Sportsink103014

A magazine focusing on all things sports in northwest Kansas

INK. November 2014

Building Blocks The La Crosse senior class helps turn Leopard volleyball into a contender.

The Hays Daily News

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Rolling along Hays High School senior Mattie Schlaefli (1) celebrates with her teammates after a point against Abilene during a quad in early October at the HHS gym. The Indians, enjoying their best season in recent years, were 23-6 heading into the WAC Tournament.

Austin Colbert, Sports Ink.

What’s up?

13

Hard work

A look inside this issue

The Norton girls’ cross country team is a consistent

6

winner.

16

Air attack

Picture

Osborne QB, receiver duo has a great connection on the football field.

8

On the rise

A solid group of athletes at La Crosse has turned its volleyball program into a contender.

Sports Ink. contributors: Nick McQueen nmcqueen@dailynews.net Austin Colbert acolbert@dailynews.net Jolie Green jgreen@dailynews.net Everett Royer sportsink@dailynews.net On the cover: La Crosse senior Emma Showalter prepares to serve during a Leopard volleyball match. Photo by Austin Colbert.

this

Focused on the Hays High football team’s 6-0 start.

Volume 4, Issue 9 Sports Ink. is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News. Copyright © 2014 Harris Enterprises. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Sports Ink. is a registered trademark of The Hays Daily News, 507 Main, Hays, KS 67601 (785) 628-1081.

Will change mean success?

I

t’s the beginning of a very new era but moved to 4A for all other sports, — although possibly a temporary won’t feel the full impact of the change one — this season for Hays High until basketball season this winter.

School, as the Indians moved down Although, the non-football fall sports to Class 4A in all sports. To add to the were the first to test the 4A waters, changes, Thomas More Prep-Marian with girls’ tennis and golf regionals moved up to 4A, giving this sports sea- taking place in early to mid-October, son, especially the postseason, a much volleyball and boys’ soccer soon after. different feel from years past.

For Hays High, the move to 4A might The changes startbe a blessing. While ed last year, when there is always the For starters it was announced desire to compete at 4A was going to be the highest level possplit into two divisible, it was always sions, primarily to a challenge for Hays accommodate for High being one of the an overcrowded 4A smallest 5A schools. football class. Hays High was sent from With the move to 4A, the Indians are 5A, where it had been for years, into now one of the largest in the classificathe newly created Class 4A, Division I. tion, meaning their ability to compete The impact has been felt this season for sub-state and even state championwith the HHS football team, as instead ships goes up tenfold. of seeing familiar faces such as Salina While it’s way too early to be predictCentral, Salina South and Great Bend ing anything, I believe the Indians’ in district play, it was scheduled to face boys’ basketball team will once again Buhler, Abilene and McPherson. be a major player for a state title, and TMP, which stayed in 3A for football might even have a better shot this

Austin

Colbert

season than it did last year when it won 23 games and made the 5A state semifinals.

I also have high expectations for the HHS softball team in the spring, which is set to return seven of nine starters, including pitcher Hannah Hearld, a Fort Hays State University commit, from a team that advanced to the 5A state tournament last season.

TMP might be on the short end of the changes.

After being in the middle to upper echelon as far as student enrollment went in 3A, the Monarchs are now the smallest 4A school, and will compete in the newly created Class 4A Division II in some sports.

Personally, I find change exciting and look forward to seeing how this all works out with Hays High and TMP, which will even compete side by side in certain sports come postseason. And since there is nothing either school can do about its new classification, the only thing to do is to embrace the change and make the best of it.

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Who’s That?

Notable performances in northwest Kansas Phillip Bryant

Through six games, the Almena-Northern Valley High School senior defensive lineman led the state in tackles with a 103, according to maxpreps.com. He averaged 17.2 tackles per game for a Northern Valley Husky team that started the season 4-0, but dropped two straight against the top two teams in its district. Also a running back, Bryant had 56 carries for 374 yards and seven touchdowns in the 4-2 start.

