday's 42-28 UKC win at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Jayden Lang capped De Soto's first drive with a 23-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Drew Parks. The Wildcats then took the lead to stay on a 2-point conversion run from Lang at the 6:29 mark of the first stanza. De Soto lined up to kick the extra point but Seaman jumped offsides to move the ball inside the 2 and the Wildcats opted to go for 2.
De Soto added to its lead with three second-quarter scores -- a 26-yard pass from Parks to Joe Meehan, a 16-yard Lang run and a 7-yard pass from Parks to Will Morton.
Seaman came out firing in the second half, getting within seven points on two occasions (28-21 and 35-28), but an 80-yard Lang kickoff return and a late interception clinched the Wildcats' victory.
Seaman got second-half TDs from junior Kaden McKinney on a 26-yard run, Finley on a 9-yard pass from Huston and a 27-yard pass from Huston.
Huston rushed for 136 yards on 15 carries and passed for 208 yards on a 16 of 24 performance while Finley had seven catches for 145 yards and McKinney rushed for 83 yards on 18 carries and caught three passes for 36 yards.
Lang rushed for 133 yards on 16 carries for De Soto and caught two passes for 56 yards and scored four touchdowns while Parks threw for 120 yards on a 6 of 6 performance.
DE SOTO 28, SEAMAN 7
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Fresh off its most dominant performance of the season, Washburn University football will be shooting for its second straight win on Saturday, going on the road for a 1:30 p.m. MIAA road contest at Central Missouri.
Washburn is coming off a dominating 42-21 home win over Missouri Southern last Saturday and heads to Central Missouri on Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn (2-5 overall, 2-4 MIAA) is coming off a 42-21 home win over Missouri Southern last Saturday at Yager Stadium while Central Missouri (4-3, 2-3) topped Northwest Missouri, 35-30, in Maryville last time out.
Washburn never trailed against Missouri Southern, scoring on its first three possessions of the day, and also blocked two field goals and had defensive lineman Chase McCoy return an interception for a score en route to the 21-point win.
"It was nice to go out and play a complete game where we were kind of just dominating the whole entire game and really just showcase the resilience of this team and the continual fight,'' said WU standout junior safety Jordan Finnesy.
"That was really good to see and above all to be able to get a win at home in front of our fans, who have been showing out week after week for us.''
The Ichabods opened the game with a six-play, 58-yard drive, capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman Keller Hurla to former Highland Park star Tre Richardson.
Ichabod freshman JC Heim, a former Washburn Rural star, forced a Missouri Southern fumble on the Lions' opening drive that was recovered by Julius Jackson. Two plays later Lucas Oitker followed up a Richardson 41-yard reverse with a 4-yard run for the score and a 14-0 lead 5:51 into the game.
Washburn then forced the Lions to punt and Ichabod quarterback Sam Van Dyne moved the Ichabods 65 yards in eight plays, finishing it off with a 7-yard run up the middle for the score as Washburn led 21-0 with 4:13 to play in the first quarter.
Van Dyne tied a school record in the win over Southern for completion percentage with at least 10 attempts as he was 9 for 10 for a .900 percentage, tying a program record that has stood since 1980 when Jerry Raushelbach was 9 for 10 against Missouri Valley.
Washburn averaged 7.0 yards per carry against the Lions, rushing for 279 yards on 40 carries -- the ninth-best average in program history.
"We're going to keep working and just continue to fight the rest of the year and hopefully win these last four games,'' said Finnesy, the Ichabods' second-leading tackler with 48 stops on the season while also contributing an interception and a blocked kick.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman junior cross country standout Brody Anderson and Hayden junior golf standout Lauren Borjon have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Anderson and Borjon over the past week:
Seaman junior Brody Anderson has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week after winning the individual title in last week's UKC cross country championships. [File photo/TSN]
BRODY ANDERSON, Seaman
Anderson followed up his city championship with the individual title in last Thursday's United Kansas Conference meet at Pierson Park in Kansas City, Kan.
Anderson won the UKC title in a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 21.42 seconds, leading the Vikings to a second-place team finish behind conference champion De Soto.
In just his second year of high school cross country, Anderson captured his first UKC title after winning his first city crown a week earlier and has posted five individual wins on the season.
Hayden junior Lauren Borjon has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after leading the Wildcats to their second straight Class 4A girls golf title. [File photo/TSN]
LAUREN BORJON, Hayden
Borjon posted a career-best third-place individual finish in Tuesday's Class 4A girls golf tournament at Hesston, leading Hayden to its second straight double-digit team championship.
Borjon finished third with a 36-hole total of 157, carding rounds of 76 and 81 as the Wildcats repeated as the team champ by a 15-stroke margin over runnerup Wellington (698-713).
The Hayden standout is now a three-time state medalist, finishing 20th as a freshman for the third-place Wildcats and placing 15th as a sophomore as Hayden won the team crown by 37 strokes.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A wild night from start to finish ended with a 38-28 Highland Park win over Kansas City-Washington that gave the Scots second place in the Meadowlark Conference.
