- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It would be hard to say whether or not Homecoming week was a distraction for Shawnee Heights' football team Friday night.
But it was a fact that the T-Birds had trouble getting in synch and staying in synch in a 24-19 United Kansas Conference loss to Leavenworth at Wetter Field.
"That's the good and the bad of Homecoming,'' Shawnee Heights coach Jason Swift said. "You've got everybody here and it's a great night and a great atmosphere but you've just got to get that tunnel vision, Your job is go out there and go get a win and maybe that (the festivities of Homecoming) kind of made it so we weren't right-on perfect every time.''
Shawnee Heights junior Allen Baughman (5) rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns in Friday's 24-19 UKC loss to Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Leavenworth senior quarterback Eddie McLaughlin rushed for 154 yards, passed for 176 yards and scored three TDs in the Pioneers' 24-19 UKC win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Jayden Moore hauls in a pass in Friday's 24-19 UKC loss to Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Leavenworth, now 3-5 overall and in the UKC, entered the game on a five-game losing streak, but the Pioneers drew first blood and then came from behind three times, scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 3-yard run from standout senior quarterback Eddie McLaughlin with 1:02 remaining.
McLaughlin was a thorn in the T-Birds' side all night long, running for 154 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries and completing 11 of 16 passes for 176 yards in the Leavenworth win.
"He's awfully good,'' Swift said of McLaughlin. "He's a phenomenal quarterback, a three-year starter and he's been doing this for three years.''
Leavenworth took a 6-0 lead on a 2-yard run from junior Xavier Strickland with 53 seconds left in the first quarter, but Shawnee Heights (4-4, 4-3) took a slim 7-6 advantage on a 6-yard TD run from junior Allen Baughman and an extra point from senior Carson Christian at the 5:22 mark of the second quarter.
It took the Pioneers just three plays to regain the upper hand, with McLaughlin scoring the first of his three straight Leavenworth touchdowns on a 47-yard run to put his team up 12-7 at the half.
An interception by Heights senior Jayden Berry thrwarted a Leavenworth scoring threat to open the second half and Baughman carried the ball seven times for 77 yards on the T-Birds' ensuing possession, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Nick Freeland with 4:07 left in the third that put Heights back in front 13-12.
Four plays later McLaughlin scored on a 51-yard run to put Leavenworth up 18-13 at the 2:01 mark of the third stanza.
A 7-yard Baughman TD gave Shawnee Heights its final lead of the night at 19-18 lead with just 2:30 to play, but McLaughlin struck one last time, picking up 32 yards on two carries to put Leavenworth in scoring position before scoring the game-winning TD with 1:02 left.
Heights had one last chance to pull out the win but after picking up a first down at its 42-yard-line, Freeland threw an incomplete pass and was sacked as time ran out.
Baughman finished the night with 164 rushing yards on 25 attempts, including 134 yards in the second half.
The T-Birds should find out their playoff opponent on Saturday and will begin Class 5A postseason next Friday.
LEAVENWORTH 24, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 19
Leavenworth (3-5, 3-5) 6 6 6 6 -- 24
Shawnee Heights (4-4, 4-3) 0 7 6 6 -- 19
Leavenworth -- Strickland 2 run (pass failed)
Shawnee Heights -- Baughman 6 run (Christian kick)
Leavenworth -- McLaughlin 47 run (run failed)
Shawnee Heights -- Freeland 1 run (run failed
Leavenworth -- McLaughlin 51 run (run failed)
Shawnee Heights -- Baughman 7 run (run failed)
Leavenworth -- McLaughlin 3 run (run failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Leavenworth: McLaughlin 22-154, Strickland 11-68, Finn 1-3. Shawnee Heights: Baughman 25-164, Freeland 5-40, P. Busenitz 4-18, Malcom 3-3, Holly 1-2.
Passing -- Leavenworth: McLaughlin 11-16-2, 176 yards. Shawnee Heights: P. Busenitz 4-5-0, 32 yards; Freeland 5-10-0, 26.
Receiving -- Leavenworth: Ramey 4-54, McCannn 2-67, Daniel 2-24, Finn 2-22, Strickland 1-9. Shawnee Heights: Holly 3-29, Moore 2-17, Armbruster 2-6, Malcom 1-7, Baughman 1-(minus)-1.
Punting -- Leavenworth: McLaughlin 2-47.5. Shawnee Heights: Malcom 4-40.0; P. Busenitz 1-18.0.