Morgan Beougher

In the midst of Stockton’s volleyball season, the Tigers’ senior offensive leader made the decision to play volleyball collegiately when she signed a letter with Kansas Wesleyan University out of Salina.

She had a signing ceremony in early October. Through Stockton’s 15-12 start, Beougher was the team leader in kills with 149, and she was second on the team with 169 digs. She also recorded 16 assists.

Ed Williams

Williams, a senior receiver on the Fort Hays State University football team was one catch off tying the school record for catches in a single game.

He hauled in 15 catches for 215 yards from junior quarterback Treveon Albert in a 26-7 homecoming loss to Missouri Western State University. He fell one shy of the record set in 1985 by Eric Busenbark against Wayne State (Neb.) College. Through the Tigers’ 3-3 start, Williams had 34 catches for 543 yards (15.9 average per catch) with two touchdowns.

Andrea Browne

The junior cross country runner from Colby High School has enjoyed a successful season, coming off last year’s 10th-place finish at state in Class 4A. Among her wins this season, Browne won the Phillipsburg Invitational overall individual title by running in 15 minutes, 48.92 seconds at the Phillipsburg Golf Course. She also finished at the top of the 1A-4A division at the Hays High School Invitational in September. She also finished second in the 4A division of the Wamego Invitational in September.

Got an idea of someone who you think should be included in Who’s That?

Send it to sportsink@dailynews.net with Who’s that? in the subject line, or call (800) 657-6017.

Dynamic

DUO Osborne junior quarterback Jake Tiernan.

Osborne’s Tiernan, Wolters provide one of the best air attacks in Kansas.

A

bout as far back as he can remember, Osborne High School junior quarterback Jake Tiernan was on the football field.

Not always playing, but he would be there every day after school when his father, Steve Tiernan, had a successful run at Baileyville-B&B High School, where the coach engineered two eight-man state championships with the Falcons in 2008 and 2010.

So at an early age, Jake Tiernan said he pretty much knew the program his father had put together.

So it should come as no surprise when Steve Tiernan left B&B to coach at Osborne, his son eventually would have some impact on what the Bulldogs put on the field.

“Kind of knew the offense when I was in fourth grade or so,” Jake Tiernan said. “Pretty cool experience growing up with that.”

Not that Jake had planned on being the field general for B&B once he got to high school, but when the family moved to Osborne before the 2011-12 school year things changed a bit. Jake was going into the eighth grade when they made the move.

“Things change when you move to a new town, but they did change in some good Page 6

ways,” Jake said.

One of those was the Tiernans stepped into a football program that already was rich in talent, and had recently made the switch from 11to eight-man football. For lack of other options, Jake Tiernan stepped into the quarterback role right away as a freshman in 2011on a Bulldog team that finished 10-2, and eventually lost 42-38 to Montezuma-South Gray in the Eight-Man Division I sub-state title game.

“He was kind of quarterback by default,” Steve Tiernan said.

November 2014

SPORTS INK.

And playing that early helped develop one of the better quarterback/receiver combinations in eight-man and the entire state, a strong connection that still exists two seasons later.

Now in his third year as the starter, Jake has developed a special connection with senior 6-foot-2, 195-pound tight end Brandt Wolters, one that has shown up frequently through the Bulldogs’ successful run.

“It’s scary to say if either one of them is thinking,” joked Steve Tiernan, who is known for his sarcastic nature. “But, it’s like they’re thinking on the same level. “(Jake) will put it right on the money, right where Brandt was not supposed to be. Brandt has a knack for getting open.”

It seems even more so this season after the loss of playmakers Kenton Ubelaker and Maverick LeRock off last year’s undefeated EightMan Division I state title team, a team that produced an eight-man record 760 points. Both are now at Fort Hays State

Osborne senior tight end Brandt Wolters has been the Bulldogs top receiver the past two seasons.

University.

