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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabod soccer team opened MIAA conference play with a 0-0 draw against Central Oklahoma on Friday night at Yager Stadium.
Washburn goalkeeper Hailey Beck and the Ichabod soccer team recorded its fifth straight shutout on Friday in an 0-0 deadlock with Central Oklahoma. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will remain at home to face Newman on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Washburn (3-2-2 overall, 0-0-1 MIAA) nearly took an early lead after earning a corner kick, but a Josie Boyle header was saved in the center of the goal.
The teams were equal in terms of offensive production, with each side taking three shots in the first half.
Washburn Rural product Hailey Beck, the Ichabods' goalkeeper, recorded three saves in the half for the Ichabods.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Ranked fourth in Class 6A, the Blue Valley Northwest Huskies traveled to Washburn Rural Friday night to validate that ranking. The Huskies jumped out to a 35-3 lead, then held on to defeat the Junior Blues, 49-23.
Washburn Rural sophomore Jadyn Baum bursts loose for an 80-yard touchdown run in Friday's 49-23 Rural loss to Blue Valley Northwest. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Junior Kellan Roth caught 11 passes for 99 yards and a TD in Friday's 49-23 Washburn Rural loss to Blue Valley Northwest. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
For the Junior Blues, it was their third consecutive game against a Kansas City-area school, a gauntlet that has not been kind. Washburn Rural fell to 1-3, but can look forward to facing more familiar foes the rest of the season.
“The first four weeks, that was the challenge,” said Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler. “Now, next four weeks, we have league games that we have to defend the league championship from last year. We’re going to come back and get busy on that part of the season.”
The Junior Blues visit Topeka High next Friday to start a string of Centennial League games that includes Emporia, Junction City and Manhattan.
Running behind a line led by Andrew Babalola – one of the nation’s most coveted recruits – and Brock Heath – a Kansas State commit – Blue Valley Northwest plowed to two early touchdowns Friday.
The Junior Blues responded with a field goal in the first period but fell behind 21-3 when the Huskies added another touchdown just before halftime. Washburn Rural’s offense showed it could move the ball against the visitors in the first half, but two costly fumbles limited the Junior Blues’ output.
“The last three games, we get in about about a five- or six-minute stretch where we lose control of the game and let it get out of hand,” Buhler said. “It happened again tonight. We had some situations where, if we take care of the mistakes that we’re making and be more consistent…we’ve got some young guys playing, but we’ve got to quit leaning on that excuse. We’re four weeks in. We’ve got to get better.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park's football team is very proud of its offensive firepower.
But the Scots may be ever prouder of their work on the other side of the ball, with undefeated Highland Park pushing its shutout streak to four games with Friday's 48-0 Meadowlark Conference romp past Kansas City-Harmon at Hummer Sports Park.
Highland Park's defense gang tackles KC-Harmon's Nino Howard en route to its fourth straight shutout, a 48-0 win over the Hawks. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"That was 100 percent the goal when I came here to this school,'' Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe said. "There were a bunch of guys who wanted to play offense, nobody wanted to play defense and we wanted to build a defense, build a love for defense and get guys who strictly just want to play 'D.'
"We've got about 15 guys on the team who just want to be defensive guys and those guys are flying around, making big plays, and our defensive coordinator, Jacob Kessler, does a great job of keeping it simple for the boys so they can fly around and not complicate things and I think that's what makes it fun for our boys.''
Highland Park (4-0 overall, 4-0 conference), which has now outscored its opponents by a 174-0 margin, limited Harmon (1-3, 0-3) to just 33 total yards Friday night, with the Hawks getting no further than their own 45-yard-line.
Senior Craig Sipple is helping spearhead the Scots' defense at linebacker this fall after starting at quarterback as a junior.
"I'm having a lot of fun playing defense, flying around making tackles,'' Sipple said.
And Sipple said the Scots are savoring their shutout runs.
"It's crazy,'' Sipple said. "I'm telling you, I've never seen it been done here. This is literally the first time I've ever seen it be done, the first four games and no points let up. This is amazing.
"We have a big senior class and everybody wants to win. This is our last year, this is my last year, so everybody is really just trying to win.''
Highland Park senior Jamon Wilson leaves the Harmon defense in his wake on the way to a touchdown in Friday's 48-0 Scot win over the Hawks. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Offensively and on special teams Highland Park got another huge night from senior Jamon Wilson, who scored on a 55-yard run, a 48-yard run, a 50-yard punt return and an 89-yard kickoff run.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn football will hit the road for the second time this season on Saturday as the Ichabods travel to St. Joseph, Mo. to face the Missouri Western Griffons at 2 p.m.
Sophomore receiver D.J. Bell had six catches for 117 yards in last week's 39-31 MIAA loss to Pittsburg State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Highland Park product Tre Richardson had four catches for 107 yards in Washburn's 39-31 loss to Pittsburg State last Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn (0-3 overall, 0-2 MIAA) is coming off a 39-31 loss to No. 10-ranked Pittsburg State, as for the second-straight week the Ichabods took a Top 10 team down to the wire with a chance to tie the game on the final drive. The week before against Colorado Mines the Ichabods took the Orediggers down to the end of the game, but a 44-yard potential game-tying field goal came up short.
"You've got to get over the hump,'' Washburn coach Craig Schurig said. "We look back and we've played three good teams and we feel like we've gotten better each week and don't have much to show for it except that we've improved and each game was a little different.
"But I think our kids have grown from it and I think we've gotten a little tougher from last week. The effort was really good and we're going to need that on the road versus Western and hopefully we can get over the hump.''
Schurig believes that the Ichabods are on the brink of a breakthrough victory.
"We had a great week of practice last week and we want to show that that's the standard that we've got to push to do that,'' Schurig said. "You know how hard you've got to play to win, so get yourselves geared towards that each week and the things you can control are how you play, cutting down on the mental mistakes and the penalties and the games will start to go our way if we continue to play that way.''
The Ichabods will be facing a Missouri Western team (2-2, 1-2) that is coming off a 30-27 overtime loss at No. 13-ranked Emporia State last Saturday.
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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
The Topeka High boys soccer team earned its seventh win in a row with a 3-0 Centennial League victory over visiting Emporia on Thursday night at Hummer Sports Park.
Topeka High senior Ian Martinez scored his 12th and 13th goals and also had an assist in Thursday's 3-0 Centennial League win over Emporia. [File photo/TSN]
The Trojans controlled possession for most of the first 10 minutes, but nearly fell behind when the Spartans made a run down the left wing. A cross into the box led to a close-range shot attempt, but the offside flag went up to put an end to the threat.
Topeka would get on the board in the 17th minute, when senior Antonio Aguirre found the back of the Spartan net off a corner kick from classmate Ian Martinez.
The Trojans would keep up the offensive pressure, with Martinez scoring his team-leading 12th goal of the season in the 29th minute, giving Topeka a 2-0 advantage at halftime.
The Trojans would continue to get most of the ball to begin the second half, and earned an opportunity to extend their lead when Martinez was taken down on the left side of the box for a penalty kick in the 59th minute.
Martinez converted the attempt for his second goal of the match and 13th of the season, giving Topeka a 3-0 lead that it would not relinquish.
