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Created: 26 September 2025

By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

Friday was Homecoming for Topeka High as the Trojans would play host to the red hot Emporia Spartans, who had outscored their previous two opponents, 102-6, in a battle of 2-1 football teams at Hummer Sports Park.

Sophomore Ricardo Dowd rushed for 83 yards and a TD in Topeka High's 13-12 win over Emporia. [File photo/TSN]

The Centennial League opener for both schools went down to the wire, with Topeka High hanging on for a 13-12 win. 

The game would get started with the Spartans receiving the ball and turning it over on downs before forcing a quick Trojan three and out.

That would give the Spartans the ball back and help get them on the board, with freshman quarterback Cael Claibourn finding sophomore Oliver Kline for a 2-yard touchdown pass (conversion failed).

The Trojans would get the ball back and go for a field goal to cut their deficit to three but the Spartans would find a way to block the field goal.

Topeka High would force a quick Spartan three and out and the Trojans would drive down the field on the legs of sophomore running back Ricardo Dowd, who would gain 45 of his team-high 83 yards on the drive and would punch it into the end zone with a 1-yard run.

Emporia blocked High's extra point to leave the game tied at 6-6 at halftime.

Topeka High coach Jason Filbeck on Dowd's performance: “Absolutely not shocked at all, he is the right kind of kid. He works hard, he gets good grades and he just does everything right and he has alot of talent. He can be really special down the road. He is only a sophomore and he is already toting the rock how you should.

"I mean, he runs through arm tackles and protects the football and he has done a good job. I am not surprised at all. We saw it last year before he got hurt , that he was going to be good.”

Trojan quarterback Zane Smith on Dowd: “He does his magic, but with the help of the team. He’s young, but he has great eyes, he has older eyes then what he is. He finds a hole and he hits it and then just makes guys miss, he is truly special.”

The Trojans would then strike again as Smith would find junior Courtney Sanders on a 11-yard pass to get into the end zone.

The biggest play of the night would come on a Spartan touchdown with four minutes to go to get within 13-12.

Emporia would go for the 2-point conversion to get the lead, but the Trojan defense would stuff the Spartans at the goal line and take the ball and the lead.

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Created: 26 September 2025

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

Hayden’s only loss in last year’s regular season came at Wamego on a last-second field goal. Hayden left the Red Raiders no chance for late-game heroics Friday, rolling 42-6 at home to improve to 4-0.

Senior quarterback Connor Hanika threw for three touchdowns and ran for a TD in Hayden's 42-6 win over Wamego. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

The Wildcats completely throttled Wamego’s offense, holding the visitors to 55 yards of total offense and just four first downs in the first half. Hayden, meanwhile, struck on two short passes over the middle from senior quarterback Connor Hanika, followed by an 11-yard scamper by the quarterback to go to halftime leading 21-0.

Hayden senior Jackson McGivern (36) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the game's first touchdown in Friday's 42-7 win over Wamego. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Hayden senior Xander Blasing caught a touchdown pass in Friday's 42-6 win over Wamego. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Hanika connected on 15 of 23 throws for 230 and three touchdowns on the night. In his first season as the full-time quarterback, Hanika said he is developing comfort with the offense and continuity with his receivers. He hit six different teammates with throws in the game. Jackson McGivern, Xander Blasing and Logan Power each caught touchdown passes.

“I really love the receivers and the O-line, too,” Hanika said. “They’re doing a really good job up front and I have lots of guys to throw to. It feels really good.”

Senior Kade Mitchell bulled his way in for a touchdown and Mason Becker finished off the scoring by returning an intercepted pass 25 yards for another touchdown.

Impressive as Hayden’s offense was, it was the defense that set the tone. Having surrendered 31 points to the Red Raiders – a Class 4A-state bound team a year ago – Hayden permitted just 60 yards passing on 20 attempts on Friday. The Wildcats have yet to surrender more than seven points in a contest this year.

“It feels really good,” Hanika said to exacting some revenge on Wamego from last season. “We had a good game plan coming into this thing, and we executed it really well.”

Hayden coach Bill Arnold downplayed the concept of revenge, focusing on the good things his team accomplished and noting there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

“I don’t know about revenge. We felt like we let one slip away from us last year. But it’s an entirely different team on both sides of the ball,” Arnold said. “We’ve got a very talented senior class and we’re getting filtered in there some (younger guys) at some other spots. And those guys are getting better each and every week, and that’s what we want.

“We played with a lot of heart tonight. I’m just happy with the effort that our kids put out and we’ll try and regroup, correct some mistakes and get better next week.”

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Created: 26 September 2025

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

As Cair Paravel Latin prepares to return -- at least for the next two seasons -- to 8-man football, the Lions proved again Friday night that despite facing a numbers crunch they are capable of competing in the 11-man ranks.

