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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Two-time defending Class 2A state champion Rossville ended a brief two-game losing streak with a 56-6 District 3 romp past Pleasant Ridge Friday night at Rossville.
With the win Rossville improved to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the district and can clinch a playoff berth with a win at Maur Hill-Mt. Academy next Friday.
The Bulldawgs put Friday's game away with a 21-point first quarter, went to the locker room with a commanding 35-0 advantage and led 49-0 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Rossville junior quarterback Camden Horak had a big night against the Rams, running for four touchdowns and also passing for a TD.
Senior Braiden Hensley got Rossville on the board at the 9:20 mark of the opening quarter with a 4-yard run and Horak followed with 18 and 32-yard TD runs to put the Bulldawgs up 21-0 at the 2:01 mark of the first stanza.
Horak added a 5-yard scoring run 50 seconds into the second quarter and he hit Hensley for a 66-yard touchdown pass to end Rossville's first-half scoring with 2:16 left before halftime.
C. Horak and sophomore Tayson Horak scored third-quarter touchdowns on 29 and 3-yard runs before Andre Johnson scored Rossville's final TD on a 15-yard run with 2:34 left to play.
Pleasant Ridge (2-5, 1-3) scored its only points of the night early in the fourth quarter.
Junior Cedric Leistenschneider went eight of eight on extra-point kicks for the Bulldawgs.
WASHBURN RURAL 49, EMPORIA 14 -- Washburn Rural improved to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Centennial League with Friday night's 49-14 league romp past Emporia at Bowen-Glaze Stadium, with the Junior Blues strengthening their position for the upcoming Class 6A West playoffs.
The Junior Blues put the Spartans (1-6, 0-3) away early, opening up a 37-0 first-quarter avantage.
Rural junior quarterback Branton DeWeese opened the scoring at the 8:13 mark with a 4-yard run and he also completed a pair of 18-yard TD passes to junior Titan Osburn before freshman TJ Minikwu and senior Ma'kenttis Adams added TD runs from 5 and 51 yards respectively to end the first-quarter onslaught.
Minikwu scored his second TD on a 1-yard run and DeWeese and Osburn hooked up for a 32-yard pass to give Rural a 49-0 halftime advantage.
A running clock was used throughout the second half, with Emporia scoring its two touchdowns on passes from Sheldon Stewart to Jaxon Dial and Parker Leeds.
Washburn Rural will wrap up the regular season at home next Friday against Topeka West while Emporia will host Junction City at Welch Stadium.
HIGHLAND PARK 63, NORTHEAST 0 -- Highland Park ended its two-game losing streak in resounding fashion Friday night, rolling to a 63-0 road win over Kansas City-Northeast, Mo.
Highland Park senior Trey Richardson scored six touchdowns, two on punt returns, two pass receiving and two rushing. Richardson has now had a hand in 40 touchdowns on the season.
Senior A'Ydren Drew-Gregory picked off three passes, with two going for touchdowns.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden girls tennis has enjoyed plenty of success over the years, but the Wildcats have never had a day like they did on Saturday at Prairie Village's Harmon Park.
Hayden completely dominated the Class 4A tournament, sweeping the singles, doubles and team championships while all six Wildcat players earned state medals.
Sophomore Ainzley Zulueta captured her second straight state singles championship while junior Lauren Sandstrom and sophomore Emily Sheetz won the state doubles title after finishing seventh in 2021.
Freshman singles player Grace Funk posted a 10th-place state finish in her first state tournamennt while the senior doubles team of Bri Barnett and Sloane Sims finished 12th as Hayden won the girls team championship for the first time in school history by a 40-31 margin over Independence.
Zulueta, 28-2, completed her second state title run with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Chapman junior Elyssa Frieze in a rematch of last week's regional final.
Sandstrom and Sheetz capped a 34-4 season with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Wichita Trinity's Darcy Dunne and Sophia Majors.
Funk dropped a 9-4 decision to Pratt's Bailey Jackson in the ninth-place singles match while Barnett and Sims dropped a 9-5 decision to Wellington's Kadynce Aufdengarten and Ashlyn Gerten in the 11th-place match.
Sweeney posts runner-up finish in 5A singles
Seaman senior Lauren Sweeney came within a set of winning a second straight Class 5A state championship Saturday at Andover, dropping a three-set decision to Bishop Carroll junior Brynn Steven (25-2) in the singles championship match.
