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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Seaman football was unable to overcome a slow start in Friday's season-opener at Don Pierce Field, dropping a 33-22 United Kansas Conference decision to Piper.
Jared Swafford's Seaman Vikings rallied late but dropped a 33-22 UKC decision to Piper Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Friday was the first time the Vikings didn’t feature guys like Max Huston, Bryer Finley and Kaden Jordan, just to name a few, over the last couple of years and in the post-game huddle Seaman coach Jared Swafford said Friday's loss was on him and said he loved his team’s fight in the end and that they didn’t fold. He knows he’s got a young group but he said that’s not going to stop them.
“Anytime you lose, it’s easy to look at all the issues or what you think is an issue,'' Swafford said. "I’m really proud of our team. It could’ve gotten ugly. We kept fighting back. We gave ourselves chances to go out and still be in a ballgame. It’s one of those things, give credit to Piper, they have a good squad, a running back that is unbelievable and they did stuff to put us in a bind and it’s on me.
“Our team is only going to get better and I’m really excited about it… we’re going to continue to build… we have a lot of great pieces, the coaches worked their tails off, but obviously just not the result we were hoping for on Week 1.''
It was a sluggish start for the Vikings to begin the game, as penalties hurt them both on offense and defense in the first half. Piper booted a field goal in the first quarter to make it 3-0 with one minute left in the quarter.
Piper would get the game's first touchdown in the second quarter after Kole Schaunaman picked up a sack on third down to give the ball back to the Pirates. About three minutes later, Piper running back Roman Byers punched it right up the gut for a 1-yard TD to make it 10-0 with six minutes left until halftime.
Right after the Piper score, Seaman immediately marched down the field, finished off by a Quentin Moravec 2-yard rushing touchdown to make it 10-7 with 4:13 left in the half.
The Pirates would not back down and respond with their own score, Byers ripped off 59-yard rushing touchdown straight up the middle of the field to make it a 16-7 game after a muffed snap for the point-after attempt. The junior running back finished with 29 carries and 206 yards on the ground.
“That’s a very talented young man (Byers). He runs really hard, he’s got great vision, he makes cuts where you think you got him and then he’s gone,” Swafford said. “He’s a really good player, but we won’t be the last defense who has to stress spending all week about how to slow him down. They’re going to be a really tough team. That’s what I said in the handshake line, ‘You guys got a great team and keep grinding.’ ”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
At 5-foot-6, 170 pounds, place-kicker Aidan Battle is the smallest player on the 2025 Washburn University football roster.
Aidan Battle is off to a quick start in his first season as Washburn's place-kicker, including a 51-yard field goal. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But the former Atchison and Butler Community College standout has already come up big in just two games for the Ichabods this fall.
Battle, who received All-Jayhawk Conference recognition in both of his seasons at Butler, made an immediate impact in his Washburn debut on Aug. 30, kicking 37 and 51-yard field goals and connecting on both of his extra-point attempts as the Ichabods topped Truman State, 20-17.
Battle's 51-yarder, which proved to be the difference in the game, was the longest by an Ichabod kicker since 2013 and helped him earn MIAA Player of the Week honors.
Battle only got one kicking opportunity in last Saturday's 34-7 MIAA loss to Northwest Missouri, but kicked the extra point after WU's lone touchdown to remain perfect on the year.
Despite his success at Butler, Battle didn't receive much recruiting attention after his sophomore season until Washburn came calling to save the day.
"It was about the middle of December and it was kind of time to decide whether I was going to go back (to Butler for the spring semester) or stay at home and take a gap semester,'' Battle said. "Then in the middle of one night I had contact with Coach (Zach) Watkins and I've been an Ichabod ever since, so I'm just blessed for that opportunity for sure.
"The facilities are amazing, the school itself is a great academic school and I could come in and get the degree I was looking for. It's a great environment with the coaching staff and it just felt like home. As soon as I stepped in on my visit the campus just felt amazing and I just had a great time, so I didn't look back from the moment I got here.''
Battle transferred to Washburn for the spring semester, which he said was an advantage.
"It really helped because I was able to get used to a new environment and a new coaching staff and everyone and everything's been awesome since I got here,'' he said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Friday's city showdown between Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights featured enough big plays to fill a couple of highlight reels and more than a few miscues by both teams.
But when the dust finally settled after nearly three hours, the visiting Junior Blues had prevailed in a 51-41 shootout.
Washburn Rural celebrates after Friday night's 51-41 win at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The tone for the night was set when Rural and Heights traded 64 and 73-yard touchdowns over the opening three minutes and the pace barely slowed the rest of the night in the non-league battle between the two longtime city rivals.
"It was a typical first ballgame,'' Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler said. "Cramps on cool weather, lots of great plays, great athletes on the field, big plays in big games, guys stepped up. We've been talking about that, who were going to be the guys to step up?''