WasRelated Stories and Videos
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Over his 21-year coaching career as Washburn University's football coach Craig Schurig has seen a lot of big victories as well as more than a few heartbreaking defeats.
And Schurig admitted that last Saturday's 32-30 loss at perennial MIAA power Northwest Missouri was among the toughest losses he and his team have ever had to deal with.
"I'd rank it right up there,'' Schurig said. "You don't have time right now to classify them, but I imagine after the season that will be a top-fiver.''
Washburn sophomore quarterback Kellen Simoncic ranks second in the nation with 22 touchdown passes. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn rallied to take a 30-29 lead over Northwest with 24 seconds left on a 10-yard fourth-quarter run from sophomore quarterback Kellen Simoncic, but the Bearcats traveled 43 yards in three plays after a 38-yard kickoff return and kicked the game-winning 36-yard field goal with two seconds remaining.
"We came back three different times and it made sense to win, but they did a hell of a job and didn't panic and got us. It was tough, but they're good for a reason.''
Now the key for the Ichabods, 4-3 overall and in the MIAA, will be to wipe away the sour taste left by that defeat in Saturday's 1 p.m. Homecoming game against Central Oklahoma (5-2, 5-2) at Yager Stadium. Saturday will be Washburn's first home game in three weeks.
Schurig said he feels like his veteran team has done a good job of trying to put last week in the rearview mirror.
"We alway meet on Sundays and kind of celebrate the wins and get on to the next week and we confront the losses,'' Schurig said. "I thought coach (Zach) Watkins and coach (Jeff) Schwinn did a really good job of getting the offense and defense together and saying, 'Hey, we've got to confront this. We feel terrible and you should feel terrible but Tuesday you flip a switch and you get back at it.
"The kids are awsome, they seem so resilient and we have that kind of veteran team. Their attitude was good, their energy was good. They weren't dragging.''
- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The rebuilding Cair Paravel Latin boys soccer team took a tough 10-1 loss at the hands of a solid Kansas City Christian team on Thursday evening at the Sunflower Soccer Complex.
It’s been a tough year for the Lions as Cair Paravel still hasn’t found the win column near the end of the 2022 campaign as its young and small roster has dealt with its fair share of challenges.
Cair Paravel Latin soccer coach Mark Congdon congratulates his team after Thursday's 10-1 loss to Kansas City Christian. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
It doesn’t help the Lions that several contributors are dealing with injuries.
With a young group like the Lions have, CPLS coach Mark Congdon said it's essential to find different ways to evaluate the team, not just wins and losses.
“We were just lucky to be out here and playing today,” Congdon said. “Last night we almost lost a couple of guys and that would’ve put us in a bad spot. We have two or three nagging injuries within the team right now all with our 11 guys. A win for us right now is starting and finishing the game.
“The fact that we were able to play a game from start to finish was big for us. It’s great to allow our guys to go out there and compete as well as get some minutes. Even with the loss we had today, it was a good day for us.”
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Wasshburn Rural and Seaman, Final Four teams a year ago, lead Shawnee County's 10-school contingent into Saturday's sub-state tournaments across the state.
Washburn Rural finished fourth in Class 6A and Seaman fifth in 5A a year ago and both the Junior Blues and Vikings are coming off league championships and sport top-three state rankings entering post-season.
All 10 county high schools will be vying for berths in state tournaments, which will be contested on Oct. 28 and 29.
Rural won the Centennial League tournament and is ranked No. 1 in 6A in the final Kansas Volleyball Association rankings with a 38-1 record while Seaman won the United Kansas Conference championship and is No. 3 in 5A with a 28-8 record.
Rossville and Silver Lake are two of the top teams in 3A, with Rossville (30-5) ranked No. 6 and Silver Lake (24-9) No. 9 by the KVA.
Here's a class-by-class look at sub-state tournaments involving Shawnee County schools:
Washburn Rural volleyball, 38-1 on the season, celebrates a point in the Junior Blues' recent match against state-ranked Seaman. [File photo/TSN]
CLASS 6A
Washburn Rural, which has advanced to 23 state tournaments under coach Kevin Bordewick, with seven state titles and 20 Final Four appearances, will be a heavy favorite in Saturday's 6A sub-state at Rural.
The top-ranked Junior Blues will play a semifinal match at approximately 2 p.m. against the winner of the play-in match between Dodge City (5-27) and Wichita South (2-33).
Manhattan (15-19) will face Derby (15-20) in the other semifinal match, with the semifinal winners playing for the sub-state title at approximately 4 o'clock.