“You can’t replace two guys that are playing in college right now,” Jake Tiernan said.

“We’ve all worked hard, though. A bunch of underclassmen have really stepped up. That’s helped a lot.”

And having the Tiernan/Wolters connection in the hip pocket is a big asset.

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In the Bulldogs’ 6-0 start, the two connected 34 times for 487 yards and nine scores — less than 200 yards off last year’s 679 yards (14 TDs) thrown in 12 games.

“I just try to run great routes,” said Wolters, who after six games this season had 1,528 yards and 30 TDs the last three seasons. “The line really helps give me that time to run those routes. Jake puts a good ball on me.”

In the Bulldogs’ 6-0 start, the final four were over by at least the third quarter, and with newcomers Cullen Grabast and Richard Zieters picking up the run game, the Tiernan to Wolters weapon hasn’t exactly been needed — but it’s nice to know it’s there if Osborne hopes to make a run at defending its title.

“He kind of knows what I’m thinking, and I know what he’s thinking — usually,” Jake Tiernan said.

Story, photos by Nick McQueen, Sports Ink.

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Building Blocks Solid group helps turn Leopard program into contender

Page 8

L

A CROSSE — Mindi Dreiling’s smile or we are not going to get any better.’ Lately can be infectious. In her third year as she’s gotten a lot better and started to yell at the La Crosse High School volleyball us. I think it helps a little bit. She’s too nice coach, the Scott City native has made a name sometimes.” of herself by being the Leopards’ happy-goDreiling, a Fort Hays State University gradulucky leader. ate who teaches first grade in La Crosse and There are times, however, when is married to FHSU men’s basketball even the La Crosse players wouldn’t assistant Sean Dreiling, might have mind seeing Dreiling lose the smile a nicer persona than most coaches, and lash into them a little bit. but you can’t fault her for enjoying Austin “We knew she was really easy gothe recent success the Leopards have Colbert ing, but we were kind of scared of achieved, considering how rough the how the season would go because of start to her coaching career was. how easy going she was,” La Crosse senior In her first season in 2012, La Crosse finished outside hitter Ashley Depperschmidt said of a miserly 5-25, which had Dreiling’s first season. “Finally, we just had been on par with recent PAGE 10 to tell her, ‘You got to yell at us some more years.

story and photos by

November 2014

SPORTS INK.

ABOVE: La Crosse High School senior Alyssa Oborny (5) celebrates after scoring a point against St. John during action Oct. 7 in La Crosse.

LEFT:Leopard senior Ashley Depperschmidt reacts to a play during the Leopards’ match against St. John in La Crosse.

”These girls that are here right now, they are really hard workers.”

- Mindi Dreiling, La Crosse volleyball coach In fact, since the program began in the 1960s, La Crosse volleyball had only made the state tournament twice, once in 1985 and again in 2004.

Then came the 2013 season, Dreiling’s second in command, and everything about La Crosse volleyball seemed to change in a hurry.

“That first year was a little bit rough, but we made a lot of improvements.

Four of my girls right now that start varsity were starters then. So I kind of built on them,” Dreiling said. “These girls that are here right now, they are really hard workers. … They work so hard in the offseason during the summer. They are constantly lifting. We do a summer league. I could see it over the summer that we were already going to be better. Their dedication was just out of control amazing.”

Leopard senior Emma Showalter attempts a dig against St. John during action earlier La Crosse went from five wins in 2012 to having a 16-20 record in 2013, this season in La Crosse. and capped off the season by winjust let’s go out and get this over with, season, where the Leopards started the ning its sub-state and making it to the basically,” senior setter Marissa Wagner year 10-1, their only loss on the road to Class 1A, Division I state tournament in said of the 2012 season. “It boosted my Class 4A Hays High School on Sept. 2.

