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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
PITTSBURG – Washburn University football played No. 4-ranked Pittsburg State within six points through the first half Thursday night, but the Gorillas scored on three straight drives and added a defensive score as the Ichabods fell 34-7 in the season-opener.
Craig Schurig's Washburn football team will open its home season next Thursday after a season-opening 34-7 loss at Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights product Tyce Brown caught six passes for 66 yards in Thursday's 34-7 Washburn University loss at No. 4-ranked Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods will return to Yager Stadium to open their home slate against Missouri Southern next Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Ichabods (0-1 overall, 0-1 MIAA) trailed at the half 6-0 after the Gorillas (1-0, 1-0) connected on a 45-yard field goal to end the second quarter.
In the opening half, the Ichabods were outgained 223 yards to 91, including a 142 to 29 advantage by the Gorillas in the second quarter.
The Ichabods took the second half kickoff, but an interception on the third play of the drive inside their own 20 returned to the ball back to the Gorillas and four plays later Pitt State pushed its lead to 13-0 on a 1-yard run with 12:09 to play in the third quarter.
Washburn would then go on a 14-play, 80-yard drive, taking 7:05 off the clock, cutting the Gorilla lead to 13-7 with 4:51 to play in the third quarter.
The drive was capped on a 1-yard pass from Kellen Simoncic to D.J. Bell for the first Ichabod points of the season. The Ichabods converted a fourth-down play on the drive on a 15-yard pass completion from Simoncic to Shawnee Heights product Tyce Brown.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University soccer kicks off its 2023 season with Friday and Sunday road matches in St. Louis, Mo.
Former Washburn Rural star Belle Kennedy is a returning starter for Washburn University soccer, which will open its 2023 season at 5 p.m. Friday in St. Louis against Drury. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn will face Drury in a 5 p.m. match on Friday before facing Missouri-St. Louis on Sunday at noon.
The Ichabods are coming off an 11-6-2 record in 2022, finishing sixth in the MIAA.
Drury went 6-3-8 last season and 3-2-7 in the GLVC before losing in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
Missouri-St. Louis was 6-7-5 in 2022 with a 3-4-5 record in the GLVC. The Tritons advanced to the semifinals of the GLVC tournament. They take on Northwest Missouri State Friday before taking on Washburn.
The Ichabods, picked sixth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, returns 19 players from last season's roster while adding two transfers and seven freshmen.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a game of spurts, Hayden High's boys soccer team got the final and most important one Thusday at Hayden, scoring the final two goals to pull out a 3-2 win over Centennial League foe Topeka High and improve to 3-0 on the young 2023 season.
Hayden junior Preston Meitner (13), battling Topeka High's Vador Limon for a loose ball, scored the game-winning goal in the Wildcats' 3-2 win over the Trojans Thursday at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It was a good win,'' Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer said. "It was ugly. We scored on a great goal and then we gave them two and to our credit, at least they stayed with it. It's always nice to beat a (Class) 6A school for us.
"We've got a lot of younger players and they're making the effort. We've had a couple of balls bounce the right way and I'll always take that. I've had enough where they've bounced the wrong way.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 17-ranked Washburn University volleyball team will begin its 2023 season with three matches at the Florida Southern College Volleyball Classic Friday and Saturday.
Junior Jalyn Stevenson (10), a first-team All-MIAA pick last season, returns to lead No. 17-ranked Washburn this fall. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
After schedule changes caused adjustments, Washburn will now face Flagler at 11 a.m. and Florida Southern at 6 p.m. on Friday before finishing the tournament against No. 6 Barry at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Friday's scheduled match against Grand Valley State was cancelled, with the Lakers not making the trip due to incoming inclement weather anticipated in Florida. The change resulted with Barry being added to the Ichabods' schedule and the match against Florida Southern being moved up to Friday evening.
After reaching the Division II national championship game in 2021, the Ichabods finished last season 24-8 with a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearence while also capturing the first MIAA Tournament Championship in program history.
Washburn went through an up and down campaign early last season before catching fire late and veteran coach Chris Herron thinks a faster start could be in store this fall.
Junior Jalyn Stevenson returns to lead the Ichabods after earning All-MIAA first-team recognition and All-America honorable mention as a sophomore.Stevenson registered 386 kills in 2022 while hitting .214 from the outside. Stevenson alos made 392 digs with 41 combined blocks while starting 31 of 32 matches.
"Because we graduated so many the year before last year was getting acclimated to new leaders and how everybody was going to react to how they were and all of that stuff,'' Herron said. "We don't have that now. Jalyn is our leader. Jalyn has been the leader all summer and some of the other kids have done a great job to help her.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
Seaman junior quarterback Max Huston (7) passed for 1,248 yards and 12 touchdowns last fall for the 4-4 Vikings. [File photo/TSN]
TOPEKA WEST at SEAMAN
Trey Parker begins his first full season as Topeka West's head coach after serving as interim coach for the final three games of the 2022 season while Jared Swafford begins his third year at Seaman. West went 1-8 a year ago while Seaman is coming off a 4-4 season. Senior lineman Kyrece Robinson is a top returner for Topeka West while junior quarterback Max Huston, senior running back/defensive back Jack Bloom and senior wide receiver/defensive back Callen Barta are standouts for an experienced Seaman team. Huston passed for 1,248 yards and 12 touchdowns last season while Bloom rushed for 483 yards and seven TDs and Barta caught 41 passes for 406 yards and three TDs. Seaman beat West 58-14 in the 2022 season-opener for both schools.
Washburn Rural senior linebacker JC Heim (25) is a returning TopSports.news All-Shawnee County pick. [File photo/TSN]
WICHITA EAST at WASHBURN RURAL
Both teams are coming off strong 2022 seasons, with Washburn Rural posting an 8-3 record under Steve Buhler, who is beginning his 11th year at the school, while Wichita East went 6-4 last season. Rural advanced to the third round of the Class 6A playoffs while East won its first-round playoff tilt before losing in the second round. Washburn Rural came from behind to beat the Blue Aces 49-42 in last season's opener. The Junior Blues return a key nucleus of players from last year's team, including TopSports.news All-Shawnee County picks Branton DeWeese (quarterback), Titan Osburn (wide receiver), Packson Bettis (defensive end) and JC Heim (outside linebacker). DeWeese passed for 1,884 yards and 25 touchdowns last season while Osburn had 32 catches for 668 yards and 12 TDS. Heim was in on 73 tackles and Bettis 61 tackles.
Shawnee Heights senior Allen Baughman rushed for 1,496 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, earning All-Shawnee County Top 22 honors. [File photo/TSN]
PIPER at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS
Shawnee Heights went 5-5 in the 2022 season while Piper is coming off a 7-4 campaign. Piper opened the '22 season with a 31-20 win over the T-Birds. Jason Swift's Shawnee Heights team returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense, led by star senior running back Allen Baughman, who was named the TopSports.news Co-Shawnee County offensive newcomer of the year after rushing for 1,496 yards and scoring 20 touchdowns a year ago. Other top players include senior linemen Christian Gonzales and Rykan Carver, linebacker Alex Dittman and receivers seniors Jayden Moore, Jacob Malcom and Jayden Holly, who all received All-United Kansas Conference recognition last season.
