Category Archives: KCAC

Looking at Saturday’s small-college football games

Sept. 7, 20123:00 p.m.

GCCC QUARTERBACK NICK MARSHALL

JAYHAWK

No. 14 Hutchinson (1-1, 1-0) at No. 19 Garden City (2-0, 1-0), 7 p.m. – This is high stakes for both teams early in the season – if Garden City wins they’ve got a clear path to an undefeated showdown with Butler in El Dorado on October 6. A loss for Hutchinson puts the Blue Dragons out of the national-title hunt.
Garden City quarterback Nick Marshall is averaging 198 yards passing and 113 rushing yards per game. He and running back Jamal Tyler (246 rushing yards, four touchdowns) should test a Hutchinson defense that just gave up 617 yards in a 54-34 loss to No. 12 Navarro.

Coffeyville (0-2, 0-1) at Air Force Prep (0-2), 2 p.m. – An 0-3 start would be disastrous for first-year coach Aaron Flores.

Fort Scott (1-1, 1-0) at No. 2 Butler (2-0, 1-0), 7 p.m. – Butler has absolutely steamrolled its first two opponents and a big reason has been sophomore QB Billy Cosh, who transferred from James Madison. Don’t expect much different here.

Other games

Arkansas Baptist (0-2) at Independence (0-2, 0-1), 1 p.m.

Highland (0-2, 0-1) at Dodge City (0-2, 0-1), 7 p.m.

MIAA

Central Oklahoma (0-1, 0-1) at No. 1 Pittsburg State(1-0, 1-0), 6 p.m. – Pittsburg State junior wide receiver/return specialist John Brown showed why he is one of the most dynamic players in the nation in the Gorillas’ 41-20 win at Northeastern State last Saturday. Brown, 5-foot-11 and 171 pounds, racked up 270 all-purpose yards, including nine catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns.

No. 15 Washburn (1-0, 0-0) at Fort Hays State (0-1, 0-1), 7 p.m. – Chris Brown’s second season as Fort Hays State’s coach got off to a rocky start last week with a loss to Emporia State, but the Tigers get a big opportunity to get back on track against a nationally-ranked opponent.

Other games

No. 3 Northwest Missouri (1-0, 0-0) at Central Missouri (0-1, 0-1), 1:30 p.m.

Emporia State (1-0, 1-0) at Nebraska-Kearney (0-1, 0-1), 2 p.m.

Southwest Baptist (0-1, 0-1) at Lindenwood (1-0, 1-0), 6 p.m.

Northeastern State (0-1, 0-1) at Missouri Southern (1-0, 1-0), 6 p.m.

William Jewell (0-1) at No. 14 Missouri Western (1-0, 1-0), 6 p.m.

Lincoln (0-1, 0-1) at Truman (1-0, 1-0), 7 p.m.

KCAC

Saint Mary (0-1, 0-0) at Friends (0-1, 0-0), 7 p.m. – Evangel’s Andrew Brimhall picked apart the Friends secondary for 336 yards and three touchdowns in the Falcons’ 27-14 loss last Saturday at Springfield, Mo. That’s not a good sign with Saint Mary’s pass-happy offense and All-KCAC quarterback Mike Keese coming to town.

Other games

Bethel (0-1, 0-0) at Southwestern (0-1, 0-0), 6 p.m.

Sterling (0-1, 0-0) at Tabor (0-1, 0-0), 7 p.m.

No. 11 Ottawa (0-1, 0-0) at Kansas Wesleyan (0-1, 0-0), 7 p.m.

McPherson (0-1, 0-0) at No. 24 Bethany (1-0, 0-0), 7 p.m.


By Tony Adame | Filed under football, Jayhawk, KCAC, MIAA | Comments Off

KCAC stunner: Kansas Wesleyan women’s hoops coach Gordon Reimer resigns

Sept. 5, 20121:19 p.m.

GORDON REIMER

Some stunning news out of the KCAC – Kansas Wesleyan women’s basketball coach Gordon Reimer abruptly resigned on Tuesday because of family issues.

 

Longtime KCAC guru Bob Davidson of the Salina Journal broke the story yesterday. Reimer has been one of the top NAIA coaches in the country the last four years – the Coyotes have shared two KCAC titles with Sterling (’09, ’11) and went to the NAIA national tournament three straight years – 09-10-11.

By Tony Adame | Filed under basketball, Kansas Wesleyan University, KCAC | Comments Off

Looking around the MIAA, Jayhawk and KCAC

Sept. 4, 20126:25 p.m.