After trailing 14-7 at the 4:47 mark of the opening quarter, Washburn never trailed after scoring 20 straight points to build a 27-14 advantage with 5:26 left in the first half.
But Shawnee Heights, which trailed by as many as 16 points, clawed back time and time again to get as close as three on multiple occasions and the game wasn't officially decided until Junior Blue senior Nate Selm fielded a T-Bird onsides kick attempt and rambled 47 yards for the night's final TD with 14 seconds remaining.
"Nate Selm, a great baseball player, and he showed it on that last play,'' Buhler said. "He scooped that thing up on that hop and he was gone.
"It was great to see that and one thing we've been preaching already is the idea of being persistent and staying with it and playing through and I was really happy with our kids. There were times where we could of just kind of let off the gas a little bit and been upset about some things, but our guys played through a lot of mistakes and kept playing hard and that's what we've been preaching all fall.''
Selm, who caught a 31-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game, had an idea of what he wanted to do on the onsides attempt, beginning with making he sure he caught the ball.
"You've got to,'' Selm said. "I was just kind of reacting. I saw it come off his foot and I was just like, 'There's no one coming to get me and I might as well take this one to the house.'
"I watch You Tube videos and knew the rule that you can go get it before 10 yards and I saw that little gap and took off.''
Selm said that Rural knew it was going to have to come up with big plays to hold off a talented Shawnee Heights team.
"A crazy game,'' Selm said. "Heights is really good and their offense can score and those dudes are all really good. They can throw the ball and catch the ball. They've got a ton of great athletes. Aiden Scott (Heights' star quarterback), I grew up with him and he can heave the ball, man.''
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
The Seaman Lady Vikings opened the home portion of their 2025 volleyball season by hosting the Jefferson West Tigers Thursday night. After four games, Jeff West was victorious with scores of 25-21, 25-17, 20-25, 25-11.
Tatiana Dowling's Seaman volleyball team fell to 1-2 on the season Thursday night with a four-set loss to Jefferson West. [File photo/TSN]
Game 1 saw Seaman jump out to an early 6-2 lead, causing Jeff West to take a timeout. Jeff West battled back to tie the game at 14 and continued on its run to pull ahead 20-17. Following a couple of timeouts by Seaman, the Tigers were able to close out a 25-21 win.
Jeff West continued its inspired play and jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in the second set, forcing Seaman to call a timeout. The Tigers stretched their lead to 15-7, but the Lady Vikes responded with a 7-3 run to trim the lead down to just four, 18-14. But Jeff West closed out Game 2 with a 7-3 run of its own to win 25-17.
“I think we came out a little bit sluggish and thought it would just be given to us,'' Seaman coach Tatiana Dowling said. "It was a good wake up call to go down 0-2 because it forced us to find a little fire within ourselves.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University football team will open its MIAA schedule at 1 p.m. Saturday in Yager Stadium against Northwest Missouri, with the Ichabods looking to build off of their 20-17 season-opening come-from-behind win over Truman State.
Quarterback Justin Lewis threw for 352 yards and two touchdowns in his Washburn debut, helping lead the Ichabods to a 20-17 win over Truman State. [File photo/TSN]
"I was real proud of how we came back,'' Ichabod coach Zach Watkins said about the Truman win. "We faced some adversity early and we battled back. We've got to improve some things up front on the offensive line with the run game and the protection. Truman State did a really good job with things we hadn't seen on film and we weren't prepared for, so we had to adjust during the game and that's what good teams and good coaches do and our staff did that.
"They hit us in the mouth early (opening up a 10-0 lead) and we adjusted to come back.''
The Bearcats are 0-1 after falling 38-14 at then-No. 11-ranked Minnesota State.
"Northwest is extremely talented,'' Watkins said. "They didn't play their best game against Minnesota State-Mankato the first game, but the same as us, they want to improve in a big way from Week 1 to Week 2. They're extremely well-coached with a lot of good players and they're still Northwest Missouri and an elite program in Division II.''
Northwest topped Washburn 51-34 last fall and leads the all-time series 36-7. The Bearcats have won the last three meetings overall and the last two games in Topeka.
After Week 1, the Ichabods are fourth in the MIAA in total defense, allowing 333 yards per game and ninth in total offense, averaging 315 yards per game.
The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked passing offense in the league, averaging 352 yards per game. Quarterback Justin Lewis is on top of the MIAA in passing after the opening week, passing for 352 yards and two touchdowns against Truman.
Lewis completed 20 straight passes at one point, setting a Washburn and MIAA single-game record.
Chase Allen-Jackman celebrates one of his two touchdowns in Washburn's 20-17 season-opening win over Truman State. [File photo/TSN]
Junior Chase Allen-Jackman leads the conference with 127 yards receiving while junior D.J. Bell is fourth after his 98-yard performance against the Bulldogs.
Sophomores L.J. Minner and J.C. Heim are tied for the MIAA lead with 11 tackles and Kamble Haverkamp leads the MIAA with three tackles for loss and two sacks.