Hays, its first state appearance in nine confidence a lot (making state). Made Wins five through 10 were the most years and third in program history. us feel like we could actually accommeaningful for La Crosse, as they came “It was kind of hard to play each game plish something important and stick on Sept. 13 in its own tournament, because of your record. Everybody was with big schools that have a lot more something the Leopexpecting you to lose. Nobody was girls to choose from.” ards hadn’t won since PAGE 12 there to watch you play. Every game was That confidence carried into the 2014 1989.

La Crosse High School volleyball coach Mindi Dreiling talks to the Leopard players during a timeout against St. John on Oct. 7 in La Crosse.

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None of the current players were even alive at the time, and some even had family ties to that team, including senior outside hitter Alyssa Oborny’s aunt, who was a senior on the 1989 team.

“When we made it to state last year she was bawling,” said Oborny of her aunt, Helen Showalter. “Then this year when we won this tournament she couldn’t believe it. It was so exciting for her because the last time they ever did that was with her and that was forever ago.”

Despite a difficult schedule that included a handful of losses to ranked teams, the Leopards’ 2014 team had a 20-8 record after wins over Macksville and Victoria on Oct. 14.

But for a team that made it to state a year ago, a good regular season record wasn’t going to be enough.

The Leopards were happy with their state appearance in 2013, but were not satisfied after they went 0-3 in the tournament.

“Confidence has been a big change from last year … now they went to state, they experienced state. Most teams would be happy with that. The girls were not. They said we went 0-3 and now their goal is to go to state and do something at state,” Dreiling said.

“When we do lose, you can just see it in their face that they are thinking of things they can do better. Sometimes I come into the locker room after a loss and I can hear them, and last year they would have never done this, they are critiquing themselves and saying what they could have all done better and that’s why they lost.”

Whatever the end result of the 2014 season is, the Leopards are proud of how far they have come in just two seasons.

Depperschmidt, Oborny and Wagner were all starters on the 2012 team that

La Crosse junior Morgan West gets ready to serve against St. John.

went 5-25.

And all three are hoping to get one more shot at state to erase the memories of their 0-3 effort in 2013.

“Going to state, I couldn’t really explain the feeling of going there. I actually never imagined going there because La Crosse isn’t really big on girls’ sports,” Depperschmidt said.

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“You can’t just make it to state and lose every game. That’s what ended up happening. What I got is we kind of failed to show our fans what we really have, so this year we are going to try and make that different and go to state and actually win some games and make it further than what we did last year.”

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Success hasn’t come easy for Sierra Griffith and the Norton girls’ cross country team, but a strong tradition continues for the Bluejays.

Hard Work W

hen she was a freshman at Norton Community High School in 2011, Sierra Griffith joined a talented Bluejay cross country team not exactly knowing what to expect.

She admits she didn’t have much drive, and often would even walk to finish a race for the Bluejays.

Something snapped her freshman season, though. She went from walking during the regular season to earning a state medal at the Class 3A state meet at Rim Rock Farm near Lawrence — quite a jump.

Now a senior and the top girls’ runner the past three seasons, she looks back and can’t even fathom what she was thinking, and more so can’t imagine doing anything but going all out in each competition.

“Really pushing myself a lot harder than I have the other years,” said Griffith, who entered this season with a goal in mind of breaking into the top 10 at the 3A state finale this week at Rim Rock. “Definitely learning a lot more than I have. I didn’t think I could, but I keep learning more every year.”

Her work ethic and determination are characteristics that personify what the Bluejays’ program has been about, and it’s helped Norton continue to be one of the most consistent programs in PAGE 14 the state.

Norton senior runner Sierra Griffith.

Jolie Green, Sports Ink.

Sports Ink.

November 2014 2014

Page 13

From being a freshman to now, Griffith has earned three state medals in Class 3A, and has helped guide the Bluejays to three straight second-place finishes in 3A. She was 15th as a freshman (second on the team), 18th as a sophomore (team best), and led the Bluejays to 81 points last season, just three points shy of champion Douglass when she finished 12th. It was Norton’s third straight second-place showing after winning it all in 2010 — when Griffith was an eighth-grader.