STEVEN WILLIAMS

Happenings from around the state’s small-college conferences:

MIAA

-Fort Hays State senior defensive lineman Aaron Burton played well in a season-opening loss to Emporia State. Here’s an article on Burton from Conor Nicholl of the Hays Daily News. The Tigers get a shot at redemption on Saturday when they host No. 15 Washburn, where FHSU coach Chris Brown was a coordinator at before he came to Hays.

-It’s no surprise that Emporia State’s volleyball team is off to a 4-0 start and in first place in the MIAA. The team that is a surprise at 4-0 is Fort Hays State, which is off to its best start since 2004.

KCAC

-Bethany’s football team was the lone winner out of the KCAC in openers – here’s my story from Kansas.com and in Wednesday’s Eagle. Bethany sophomore defensive end Steven Williams (8 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack) was named KCAC defensive player of the week.

-McPherson goalie and Wichita native Taylor Parrott was named the KCAC defensive player of the week after shutting out York in the second half and overtime of the Bulldogs’ 2-1 win. McPherson trailed 1-0 before rallying.

JAYHAWK

-Butler football opened up $12 million BG Products Veterans Sports Complex with a 28-10 win over No. 5 Navarro in front of over 6,000. Here’s the story from The Wichita Eagle’s Jeff Lutz, who was in El Dorado.

-Top-ranked Cowley volleyball started the season 6-0, but has been off since Aug. 28 and have a big Jayhawk East test on Wednesday at Coffeyville. The Red Ravens are 6-1.

By Tony Adame | Filed under Jayhawk, KCAC, MIAA | Comments Off

Saturday’s small-college football scores

Sept. 1, 20124:20 p.m.

I will update with scores as they come in. – TA

Jayhawk Conference

No. 2 Butler 28, No. 5 Blinn 10 FINAL Great win.

No. 12 Navarro 54, No. 10 Hutchinson 34 FINAL Bad loss.

Northeastern Oklahoma 36, Highland 12 FINAL

Garden City 24, Cisco 19 FINAL

No. 7 Trinity Valley 35, No. 17 Coffeyville 7 FINAL

Kilgore 26, Dodge City 15 FINAL

No. 16 Tyler 35, Fort Scott 7 FINAL

Independence 42, SE Texas Prep 21 FINAL

 

KCAC

Evangel 27, Friends 14 FINAL

Missouri Valley 27, McPherson 13 FINAL

No. 24 Bethany 13, SW Assemblies of God 12 FINAL Only win for KCAC in season’s first week. Brutal.

No. 14 William Penn 54, Bethel 0 FINAL

No. 22 Cumberland 31, Kansas Wesleyan 10 FINAL

No. 11 Benedictine 59, Sterling 6 FINAL

Nebraska Wesleyan 25, Saint Mary 20 FINAL

 

 

By Tony Adame | Filed under football, Jayhawk, KCAC | Comments Off

Looking at Saturday’s small-college football games

Aug. 31, 20126:41 p.m.

TWO OF BUTLER'S GREATEST - CORNELIUS CARRADINE AND ZACH METTENBERGER

Here’s the link to my article on No. 2 Butler opening up El Dorado’s shining jewel – the $12 milliion BG Products Veterans Sports Complex. The Grizzlies take on No. 5 Blinn on Saturday – Jeff Lutz will cover for The Eagle.

The MIAA opened up Thursday night – with No. 1 Pittsburg State welcoming Northeastern State to the MIAA with a rout at Tahlequah.

Jayhawk Conference

No. 5 Blinn (0-0) at No. 2 Butler (1-0), 7 p.m. — Just like Butler, Blinn is a team with national championship aspirations, but the Buccaneers are young, with over 60 freshmen on the roster. Blinn won its last national title in 2009 with future Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton at quarterback, defeating Fort Scott in the Citizens Bank Bowl at Pittsburg.

No. 10 Hutchinson (1-0) at No. 12 Navarro (0-0), 7 p.m. – Troy transfer Luke Barnes showed Hutchinson coach Rion Rhoades picked the right quarterback after a three-way battle in training camp. Barnes threw for a school-record 459 yards in the Blue Dragons’ 58-26 win over No. 17 Coffeyville last week.

Other games

No. 16 Tyler (0-0) at Fort Scott (1-0), 1 p.m.

Southeast Texas Prep (0-0) at Independence (0-1), 1 p.m.

Highland (0-1) at Northeastern Oklahoma (0-0), 7 p.m.

