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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 8-ranked Washburn University volleyball team capped a 4-0 run in the Washburn Invitational with a 3-1 win over No. 15 Northern State Saturday at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods, now 5-0 on the season, took a 25-14, 25-15, 25-27, 25-20 win over the Wolves after dispatching Minot State, 25-11, 25-10, 25-11 earlier in the day.
Washburn senior Allison Maxwell (right) celebrates a kill with her teammates Saturday at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The win over Northern State capped a stretch of five matches in three days, with WU playing a regular-season match against Cameron on Thursday before opening tournament play with wins over Colorado-Colorado Springs and No. 19 Harding on Friday.
The third-set loss to the Wolves was one of just two sets the Ichabods dropped in their season-opening five matches.
"I'm very happy,'' Washburn coach Chris Herron said. "I thought we played really, really well against (Northern State) in the first two sets especially. We just got in one rotation twice where we couldn't get out of it and they took advantage of that in the third set and that was the difference in that set, but overall we played really well.''
"We did a lot of nice things, so I'm extremely happy.''
Ichabod senior Allison Maxwell said Washburn enjoyed the busy stretch of matches.
"We love to play,'' Maxwell said. "Practice is definitely a vital part of it all, but it was really nice to play and this was a great weekend for us. I'm really happy with our performance.''
Washburn senior Genna Berg was named the most valuable player in the Washburn Invitational after helping lead the Ichabods to a perfect 4-0 record in the tournament. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Maxwell was one of four Ichabods that earned post-tournament recognition, with Maxwell and senior teammates Kelsey Gordon and Faith Rottinghaus named to the all-tournament team while Washburn senior Genna Berg was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Berg contributed 19 kills and eight digs in the win over Northern State.
Washburn jumped out to a 12-4 first-set lead against Northern State on a kill from freshman Jalyn Stevenson and the Wolves got no closer than four points the rest of the set, with a kill from Maxwell closing out the 11-point win.
The Ichabods jumped out to 15-5 lead in the second set and went up 17-7 on a kill from Sydney Fitzgibbons and 20-11 on a kill from freshman Payton Van Veen and Northern State got no closer than seven points the remainder of the set.
Washburn had a set point at 25-24 in the third set to close out the sweep, but the Wolves scored three straight to take the 27-25 victory and force a fourth set.
Northern State led early in the fourth set, but Washburn took the lead for good on a Maxwell kill and Berg, senior Taylor Antonowich and Fitzgibbons followed with kills to put WU in front, 10-6.
Back to back kills from Fitzgibbons put Washburn up 23-16 and the Ichabods went on to close out the five-point win.
WASHBURN INVITATIONAL
Most valuable player -- Genna Berg, Washburn University.
All-tournament team
Washburn University -- Kelsey Gordon, Allison Maxwell, Faith Rottinghaus. Northern State -- Sally Gaul, Taylor Buckley. Cameron -- Alanni Carter. Rockhurst -- Morgan Conner, Averi Vosmastic. Harding -- Ally Stoner, Libby Hinton. William Jewell -- Lilly Johnson. Colorado-Colorado Springs -- Hannah Ammerman.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Cair Paravel Latin got its 2021 football season off to a rousing start, riding a dominating second half to a 60-14 victory over Kansas City East Christian Academy at Highland Park.
The Lions led by just a 14-8 margin at the end of the first quarter and 22-14 at halftime before outscoring KC East 32-0 in the third quarter and 38-0 in the second half.
Carter Brian
Noah Hastert
Cair Paravel senior quarterback Carter Brian completed 15 of 16 pass attempts for 298 yards and five touchdowns while senior Noah Hastert had six catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns and sophomore Evan Will had four catches for 78 yards.
Senior Max Colombo was the Lions' leading rusher with 50 yards and a touchdown on just two attempts and Colombo also registered a team-high five tackles.
Sophomore Jesiah Bonura picked off two passes for the Lions, who were 5-5 in 2020.
ROSSVILLE 38, CENTRALIA 0 -- The defending Class 2A state champions got the '21 season off to impressive start, riding an outstanding night from senior star quarterback Torrey Horak to a 38-0 shutout over traditional state stalwart Centralia.
Torrey Horak
Horak rushed for 211 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries and completed eight of 15 pass attempts for 77 yards and a TD.
Senior Corey Catron rushed for 98 yards and two TDs on 14 attempts while senior Tagen Kippes caught four passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Rossville opened up a commanding 28-0 halftime lead and tacked on 10 more points in the third quarter to account for the final margin.
HAYDEN 22, EMPORIA 2 -- Coming off a 7-2 season in 2020, 3A Hayden rode a stingy defense to Friday night's season-opening 22-2 win over 5A Emporia at Hayden.
SILVER LAKE 34, ROCK CREEK 28 -- Perennial state power Silver Lake, which has won eight state championships, survived a tough test from Rock Creek to open its season with a 34-28 win over the Mustangs.
LEAVENWORTH 20, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 13 -- Host Shawnee Heights was in the game until the end, but fell to United Kansas Conference foe Leavenworth 20-13 in its season-opener at Wetter field.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Friday night was the 102nd football game between Highland Park and Seaman and the latest meeting, like the bulk of the longstanding series, belonged to the Vikings, who rolled to a 71-6 Centennial League decision at Seaman.
Seaman extended its lead in the series to 70-30-2 Friday night, dominating the game after wiping out an early 6-0 deficit.