“She’s a quiet kid, but this year she kind of took more ownership in the team,” sixth-year Norton coach George Rossi said. “She’s really been working hard. She has some pretty clear goals with what she wants to accomplish.”

Aside from her secret-weapon can of Dr. Pepper each race day and what Rossi labeled a unique “on-her-toes” running style, there isn’t much physically that sets the senior apart, but a certain drive about her is what has helped her so far in a successful senior campaign.

Among her numerous accomplishments in 2014, she claimed the MCL championship Oct. 9 in Phillipsburg by 40 seconds over freshman teammate Kara Frack, and became the Norton girls’ first medalist at the Rim Rock regular-season meet when she finished 23rd in a large, talented field.

“Learning it’s more of a mind game than anything else,” said Griffith, adding the Rim Rock course plays with the head even more so.

“Those hills can be really intimidating if you look at it wrong,” she said. “If you think about it, everyone is running the same course.

It’s same distance as the others. You just have to put your head in it, and go.”

Midway through that race, she said she realized she wasn’t going to medal, but coach Rossi pushed her to keep going, and she passed 10 girls in the final 600 meters.

“I probably could have used that (burst) earlier in the race,” she said.

While finishing as high as she can and getting the team the best possible trophy it can are the main goals, making sure she and this year’s club leave their mark on the tradition ranks right up there.

That mentality is something that has carried on from one Norton group of runners to the next.

“She’s a lot more focused,” junior teammate Raenee Patterson said of Griffith. “We’ve all kind of become that way. We lost state (last year) by three points. We kind of saw what we wanted, and we’ve kind of decided we’re not going to let anything stop us.”

Page 14

NICK McQUEEN, Sports Ink. Norton freshman runner Nicole Thrailkill competes Oct. 9 in the Phillipsburg/MCL Invitational at the Phillipsburg Golf Course.

Family affair Bluejay junior Molly Maddy is another runner who has been on varsity since her freshman season, and has seen improvement from year to year. This season with a talented freshman duo running second and third in the latter part of the season, Maddy has been fourth or fifth for the Bluejays in most races of late, but she constantly hears November 2014

coaches talking about the Norton girls “running together.”

“We’re always there as a pack,” said Maddy, who was the sixth or seven runner on the past two state runner-up teams.

She also was one who when she joined the team didn’t quite expect it to impact her as much as it did.

“I don’t think very many expected this SPORTS INK.

many expected this to be such a great thing, we just wanted to run.”

“I don’t think very

- Molly Maddy, Norton junior runner to be such a great thing, we just wanted to run,” she said. “We’re all a family, and all run together.”

It’s something she’s noticed since making the varsity cut.

“I’ve been looking forward to being on the cross country team since I was in elementary school,” she said. “Being able to be a part of it as a freshman, and be a part of the varsity team, and be a part of the team every meet since then has been great.”

In practices, Rossi just teaches the runners to “catch the person in front,” and more often in meets that’s been another Norton runner.

At the MCL meet, Norton finished first, second, third, 10th, 12th, 17th and 24th with its seven runners en route to the team title with 15 points among its top four — nine points better than MCL newcomer TMP-Marian. That was a norm this season, and has been the norm in Norton’s current streak.

“We have kids that want to be out for cross country,” Rossi said. “It’s girls that have preceded this bunch and kind of rubbed off, and the girls expect to work hard.

“There’s not a lot of pressure put on them, but they see what the teams in front of them have done, and they want to live up to those expectations.”

When freshman teammate Kara Frack — Norton’s second-fastest runner — was done for the season after the league run, those expectations did take a hit, but like any close family the others were more than ready, and focused on stepping up their own games.

“It will be hard, but I think with the group of girls we have, we just need to set our minds to it, and we can still accomplish our goals,” Patterson said prior to last week’s 3A regional in Cimarron. “We all just have to work that much harder to make sure we can accomplish what we want to.”