Cisco, Texas (0-0) at Garden City (1-0), 7 p.m.

No. 7 Trinity Valley, Texas (0-0) at No. 17 Coffeyville (0-1), 7 p.m.

Dodge City (0-1) at Kilgore (0-0), 7 p.m.

KCAC

Friends (0-0) at Evangel (0-0), 6 p.m. – Derby product Jeff Kontz is a four-year starter for Friends and one of the best defensive backs in the nation. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound safety was an All-KCAC pick last season with 59 tackles, five interceptions and five pass breakups and is a preseason All-American. This game should be a good test for the Falcons – Evangel is picked fifth in the Heart of America, but the first four teams are all ranked in the Top 25. The Crusaders also have a pair of preseason All-America linebackers in Jamail Randle and Taber Cheo.

Other games

William Penn (0-0) at Bethel (0-0), 11:30 a.m.

Kansas Wesleyan (0-0) at Cumberland (0-0), noon

Sterling (0-0) at Benedictine (0-0), 1 p.m.

Saint Mary (0-0) at Nebraska Wesleyan (0-0), 1 p.m.

Missouri Valley (0-0) at McPherson (0-0), 6 p.m.

No. 24 Bethany (0-0) at Southwest Assemblies (0-0), 6 p.m.

By Tony Adame | Filed under Butler, football, Jayhawk, KCAC | Comments Off

Looking at Thursday’s small-college football games

Aug. 29, 20125:04 p.m.

NATE DREILING

MIAA

No. 1 Pittsburg State at Northeastern State, 6 p.m. — The Gorillas begin their national-title defense on the road against Northeastern, which is playing its first MIAA game. Pittsburg State junior linebacker Nate Dreiling, a national player of the year candidate, enters his third year as a starter with 299 career tackles and is the reigning MIAA defensive player of the year. Northeastern quarterback Johnny Deaton threw for 2,520 yards and 26 touchdowns last year, but faces a secondary led by Keeston Terry, who started 10 games for Kansas last season.

Nebraska-Kearney at No. 20 Washburn, 6 p.m. — It’s the first MIAA game for Nebraska-Kearney. The Ichabods must try to replace Harlon Hill Trophy runner-up Dane Simoneau at quarterback with redshirt freshman Mitch Buhler, a Rossville product.

Fort Hays State at Emporia State, 7 p.m. — Emporia State quarterback Tyler Eckenrode is the top returning passer in the MIAA, and an All-American safety in senior Derek Lohmann. The biggest talk about the Hornets in training camp was a water-balloon fight that ended up on YouTube.

Other games

Truman at Southwest Baptist, 6 p.m.

Central Missouri at No. 18 Missouri Western, 6 p.m.

Missouri Southern at Central Oklahoma, 7 p.m.

East Central at No. 3 Northwest Missouri, 7 p.m.

KCAC

Southwestern at Northwestern (Iowa), 6 p.m. – Southwestern gets a tough test in its opener against No. 14 Northwestern, which went 9-2 last season. The Moundbuilders have two quarterback options in sophomore Brady May and senior Jordan Barrett, who has been an on-again, off-again starter since his freshman year but has battled injuries.

By Tony Adame | Filed under football, KCAC, MIAA | Comments Off

Looking at Saturday’s small-college football games

Aug. 24, 20126:27 p.m.

LUKE BARNES

Here’s a look at Saturday’s small-college football games, with a full slate in the Jayhawk Conference, where they’ve moved their annual series with the SWJCFC teams to the second week of the season.

JAYHAWK CONFERENCE

No. 17 Coffeyville at No. 10 Hutchinson, 7 p.m. – Gowans Stadium gets a marquee national matchup to open the season and the much-anticipated debut of Coffeyville coach Aaron Flores, who won three national titles as an assistant at Butler.

Each team will have a Division I transfer starting at quarterback, with Troy’s Luke Barnes getting the nod for the Blue Dragons after winning a three-man battle in training camp. Barnes, 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, runs a 4.6-second 40-yard dash and set the Florida state high school passing records for career touchdown passes (51) and passing yards (5,810) at Fort Walton Beach High School, breaking the marks set by Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel.

Former Iowa backup A.J. Derby will start for Coffeyville. Derby was the backup for the Hawkeyes last season but transferred to Coffeyville in January after being moved to linebacker. Prediction: Hutch

Other games

No. 2 Butler at Dodge City, 7 p.m. — Yes, Butler should win easily, but it could be easy to lose focus with next week’s stadium-opening game against Blinn looming. Biggest question for Grizzlies is how new quarterback Billy Cosh will perform – Cosh transferred from James Madison (and Kansas State before that).