The sub-state champion will advance to the state tournament at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina on Oct. 28.
• Topeka High (8-24) will make the long trek to Liberal to face the host team in a 2 p.m. semifinal. Liberal is 25-8 on the season and the No. 3 in the 6A West.
The Topeka High-Liberal winner will play the winner of the semifinal between Wichita North (16-13) and Campus (11-21) for the sub-state championship at approximately 4 p.m.
Senior Laynee Brown is a standout for Seaman's volleyball team, which will host a Class 5A sub-state on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
CLASS 5A
Seaman, the No. 3 seed in the 5A East, will be at home on Saturday as it shoots for a third straight state tournament berth.
The Vikings will open their sub-state bid at 2 p.m. Saturday in a semifinal matchup against De Soto (9-21).
The winner of the Seaman-De Soto match will play for the sub-state title at approximately 4 p.m. against the winner of the semifinal between Kansas City-Schlagle (11-6) and KC-Turner (11-20).
The sub-state champion will move on to the 5A state tournament at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina on Oct. 28.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake's boys will be looking to build off last week's Mid-East League championship when all 10 Shawnee County high schools compete for state berths in Saturday's regional cross country meets.
Silver Lake and Rossville will both compete in a Class 3A regional at the Leonardville Golf Course (10 a.m. girls, 10:45 boys), while Topeka High and Washburn Rural will compete in a 6A regional at Manhattan (10 girls, 10:40 boys), Highland Park, Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Topeka West will take part in a 5A regional at Kanza Park (9 girls, 9:45 boys), Hayden will host a 4A regional, also at Kanza Park (10:30 girls, 11:15 boys), and Cair Paravel will be part of a 2A regional at Central Heights (10 girls, 10:40 boys).
Silver Lake tuned up for postseason last Thursday, winning the league title by 38 points while dropping its average team time by two seconds.
"The wind made things tough, but our runners made the best of it,'' Eagle coach Kevin Brokaw said.
Sophomore Jared Johnson paced the Eagles with a second-place individual finish while junior Eli Ferguson finished third, senior Mason Brokaw fourth and sophomore Aemon Coffman seventh to earn league medals.
"(I'm) especially proud of sophomore Jared Johnson who continues to improve and broke under 18 minutes for the first time,'' Kevin Brokaw said.
Silver Lake's girls dropped their team time average by 29 seconds to 22:22 and placed second behind Riley County by just four points after losing to the Falcons by 11 points two weeks earlier.
"(We) will try our best to get them at regionals,'' Kevin Brokaw said.
Senior Mariah Farmer finished third in the league meets, with sophomore Tessa Gerber seventh and freshman Kylie Podlena ninth.
"We had 17 season-bests out of 27 runners,'' Kevin Brokaw said.
Senior Amelia Foster finished fifth to lead Rossville in the girls race while the Bulldawg boys got an eighth-place finish from junior Mason Broce and a 10th-place finish from senior Hayden Sanders.
• Washburn Rural swept the Centennial League titles last week, with the the Junior Blues riding a one-two-three individual finish to a 27-62 win over Junction City and Rural winning the boys title by a 44-47 margin over Manhattan.
Washburn Rural sophomore Payton Fink followed up her city championship with a win in last Saturday's Centennial League meet. [File photo/TSN]
Sophomore Payton Fink won the girls title in a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 53.9 while senior Madeline Carter (19:11.0) and sophomore Rylee Ismert (19:25.1) finished second and third.
The Rural girls also got an eighth-place finish from Brooklyn Nolte (20:36.4) and a 13th-place finish from Vilde Tronstad (21:03.7) to round out the Junior Blues' top five.
Rural's boys got third and fourth-place finishes from seniors Davin Johnson and Easton Dial to lead the Junnior Blues to the team title.
Senior Grayson Fink (17:21.4) finished eighth for Rural's boys, followed by junior Hayden Keller (17:30.3) in 12th place and senior Trevor Cain (17:42.2) in 17th.
Hayden's girls finished fifth as a team, led by Elliot Wrench's 17th-place finish in 21:23.8, while Topeka High placed sixth, led by Marilina Zuniga, who placed 33rd in 24:46.3.
Hayden and Topeka High finished fifth and sixth in the boys team standings.
Topeka High's Michael Christoper and Hayden's Aiden Amis both posted top-10 finishes in the boys race, with Christopher (17:23.1) taking ninth and Amis (17:26.0) 10th.
• Seaman's girls and Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge claimed titles in last Thursday's United Kansas Conference meet at Shawnee Heights