In Norton each season, what they want to do is compete for titles, and earn state medals, drawing a somewhat odd comparison.

“Coach says it’s kind of like crack cocaine — getting to state and medalling,” Patterson joked. “Once you do it, you’re addicted, and you just want to go back.”

Freshmen step up, keep going Prior to Frack going down with a seasonending stress fracture, she and classmate Sports Ink.

JOLIE GREEN, Sports Ink. Norton freshman Kara Frack competes at the HHS Invitational in Hays in September.

Frack suffered an injury two weeks ago and was supposed to be out for the season.

Nicole Thrailkill were the second and third runners several times behind Griffith.

While Griffith was normally way at the front of the pack, and often would push herself in practice to run with the boys’ team, Frack presented a little bit closer challenge for her. And even Thrailkill, whom Rossi said had to be convinced to come out, is capable of putting forth an above-average outing.

“Surprised with how Nicole has stepped up,” said Maddy. “Wasn’t really sure how she would do. She hasn’t been around cross country very much throughout junior high and hadn’t been to a meet.”

Thrailkill was so hesitant at first, because she just didn’t think she would enjoy it, but was instantly hooked when she got involved.

“I really didn’t think I would like it, but now that I’ve done it, I really enjoy it,” she said.

“It’s the team, and Mr. Rossi — he’s an amazing coach. I like to run now. The competition is fun.”

Nicole’s older brother, junior Ryan Thrailkill, is one of the top runners for the Bluejay boys. Often, the team will head to the family’s land east of town where their father, Doug, carved a path into one of the pastures.

“I kind of made a deal with her that if she didn’t like it halfway through the season, I’d let her quit,” Rossi said of Nicole Thrailkill.

“She’s been a huge surprise.”

Nicole Thrailkill ran third in the MCL meet among her teammates, and finished third November 2014

in the MCL field a little less than a minute behind Griffith, and only 10 seconds back of Frack. It was a personal-best by 34 seconds for Thrailkill.

After the MCL meet, Frack complained of nagging leg pain that had been going on for a couple weeks, so she went to the doctor in Kearney, Neb., only to find she had the stress fracture in her left leg. The result was her being done for the season. Rossi thought possibly she might be able to return (provided a Norton state qualification at last week’s regional), but wasn’t holding out much hope.

The injury just needs time to heal. Frack’s older brother, Brendon Frack, also is done for the season, suffering from compartmental syndrome in his calf.

Griffith had the same injury as Kara Frack her sophomore season in track and field.

“I would say we’re probably more focused — more ready to do it,” Griffith said of the team without one of its top runners, adding everyone knows they just have to be that much better if they want to do what they set out to do.

Regardless, Griffith knows there will be plenty left to carry on that tradition next season. Norton has only nine runners, but Griffith is the only senior on the girls’ side.

“They’re still young, still a couple freshmen back there,” she said. “Lots of room to improve, especially next year after I am gone.”

Nick McQueen, Sports Ink. Page 15

Picture this Focused

on the

start for the

High School

6-0

Hays

football team.

Hays High’s defense congratulates sophomore Shane Berens after he returned an interception for a touchdown against Great Bend.

Isaiah Blackmon takes down Liberal’s Rex Heronemus during their game in Hays.

Isaiah Blackmon, left, runs through an attempted arm tackle by Garden City’s Patrick Clifford during their game in Garden City.

Alex Delton runs the ball in the homecoming game against Wichita South.

xxxx

The Indians raise their helmets on the sideline while awaiting a kickoff against Olathe Northwest.

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Let’s Put Our Hands Together for Our Veterans Alex Delton (5) celebrates in the end zone with Maddux Winter (15) after Delton scored a touchdown against Dodge City.

Alex Delton celebrates in the end zone after scoring a touchdown against Dodge City.

Delton had five total touchdowns in a 64-50 shootout at Lewis Field Stadium to push the Indians’ record to 6-0 heading into district play.