Garden City at Independence, 7 p.m.

Fort Scott at Highland, 7 p.m.

KCAC

No. 18 Baker at No. 11 Ottawa, 6 p.m. – The Braves have two All-American candidates back on defense in defensive back Donald Anderson, a Wichita Southeast product, and defensive end Zach Van Deusen. Anderson had 53 tackles and five interceptions last season, with two returned for touchdowns. He also is a playmaker on special teams, where he blocked three kicks in 2011.

Baker has one of the top transfers in the country — on any level — in running back Dillon Baxter, a former five-star recruit who was kicked off the team at Southern California last October then got the boot at San Diego State in February. Junior quarterback Jake Morse, last year’s HAAC co-offensive player of the year, also returns for the Wildcats. Prediction: Baker

Other games

Southwestern at Northwestern (Iowa), 6 p.m.

Tabor at Bacone (Okla.), 7 p.m.

By Tony Adame | Filed under football, Jayhawk, KCAC | Comments

LIVE BLOG: KCAC Media Day

Aug. 1, 201211:54 a.m.

FRIENDS DEFENSIVE END DEXTER DAVIS - 2011 KCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

I’m at the Salina Country Club for KCAC media day. There’s been a couple of nice surprises leading up to their season-opening event, including the release of an All-KCAC preseason team and a football record book that’s still a work in progress – only has single season/individual game records but no career records yet. The amount of hard work that went into both is amazing.  I’ll do this just like the Jayhawk Media Day last week – updating as the different coaches speak – I’ve listed them here in the order they finished last season and updated with Wednesday’s stuff:

Read More »

By Tony Adame | Filed under football, KCAC | Comments Off

Former Friends star Erik Nott receives nation’s top military medicine honor

May 3, 201211:57 a.m.

AIR FORCE MAJ. ERIK NOTT, MD

Here’s my article on Air Force Maj. Erik Nott, MD, receiving the Heroes of Military Medicine Award from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation on Wednesday night in Washington DC – arguably the nation’s top military medicine award. Nott, a Wichita Northwest/Friends/KU med grad, was awarded the Purple Heart last November – here’s the story on the events in Afghanistan that led to him receiving the Purple Heart. Wednesday, Nott was able to meet the Air Force, Army and Navy surgeon generals along with the chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff. Heady stuff.

Nott was a three-sport star at Northwest – football, basketball & track – and was an All-State pick in basketball for the Grizzlies in ’94 after finishing as state runner-up his final two years (full disclosure – we were teammates in football and hoops – he was a couple of years ahead of me in school). At 6-foot-7, he played in a frontcourt with Shawn Rhodes, a 6-10 forward who went on to play for K-State, and some of the battles between those guys and South – with BJ Williams (KU), Darren Williams (WSU) and Manny Dies (K-State) – were epic. That was a heyday for big  men in the City League – East had Korleone Young at the same time while Southeast had Lavell Manuel and Mike Palmer.

At Friends, he was an All-KCAC honorable mention pick as a junior, first team as a senior and played for Ron Heller.

Don’t know what else to say. These have been fun stories to write. Dude is an in-the-flesh, American war hero. Feels good to know guys like him are out there.

TA

By Tony Adame | Filed under basketball, Friends, KCAC | Comments Off

Bethany softball rolls into KCAC Tournament

May 1, 20126:12 p.m.

JANICE ESSES

The Bethany softball team has put together the greatest season in school history – so far – and hopes to keep that run going as it begins KCAC Tournament play Wednesday at 2 p.m. against the winner of 10 a.m.’s Saint Mary-Sterling game at Fun Valley Softball Complex in Hutchinson.

Here’s my feature on the team that’s running at Kansas.com and in Wednesday’s Eagle – the Swedes are 40-7 overall and 17-1 in KCAC play, good enough for their second straight KCAC regular-season title. They’re also ranked No. 24, the first appearance in the Top 25 in school history.

The job Esses has done recruiting with the Swedes is nothing short of amazing – only four native Kansans on the roster. The team is dotted with talent from everywhere but, it seems, with the focus on targeting players from states without as extensive higher-education systems as Kansas, where small colleges and jucos are in abundance.

You can follow along with results from the KCAC Tournament here.

TA

 

By Tony Adame | Filed under Bethany, KCAC, softball | Comments Off