Senior Jamon Wilson had a huge night for Highland Park in Thursday's 38-28 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Washington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore G'Honi Montgomery (35) celebrates a touchdown with Highland Park teammate Tremaine Savage Thursday night in the Scots' 38-28 win over KC-Washington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Late in the first period, with the Scots leading 6-0 on a touchdown run by G’Honi Montgomery, both teams were sent to the locker rooms and fans were sent to their cars by a severe thunderstorm. They returned at 8:55 p.m. after an hour and a half delay.
Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe praised the Scots for how they handled the disruption.
“At first, because we thought it was only going to be 30 minutes, we told the boys to be quiet, leave your cell phones away, just stay focused on the game,” Monroe said. “But when we knew it was going to be longer than an hour, we let them take their shoulder pads off, call their parents to make sure everything was OK.
"Then we put some music on, had everyone jump around and have some fun, just keeping the energy high. And that’s what they did. They came out with a lot of energy after that.”
Jamon Wilson sent a jolt of energy throughout the stadium whenever he touched the ball.
When Highland Park needed a big play, Wilson came through. After recording his first score from 14 yards out, he bailed the team out of a jam midway through the second period. Following a botched kickoff return, the Scots found themselves pinned at their 1-yard line. But after giving the Scots some breathing room on his first carry of the drive, Wilson outraced the Wildcats 94 yards to the end zone on the second play of the drive.
Wilson took a short pass from Dontrail Fox 25 yards for the Scots’ fourth touchdown of the first half, increasing the lead to 26-6 as the clock struck 10 p.m.
Early in the second half, the Scots increased their lead to 32-6 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Wilson. Even when the Wildcats responded with a touchdown late in the third quarter, it appeared the Scots would cruise to an easy victory. Both teams began inserting substitutes in the fourth quarter.
But with Highland Park leading 38-12 midway through the final period, things went a little crazy. KC-Washington quarterback Savion Stone began throwing and running for big chunks of yardage, racking up two Wildcat scores in just a few minutes time.
With the outcome no longer in doubt, the point spread became the issue. Both teams were battling for playoff seeding. The battle raged until 11:30 p.m., with the Wildcats attempting on-side kicks and the Scots throwing long passes rather than taking a knee to run out the clock.
“I wanted us to just focus on the down that we’re in, not focus on championships or seeding or anything like that. Just think about the next play,” Monroe said. “But then when it got down to where they cut it to 10 and we needed to win by 13, that’s when we started thinking playoffs.”
The Scots failed to gain the desired 13-point margin and will await their playoff seeding. But with second place in the Meadowlark Conference locked up, Wilson took a moment to reflect on how far the Highland Park program has come.
The Scots went 0-9 in Wilson’s freshman season and owned a losing streak that stretched back eight years. The fact they are concerned at all about playoff seeding is monumental.
“It’s been a great experience changing history,” Wilson said. "When I first got here, it was definitely tough. The buy-in was tough. And then we finally got guys to buy in and we changed the culture. This was a big win for the seniors being our last game with playoff seeding playing a huge factor.”
HIGHLAND PARK 38, KC-WASHINGTON 28
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Blue Valley North battled to an 0-0 deadlock over 80 minutes Thursday at McElroy Field before Mother Nature won the overtime.
With severe storms rapidly approaching, the Junior Blues and Mustangs completed regulation before the decision was made to call the game, resulting in a scoreless tie.
Washburn Rural senior Ben Buesing (right) and Blue Valley North's Will Matthews follow the flight of the ball Thursday night at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Tyler Faurot (3) pressures Blue Valley North's Beau Chiaverini in Thursday's 0-0 tie at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural finished its regular season 11-2-3 while Blue Valley North finished 6-8-2 on the year.
The Junior Blues will either be the No. 3 West seed in Class 6A and will be at home for a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. on Monday. Rural's Senior Night festivities were pushed back to Monday.
Obviously, Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel would have preferred to have had a chance to pull out a victory in overtime Thursday, but he understood the decision.
"We played 80 minutes, that's a full game,'' Hensyel said. "Yeah, the overtime is nice to try to settle it but it was a pretty fair, even battle and each team had their chances with the wind and neither team could find the back of the net .
"It was a good challenge for us right before the playoffs to play a good Kansas City team, so we're happy with it.''
Washburn Rural senior Ryder Nikkel advances the ball in Thursday's 0-0 deadlock with Blue Valley North. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Matthew Houser executes a header in Thursday's Washburn Rural 0-0 tie with Blue Valley North. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Now the Junior Blues, third in 6A last season, will try to gear up for the start of postseason.
"I still feel like we haven't reached our peak and haven't put it all together for an entire game yet,'' Hensyel said. "You know the performances are fine, but in the playoffs we've got to find another gear.
"We kind of play in spurts and I'm not sure we've played a full 80 minutes the entire season, so we're going to have to do that next week. It's a brand new slate and it doesn't really matter what our record is. You go to the tournament and see what happens.''