Alex Delton jumps for more yardage in the Indians’ win at Great Bend.

For their service and their sacrifice, we salute America’s brave veterans.

Thank you for your dedication to this great country and our values as a nation.

Your courage and conviction make us proud to be Americans. www.leonswelding.com ACIDIZING

CEMENT

TOOL RENTAL

Lexie Schaben

Hays High senior golfer

After a slow start to the Hays High girls’ golf season, Schaben was a dominant force for the Indians down the stretch.

She broke out of her slump by winning the Liberal Invitational on Sept. 25, took second at Great Bend on Oct. 7, and capped her senior season off by winning the Larned regional on Oct. 13. Schaben’s 95 in windy conditions at Larned helped the regional champion Indians to a 56-stroke victory over Goodland High School to qualify for the Class 4A state golf tournament in Kansas City.

xxxx

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Office: 785.798.2300 Cell: 785-798-534 1

Just about as expected

T

his week the 2014 area high school football regular season comes to a close. It’s safe to say that just about everything expected to happen did, but there were a few wrinkles thrown in that some probably didn’t quite expect.

• Probably the most notable was the play of Alex Delton. Sure, we all expected the Kansas State University commit to have a big season for the Hays High Indians, but what he did through the first six games probably went beyond what we could have imagined.

By Week 6, he led the WAC in rushing by nearly 200 yards, had rushed for 12 scores and was second in passing with 845 yards as the Indians continued to pile on points.

That including scoring a new program record 64 in a wild shootout against Dodge City. In Class 4A for the first time, the Indians cruised to their first WAC title since 2012.

What’s amazing about that is he did it in all in his final season, and under a completely different system under first-year coach Bo Black. While he has had a great supporting cast step up this season, night after night it was truly the Alex Delton show — probably a little more than Indian fans could have hoped for.

• How about what happened in Norton?

Many looked at me funny in preseason when I said Norton was the favorite in the MCL. It didn’t take the Bluejays long to show it. They raced out to a 6-0 start, giving up just 20 points — and no more than a touchdown before they began district play two weeks ago. Sure, it was expected they would be good, but even I didn’t think they would be that dominant against teams like Phillipsburg and Smith Center.

• It shouldn’t be a The surprise that the Victoria Knights were in position for another district championship two weeks ago, but they were. You can’t count out what Doug Oberle and Victoria does each season. The Knights had so many playmakers on offense, but in preseason seemed to lack any kind of experience on the line. That’s been the biggest surprise. With basically only one returner from last season’s playoff team on the line, the new guys in the trenches really made a

nick

NICK McQUEEN, Sports Ink. Victoria junior center Eric McAlonan, left, and junior guard Wheaton Hockersmith come to the line as the Knights go up against Ness City during a game this season in Ness City.

name for themselves this season.

• Up in Osborne, some had thought the Bulldogs wouldn’t be able to overcome the loss of Kenton UbeCloser laker and Maverick LeRock, who produced a huge portion of their recordsetting offense in 2013. But in stepped Cullen Grabast, a sophomore, and Richard Zieters, a transfer from Logan-Palco, and the Bulldogs were right back in the thick of things. Even with the preseason questions after coach Steve Tiernan’s motorcycle accident, coach Cullen Riner took back over and Osborne never missed a beat. If all went according

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November 2014

to paper (a win over Wakefield for both), the Bulldogs will play Hanover this week with an undefeated district title on the line. Pretty impressive for a team that had to replace roughly 75 percent of its potent offense.

• Finally, welcome to the eight-man ranks Oberlin. The Red Devils always were a salty team in Class 2-1A, and probably still would be playing 11-man had it not been for travel. So many teams around Oberlin were switching to eight-man, it just became easier. Oberlin responded by going 5-1 in its first six games with a lone loss by two touchdowns to last year’s Division II runner-up, Wallace County. Not a big surprise, but a deep playoff run is not entirely out of the question in Oberlin.

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