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Tennis to State Eleven local players will take part in State tournaments. See Page B2 for coverage.
October 14, 2021 | B1
CS needs just a half for big win By Travis Mounts TSnews news@tsnews.com
Three touchdowns in each of the first two quarters was enough in the Conway Springs Cardinals’ 42-0 win over the Sublette Larks. The game was called at halftime. How the game ended was a bit strange. The Cardinals made all their adjustments at halftime, and then lined up to kick off the third quarter. Then the referee approached Conway Springs head coach Matt Biehler. “It was the weirdest thing I’ve seen,” he said. “The white hat came over and said they were done.” Sublette had barely enough players to field 11 for the game, and had concerns about staying healthy enough to play again this week. The Cardinals’ homecoming vic-
tory over the winless Larks keeps them on top of Class 1A District 4 with a 4-0 record. Conway Springs is 5-1 overall, with five consecutive wins. Conway Springs ran for four touchdowns and passed for two more. Izic Billups ran for scores of 1 and 15 yards. He threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Derek Smith in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead, and Taylor Wykes caught a 17-yard scoring pass from Billups late in the second quarter to go up 42-0. Brayden Kunz ran for an 18-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and had a 30-yard touchdown in the second. The Cardinals gained 376 yards in just a half, while holding the Larks to 108. They ran for 213 yards and passed for 163. Kunz rushed for a game high 100 yards, and Billups added another 68. Billups was 7-for-10
passing, with Wykes leading all receivers with 76 yards on three receptions. Smith finished the night with 45 receiving yards, and Lance Pauly had 42. Billups and Kunz both had 100yard nights. Billups led all players with 163, and Kunz had 100. The Larks were able to pass for only 59 yards, and ran for just 49. Conway Springs’ defense forced Sublette into a pair of turnovers, with interceptions by Lane Kelly and Billups. Logan Warren led the Cardinals with 4.5 tackles. “We played a really well-rounded game,” Biehler said. “They moved the ball at times, but we clamped down when we needed to.” On Friday, the Cardinals will travel roughly 260 miles west to near the Colorado border and take on the Stanton County Trojans,
See CARDINALS, Page B2
Contributed photo
Although Lexi Elliott is a relative newcomer to the sport of golf, she won her regional will represent the Clearwater Indians at the 4A State tournament.
Local golfers headed to State By Michael Buhler TSnews
Two local girls’ golf teams and several individual golfers punched their tickets earlier this week for next week’s State golf tournaments. The Cheney Cardinals are headed to State in Class 3-2-1A after taking third at the Council Grove regional Monday, while the Campus Colts are State bound in Class 6A after also placing third at the Hutchinson regional Monday. The Cardinals shot 438, while Campus carded a 399. In Class 5A, Eisenhower finished fifth at the Hays regional with a score of 416, 14 strokes behind Salina South for the final State berth, while Goddard finished seventh after shooting 439. However, the Tigers will send Kayla Jensen and Lexi Habbert to State after both finished 10th and 11th, respectively, at Hays with scores of 93 and 95. Goddard’s Kalista Rugh also is State bound after shooting a 105 to tie for 19th and earn the final State berth. Two other schools that did not field enough for a team will send individuals to State. Clearwater’s Lexi Elliott won the Class 4A regional at Hesston Monday with a score of 79, five strokes ahead
of Buhler’s Callie Cooper. Elliott played with Campus as part of a co-op during the regular season. Elliott is relatively new to golf, and played as a member of the Clearwater boys golf team last spring. The Indians added girls golf this spring through a cooperative program with Campus. It’s similar to the soccer cooperative that allows Clearwater students to play as part of the Campus Colts. Meanwhile, Garden Plain will send a pair of golfers to State after Jaycee Brown and Carly Hitt finished fourth and seventh, respectively, at the Council Grove regional with scores of 97 and 100. At the Hutchinson regional, Kiley Maier finished third with a score of 86 and will play at State for the second year in a row, while Sara Vulgamore tied for 12th with a score of 102 and Analysia Morales tied for 15th with a score of 105. Alicia Jamarillo tied for 18th with a score of 106, while Ava Baker carded a 128 to finish 36th and Kaitlynn Lechner finished 42nd with a score of 142. At Hays, Eisenhower’s Meredith Russell shot a 112 and finished 26th, while Liliann Roy tied for 27th with a 113. Abby Brewer shot a
See GOLF, Page B6
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Kaitlyn Fowler hits a tee shot at last week’s Central Plains League tournament. She helped the Cheney Cardinals to a CPL title, and then won the 3A regional at Council Grove. The entire Cardinals’ teams will compete in the State tournament.
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Derrick Smith pounds the ball ahead during Conway Springs’ homecoming victory over the Sublette Larks. The Cardinals remain undefeated in district play.
Defense keys Cheney victory By Travis Mounts TSnews news@tsnews.com
A strong defensive performance, especially in the first half, gave the Cheney Cardinals a 25-14 homecoming victory over the visiting Holcomb Longhorns last Friday. Cheney’s offense moved the ball at will in the first half, but left points on the field with three turnovers before halftime. The Cardinals’ defense kept the Longhorns corralled for nearly the entire half. Holcomb went three-and-out on three of its first four possessions, gaining just one first down during those four drives. “It wasn’t very glamorous. It was homecoming week, and we practiced the way we played,” said Cheney head coach Shelby Wehrman. “We looked distracted. We couldn’t get 11 guys on a page. I’m still proud of the guys for beating a good Holcomb team.” Cheney drove into the red zone on its first possession, but fumbled the ball away inside the 5-yard line. Cheney’s defense held, forcing Holcomb into its second threeand-out in as many drives. A short punt gave the Cardinals possession at the Holcomb 38-yard line. A pass completion on fourth-and-4 gave the Cardinals a first down and put the ball on the 15-yard line. On the next play, Harrison Voth ran it in for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead. The Cardinals got the ball right back on a successful onside kick. A 35-yard pass to Dayton Higgs put the Cardinals on the 15 again, and a few plays later Voth threw a 17yard pass to Luke Grace, who spun off a defender and dove into the end zone for a 12-0 advantage. Cheney fumbled on its next drive, and its last drive of the half ended on a interception with under 10 seconds to play in the half. Voth recovered a Holcomb fumble between those drives. Both teams scored on their first drives of the second half. The Car-
dinals drove 68 yards in just over three minutes, scoring on Quincy Thomas’ 2-yard run to lead 19-0. Holcomb got on the board with a 54-yard drive. Carson Middleton blocked the point-after kick, and Cheney led 19-6. The Cardinals’ next drive was a mess. A third-down left them facing third-and-28. After an incomplete pass, they decided to go for the first down. Back-to-back false start penalties made it fourthand-38, and then the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs after a fake punt play ended in a pass
out of bounds. On the following drive, the Cardinals ran the same fake punt play on fourth-and-9 and converted it as the third quarter ended. The drive featured two bad snaps that moved them backward, as well as an amazing toe-dragging catch by Jack Voth at the 5-yard line. Despite all the problems, the Cardinals scored on Thomas’ second touchdown run of the game, this time from 18 yards out, to go up 25-6.
See CHENEY, Page B2
Travis Mounts/TSnews
Cheney wide receiver Jack Voth points to his quarterback and brother, Harrison Voth, after making a circus-like catch along the sideline at the Holcomb 5-yard line. The catch set up a second-half touchdown for the Cardinals.