Sweeney, who teamed with Grace Unruh to win the 5A state doubles title as a junior, took a 6-4 win in the first set of Saturday's singles final but Steven bounced back to force a third set with a 6-4 win and cruised to a 6-0 win in the third set.
Sweeney, a four-time state qualifier and three-time top-four state medalist, finished the season 32-6, while Steven won the state title after a secord-place finish in 2021.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural swept the Centennial League cross country team championships on Saturday at Warner Park, while sophomore Payton Fink added the girls individual title to lead a one-two-three finish.
Fink, who finished third in the league meet as a freshman, 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 as the Junior Blues won the team championship by a 27-62 margin over Junction City while Emporia was third with 66 points.
Washburn Rural's boys got third and fourth-place finishes from seniors Davin Johnson and Easton Dial to lead the way as the Junior Blues edged Manhattan by a 44-47 margin to win the team title, while Junction City was third with 74 points.
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.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Costly mistakes at the beginning of Seaman’s United Kansas Conference tilt with Basehor-Linwood led to a 47-32 loss at Seaman Stadium on Friday night.
The loss to the Bobcats was a tough pill to swallow for the Vikings as Friday's contest had major implications in the league and for playoff seeding in the Class 5A East.
In the first 12 minutes, Basehor-Linwood’s special teams unit blocked a punt for a touchdown, returned a kickoff for a touchdown, recovered a fumble on a Seaman kickoff return and blocked an extra point.
“It definitely took the wind out of your sail, early on,” Seaman coach Jared Swafford said. “It was a huge setback. When you play a good team like that, you can’t have those things. It’s nothing our kids did. This falls on me, as the head coach.
“We have to continue to progress and get better after the loss.”
The Bobcats didn’t tread lightly with the opportunities its special teams earned in the first quarter. Basehor-Linwood would put up 20 points from those opportunities.
“Special teams have been big for us all year, and that was huge at the start, getting the blocked punt returned for a touchdown, and then the kickoff return for a touchdown,” Basehor-Linwood coach Rod Stallbaumer said.
Seaman was stunned right out of the gate, but never gave up no matter how lopsided or tight the score was on Friday night.
“Our guys did battle and continued to fight until the end,” Swafford said. “Give (Basehor-Linwood) credit for executing. They did a heck of a job. When we answered the call, they did it right back, too. That’s what good teams do. We are a dang good team, too. Our season is still in front of us and we have a lot of good things going.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights junior running back Allen Baughman went into Friday night's United Kansas Conference game against Topeka West knowing that he needed just 13 yards to reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season.
Baughman took care of that milestone when he gained 22 yards on his first carry of the night and he went on to 128 yards and five touchdowns on just 10 attempts as Shawnee Heights (4-3 overall, 4-2 UKC) snapped a two-game losing streak with a 49-6 romp past the Chargers at Hummer Sports Park.
"I didn't think I would come out this season do what I've done but I really just powered through the adversity of coming straight to varsity from JV and not really seeing the field (last year),'' Baughman said. "I am doing good, my whole line's doing good and we're doing good things.''
Baughman said it was important for the T-Birds to get back on track Friday after back-to-back losses to undefeated De Soto and Wamego.
"It was real important,'' Baughman said. "We knew we had to come out here and handle business. They have some good players and we knew if we won this game we'd have momentum going to Homecoming week and we needed that.''
Topeka West (1-6, 1-6) put together one of its best drives of the night on its opening possession, reaching the Shawnee Heights 12-yard-line before senior Jayden Berry recovered a Charger fumble.
"I thought Topeka West did a great job of coming out and giving us their best shot and they moved the ball, but credit our defense for bending and not breaking and making a great strip of the ball,'' Shawnee Heights coach Jason Swift said. "The offense did a nice job of answering and that was big. The offense needed to come back and show that they could run the ball and set the tone for the night and they did on that first series.''
Baughman gained 58 yards on four carries on Heights' first possession, capping the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 6:16 left in the first quarter.
Baughman made it 13-0 with a 26-yard TD with 2:15 left in the first and added his third TD of the opening stanza with a 17-yard scamper and followed with a 2-point conversion to put the T-Birds in command 21-0 with 3.9 seconds left in the period.