Gotta love Mondays, when the player of the week accolades start rolling in. Thought I’d give it a run down in the spirit of early week props for a job well done.
MIAA
FOOTBALL: Fort Hays DB Allen Walker grabbed defensive player of the week honors with his huge game against No. 18 Washburn during the Tigers 17-7 upset win in Hays. Walker, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior, picked a pass in the fourth quarter while Washburn was deep in Fort Hays State territory for what could have been the game-tying or game-winning score. He picked the ball at the 18 and made it back to the Washburn 34 to set up a Fort Hays field goal. He also had a pass deflection on a big fourth-and-7, and seven tackles, a career high. Fort Hays punter and Derby product Tyler Elder was the MIAA special teams player of the week after he averaged 45.2 yards on nine punts, including a 64-yard monster.
Allen Walker, FHSU
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After McPherson’s 37-21 win over Bethany to open the season Saturday, it’s nothing but bad news — for now — out of the Bulldog camp.
Using a two-quarterback system, junior college transfer Shane Mascarenas threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns in his McPherson debut and Josh White ran for 72 yards and two touchdowns when he got his snaps. Mascarenas is done for the year after breaking his leg in the fourth quarter, and White’s return is up in the air after sustaining a third-quarter concussion.
Shane Mascarenas
Josh White
Like I said, bad news. Coach Brian Ward is going to try to make one of three freshmen work for now.
Just a few thoughts after a long night spent pouring over gamers out of our MIAA, KCAC and Jayhawk schools.
MIAA
Biggest surprise, by far, was Fort Hays State pulling off the upset over No. 18 Washburn in Hays. You had to think the Tigers would be up, and feeling underestimated after basically giving away the game with turnovers and penalties in a loss to Colorado Mines last week. Jacob Irvin ran wild for Fort Hays with 157 yards rushing. Read More »
Big Props to Tabor College’s Ashley Cohlmia, A Maize product, for making the All-Tournament team last weekend at a tournament in Point Lookout, Mo. Cohlmia was also an all-league softball player for
the Eagles and also plays softball at Tabor. What a stud.
Here’s the release from Anthony Monson out of the Tabor College athletic department:
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This picture was sent to me by Carla Wehmyer, part of Pittsburg State’s PR department. So thanks, Carla.
And more importantly, WELCOME TO THE JUNGLETRON
I mentioned the new scoreboard at Pittsburg State in my notebook a couple of weeks ago, but for those not in the know, this $1.7 million monolith will make its debut on Saturday as the No. 7-ranked Gorillas (2-0) take on Missouri Southern (2-0) in the annual Miner’s Bowl. Pittsburg State has won two tough, close games on the road and their fans are chomping at the bit to see them and the new addition to Carney-Smith Stadium.
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BLOCK PARTY: Experienced offensive line paves way for Friends
Thursday’s edition of The Eagle will have all the KCAC football info you’ll need for the year — I’ve got a feature in on the Friends University offensive line and capsules on all of the teams across our fair state.
I didn’t originally plan on doing the story on Friends offensive line, but the more I looked into the team the more I realized that was where they seemed to start and stop at. My main subjects — and the duo gracing the cover of our sports section tomorrow — were seniors Jacob Bruster and Chad Tormey.
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Butler Community College volleyball player Demetria Williams was nice enough to sit down and chat with me before the Grizzlies’ match against Neosho County on Wednesday in El Dorado, just hours after she learned her team had jumped from No. 19 all the way up to No. 3 in the latest NJCAA.
Williams, a 6-foot-2 freshman from Wichita Southeast, is 10th in the nation in blocks per game, and came to Butler to play for coach Rick Younger after originally making an oral commitment to the University of Alabama-Birmingham last season but deciding, along with her her parents, that she wasn’t ready to make the jump to a four-year school quite yet.
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In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of great football being played in the state of Kansas right now in the small-college ranks, with eight ranked teams in the latest assortment of polls busting heads from the east coast to the west coast of this beautiful Sunflower State that I like to call home.
Here’s how it breaks down:
NCAA Division II
Pittsburg State entered the top 10 at No. 7, all the way up from No. 14 after a huge road win over Chadron State. The Pittsburg Colgan-bred duo of Mark Smith and Caleb Farabi are tearing it up again this year, and Smith is making his case right now as the best player in the MIAA. Washburn jumped up to No. 18 in the latest poll from No. 22 after upsetting Division I-AA Missouri State. That’s FCS if you’re being picky. Washburn coach Craig Schurig, no doubt, is going to have to make an appearance on Sunflower Slate here in the next couple of weeks for a Q&A.
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Welcome to Sunflower Slate, The Wichita Eagle’s blog for state college and junior college sports.
To break it down, here’s what this pertains to — anything and everything to do with the KCAC, MIAA, Heart of America, and Jayhawk Conference.
Please consider this a fluid concept, too. And it’s not just for football and basketball, either, although that will definitely play a big part in it.
I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what’s going on in the state right now in this arena — but there’s always somebody or some team somewhere that’s doing something great and flying under the radar, and that’s what I’m looking for.
Here’s my e-mail: tadame@wichitaeagle.com, and here’s my office phone:316-268-6284. Feel free to call anytime.
Let’s do this!
-Tony Adame