Cair Paravel sophomore quarterback Chase Hastert (1) passed for 168 yards and a touchdown in Friday's 21-7 loss to Mission Valley. [Photo by Barry Benteman/Special to TSN]

Cair Paravel senior Lucas Marichal had six catches for 91 yards and a 19-yard TD in Friday's 21-7 loss to Mission Valley. [Photo by Barry Benteman/Special to TSN]

But although the Lions, who suited up 22 players, went toe to toe with Mission Valley for most of Friday's Class 1A District 2 opener, a few self-inflicted errors turned the tide as the Vikings posted a 21-7 victory at Yager Stadium.

"It's the little things and we didn't do the little things well,'' Cair Paravel coach Doug Bonura said. "It was some guys wanting it so bad they tried to take the team on their own rather than just doing their job.

"It's tough losing, but if we can come out of this and learn, then great. It's wasting that learning that would be the problem.''

Cair Paravel, 1-3 overall and 0-1 in District 2, was locked in a scoreless tie with the Vikings at the end of the first quarter, but Mission Valley (3-1, 1-0) never trailed after scoring 14 points in a 31-second span in the second quarter.

Mission Valley got on the board at the 8:47 mark of the second quarter on a 1-yard plunge from junior quarterback Jake Mills and Hemi Duehring tacked on the extra point to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

The ensuing kickoff looked like it was going to go out of bounds but the ball stopped just inside the sideline and Mission Valley senior Bryce Bunger grabbed the ball to give the Vikings the ball at the Lions' 22, leading to a 17-yard TD pass from Mills to sophomore Parker Kelley (Duehring kick) with 8:16 left in the half. 

Cair Paravel got back in the hunt on its ensuing drive, with sophomore quarterback Chase Hastert hitting senior Lucas Marichal for a 19-yard TD (Marichal kick) with 5:17 left before halftime.

The score remained 14-7 well into the second half before Mission Valley picked up a huge insurance score with 3:04 left in the third quarter on a 9-yard TD pass from Mills to Bunger (Duehring kick). 

Cair Paravel had its chances to get back in the game but hurt itself with three turnovers on the night, costly penalties and multiple dropped passes.

"We have some challenges other teams don't have,'' Bonura said. "We're one of the smallest teams out there and we've got a lot of young guys. We had to play some freshman tonight that we didn't want to put on the field, but that's what you have to do.

"That's just a disadvantage that you have trying to overcome some of those things, but I think if we can continue to grow we're going to be alright. Right now we've just got to get our guys to be disciplined on what they need to do and do their job and not worry about someone else's job.''

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Created: 26 September 2025

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The Washburn Ichabod football team will be back in Yager Stadium for the first time in three weeks on Saturday, hosting MIAA foe Nebraska-Kearney in a 1 p.m. Family Day contest.

 

Zach Watkins' Washburn Ichabods will be looking to pick up their first MIAA win in Saturday's Family Day contest with Nebraska-Kearney. [File photo/TSN] 

The Ichabods are 1-3 this season with three straight losses but are coming off a strong performance last Saturday in a 34-28 MIAA loss at No. 15-ranked Central Oklahoma.

 

Now Washburn coach Zach Watkins and the Ichabods will be looking to parlay that nailbiter into their first MIAA victory.

 

"Winning's the ultimate goal and there's no moral victories in college football and if you don't win then you're disappointed,'' Watkins said. "But our kids have attacked every week, win or lose, in a really positive way.

 

"Coming off two long road trips to Colorado and Oklahoma, our two longest road trips of the year, it's so great to be back home at Yager Stadium in front of our fans, especially on Family Day. We've talked all week about Family Day and what family means in our program, so hopefully we'll play our best game this weekend.

 

''We have not played as well as we can and once we play as well as we can I think that will hopefully turn into success.'' 

 

The Lopers are 3-1 this season after a 34-20 MIAA win over Emporia State at home last Saturday and Nebraska-Kearney received votes in the latest AFCA Top 25 coaches poll.

Washburn sophomore linebacker JC Heim, a former Washburn Rural star, leads the MIAA in tackles with 59 and sophomore L.J. Minner Jr. is second with 48, with the Ichabod duo ranking third and fourth, respectively, in the NCAA Division II-2 national rankings.

Minner has recorded double-digit tackles in each of his last seven games dating back to last season. The seven-game double-digit tackle streak is the longest since Grant Gould had at least 10 tackles in seven straight from the final game of the 2004 season to the first six games of the 2005 season.

Chase Allen-Jackman's four touchdown receptions lead the MIAA and is 13th in the NCAA D2 ranks.

 

Allen-Jackman finished with five receptions for 118 yards and both of Washburn's passing touchdowns against UCO while sophomore Keller Hurla added two rushing scores to go with his long touchdown pass in his first game of the season.

 

Heim led the Ichabod defense with 16 tackles (eight solo stops) and also picked off a pass while Minner had 13 stops (five solo). 

 

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