The Vikings ran an effective option offense’ all night long against the Scots, with Seaman's rushing attack producing seven rushing touchdowns by Camden Barta, Aidan Polter, Kaden Ireland and Alex Mah.
Camden Barta
Kaden Ireland
“It comes down to our reads and I thought our guys did a great job with being effective in our reads,'' said Viking coach Jared Swafford, who was making his debut at Seaman.
“Without the great performance of our offensive line, we could have not dominated the way we did on the ground,'' Polter added.
Despite the lopsided score, not everything went perfect for the Vikings according to Swafford.
“We have to cut down on our penalties because that will hurt us down the road if those aren’t addressed,'' Swafford said.
The Vikings recorded nine penalties, giving the Scots 70 free yards.
“Tonight was the step in the right direction and I am very proud of my guys,'' Swafford said.
Friday was a battle at the beginning of the game, with an opening fumble by Highland Park followed up by an interception given up by Seaman.
After that interception, junior Tre Richardson took the ball 90 yards to the house on a run to the left side of the field to put the Scots up 6-0 with 11:41 remaining in the first quarter.
But the game was all Seaman from there.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
You can usually expect a couple of strange plays in a season-opener, but weird was almost the norm in Friday night's Washburn Rural-Topeka West Centennial League football game at Hummer Sports Park.
Early in the game Topeka West had a pick six wiped out by a penalty while Washburn Rural set up one touchdown off a blocked field goal attempt and scored another TD when a pass bounced off one Junior Blue into the hands of a Rural teammate.
And the weirdness continued to the very end, with Topeka West scoring its lone points of the night after the clock ran out in the fourth quarter.
But when all was said and done, Washburn Rural achieved its opening-night goal, rolling to a 45-6 win over the Chargers.
"Some of us oldtime coaches, like coach (Steve) Lincoln and I, were looking at each other on the sideline like, 'Did that really just happen?' '' Rural coach Steve Buhler said. "It was some strange football.''
Sophomore Branton DeWeese threw for 205 yards and four touchdowns in Washburn Rural's 45-6 win over Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Buhler also saw a lot of positives that the Junior Blues can take from the opener.
"The thing I was most happy about was our effort,'' Buhler said. "That probably was one of the best defensive efforts we've had in a long time here and it was because of the hustle.
"There were the weird plays, but we made plays on both sides from kids just hustling and playing hard and putting themselves in a position where those kind of things actually happen.''
Sophomore quarterback Branton DeWeese completed 15 of 22 passes for 205 yards and four touchdowns while junior Amr Sabbarini had five catches for 66 yards and a pair of TDs, including a 44-yard score off a deflection.
Washburn Rural senior Robby Bolin (11) celebrates a touchdown reception in Friday's 45-6 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior standout Robby Bolin had four catches for 54 yards and two TDs and Bolin set up another Rural touchdown when he alertly scooped the ball off a blocked field goal attempt and scampered 22 yards to the West 5, with junior Ma'kenttis Adams scoring on the next play.
Junior Kason Williams led Rural with a game-high 70 rushing yards on seven carries while Adams had 63 yards on eight attempts and junior Lukas Hanks had three catches for 54 yards.
Washburn Rural opened up a 24-0 halftime advantage and forced a running clock at 45-0 with 5:48 remaining on a 16-yard touchdown run from sophmore JC Heim.
Defensively Washburn Rural limited Topeka West to 173 total yards, including just 61 rushing yards.
Topeka West junior quarterback Malachi Berg threw for 112 yards and scored West's lone touchdown in Friday's 45-6 loss to Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
West junior quarterback Malachi Berg passed for 112 yards and rushed for a team-high 39 yards on 18 carries.
Rural came within one play of pitching a shutout, but the Junior Blues were flagged for a facemask penalty on the final play of regulation, giving West one untimed play to end the game.
Berg scored from 3 yards out to get the Chargers on the scoreboard.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The old saying is that "every kid wants to be a quarterback.''
And former Seaman star Dalton Cowan got that opportunity for the bulk of his football career.
But when it came time to think about his final two seasons for Emporia State, Cowan quickly got on board with making a position switch and will line up at the Hornets' stinger back position when ESU opens its 2021 season at Northeastern State Saturday night (6 p.m. kickoff).
Cowan, a 6-foot-3, 204-pound redshirt junior, started at QB for the Hornets for the majority of the '19 season, passing for 1,683 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushing for 241 yards and six TDs.
But when Braden Gleason took over as the Hornets' starter late in the season, Cowan started thinking about the best way he could help the Hornets moving forward and made the decision to become an S-back.
Emporia State redshirt junior Dalton Cowan and the Hornets will open their 2021 season Saturday night at Northeastern State. [Photo courtesy of Emporia State Athletics]
Former Seaman star Dalton Cowan is excited for Emporia State's 2021 season after making the switch from quarterback to stinger back. [Photo courtesy of Emporia State Athletics]
"My dad (Jeff) was caught completely off guard and everybody that I told was caught completely off guard, but when I sat those last two games I was thinking, 'Man, I could really help the team doing this other position and I think I would enjoy it a lot,' '' Cowan said.
"I never gave it much thought, but I always thought, 'I could play receiver, I could play something else.' ''
Having the 2020 season canceled due to COVID-19 gave Cowan plenty of time to adjust to his new position.
