Varsity Kansas - The Blog

If you heard Ron Allen on Sports Daily this morning (a shameless plug for my father’s radio show), you heard him say that the City League might be as deep and athletic as it has been in many years. Checking out the rosters of the league’s boys teams this season, Allen might be right.

As far as sheer athleticism goes, Jordan Cyphers, Garrius Holloman and Chris Harper are flat-out studs, but they can all play basketball pretty well, too. So can Terry Webb, Brandon Walker, Dorrian Roberts, Adonis Gantt, Cortez Barnes, Leon Flowers, Marky Nolen….many, many others, those are just the ones off the top of my head. There will be a lot of really good games in the City League this year, including two pretty good ones tonight in Northwest-East and South-Heights.

But that’s just the boys. The City League should be pretty stocked on the girls side, too, with Heights, South, Carroll and Kapaun all contenders for the league title. The Heights-South girls game should provide an early indication of which is the team to beat this year.

Some top area boys teams include: Wichita Trinity, McPherson, Collegiate, Wellington and Andover. On the girls side, it’s McPherson, Derby, Andover, Andover Central, Garden Plain, Smoky Valley and Hesston.

Which team are you most looking forward to watching this season?

It’s been a while since I posted, so what did everybody think about State championship Saturday? Not many surprises as far as winners go, but maybe a few things we didn’t expect to see. I’ll give my observations class by class.

6A: Hutchinson wins its fourth straight — I talked to Salt Hawks coach Randy Dreiling yesterday regarding all-state selections, and even he seemed in awe about how loaded his team was this season, even in relation to previous years. The Salt Hawks have an unbelievable offense, and its defense showed it was just as good with a goal-line stand in the final seconds. Romero Cotton, who signed to wrestle at Nebraska, is one of the most powerful high school running backs I’ve seen. Add that to the speed of Deveon Dinwiddie, Gage McKinnis and defenders like Jordan Fee and Grant Dreiling, and Hutch was pretty much unstoppable. They’ll be good for a while longer, too.

5A: BV West over Bishop Carroll — The suspensions of four key players may have rattled the Eagles, as they got off to a slow start and couldn’t rally in time. Brett Steven threw two interceptions after throwing none the previous 12 games, and Carroll uncharacteristically made several mistakes. West’s QB-WR tandem of Mike Besler and Aaron Ashley might be the best in the state.

4A: Andale wins second straight — The Indians may be establishing a dynasty. They lost their top offensive player, Jason Robben, to graduation after last season, but they showed no ill effects with a second straight undefeated season. Speaking of great QB-WR tandems, Andale’s duo, Brett Macari and Ethan Ungles, was great this season, and the Indians had a strong defense led by linebacker Matt Fairchild.

3A: Garden Plain has an easy time with Silver Lake — Did anyone expect this? Garden Plain winning was no surprise, but the fact that the Owls blew out a team that was appearing in its sixth straight title game was somewhat stunning. It probably shouldn’t have been, though — Garden Plain hadn’t played a close game all season and features arguably the state’s best player in Logan Dold.

2-1A: Smith Center, of course: The Redmen had their shutout streak ended in the 2-1A semis, but two streaks kept going with their big win over Pittsburg Colgan. Smith Center has won four straight state titles and 54 consecutive games. I got to see a couple of their players in person the other day at our all state luncheon, and it’s easy to see why the Redmen ran over all their opponents this season — those dudes are mammoth. And you have to feel somewhat bad for Colgan — the school won four straight titles recently, but they have been just another Smith Center victim the last few years.

What were your thoughts on Championship Saturday?

The Kansas State offensive coordinator showed up at the all-metro picture on Tuesday afternoon, and it was kind of strange. Not because I don’t think he should have been there, but because I didn’t expect seeing an assistant coach/recruiter at such an event.

But he was there. I asked him whom he was there to see, and he said, “all the seniors.” That was about 95% of the all-metro team, and apparently bad news for Maize wide receiver Brett Soft, only a junior. I guess he’ll have to wait a year to talk to James.

We’ve heard a lot of talk about instability within the Kansas State coaching staff, but I didn’t hear anyone speak negatively about Franklin or his presence at the picture. In fact, I spoke with Garden Plain coach Todd Puetz, who said that Franklin has done a great job recruiting Logan Dold, who has orally committed to the Wildcats.

So while it may have seemed strange to me to see Franklin there, I guess one could see it as him going the extra mile to impress potential recruits. After all, he was the only Division I representative in attendance.

Duane Frazier’s first day at The Eagle was in the fall of 1981. He was a student at South High and the newest member of our sports phone crew, the gang that answers the phones on game nights.

Twenty-six football seasons later, Duane’s last assignment at The Eagle will be covering Bishop Carroll in the 5A championship game Saturday. Duane’s leaving the paper for another job in Wichita, and we’re losing a friend.

Duane has been one of our high school sports beat writers for 22 years. He’s covered thousands of high school games in all sports and is a fountain of high school sports knowledge.  He will be greatly missed.

Jeff Lutz will take over Duane’s role on an interim basis. He’ll be at Duane’s phone number, 316-268-6296, and you can also reach him at jlutz@wichitaeagle.com. Jeff has covered high school sports events for us since 2001 and in the summer was an Atlanta Braves beat writer for MLB.com. He’ll do great in this role.

But he can’t recite movie lines or Super Bowl MVPs like Duane.

Brett is the latest in that athletically gifted, Spangles-loving Steven family, which has provided the City League with standout athletes for more than a decade. The group includes Taylor Steven, now playing women’s basketball for Wichita State, and multi-time state tennis champ Corey.

Brett is following in the footsteps of older brother Craig, once a standout quarterback with Bishop Carroll. But Brett has a chance to do something Craig — or any Golden Eagles quarterback in almost 30 years — never did, and that’s win a state championship.

I don’t know much about Blue Valley West, but after seeing Carroll play on Friday, I know they’ll be tough to beat. Aside from the annually powerful defense, Steven is a big reason for their success. I relate him to Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing, because neither make mistakes and both manage a game incredibly well.

As a quarterback, being called a good game manager is somewhat of a backhanded compliment. But in Steven’s case, it’s the highest compliment. He does whatever the Eagles and coach Alan Schuckman need — he can move the chains with short passes or look for a big play down field. He hasn’t thrown an interception all season and hits his receivers in stride right in the hands. Like Reesing, Steven can do it all but never tries to do too much.

This is a golden — no pun intended — opportunity for the Eagles. They haven’t won a title since 1978 and winning in 5A after this season will be incredibly difficult because Hutchinson drops from 6A for 2008.  But I think this is their year. I had bad luck blogging about quarterbacks when Logan Watkins and Goddard lost to Hutch on Friday, but I think Steven makes me look good with the City League’s first football title since 1987.

Just wanted to let everyone know that The Eagle’s high school basketball previews begin in Sunday’s paper and on Kansas.com/sports.

We’ll preview 50 area teams over the next two weeks, plus capsule previews of every team in a five-county area. We’ll also have schedules, league predictions and what to watch for on opening night.

When I saw Logan Watkins playing baseball with Goddard this spring, he struck me as a little bit cocky. This isn’t exactly a criticism — when I played baseball, I was usually the most cocky player on the field and about the seventh or eighth best. Watkins can back up his swagger because he’s pretty awesome at baseball, as evidenced by the fact that he has signed with Wichita State.

I don’t really know if cockiness helps you as a baseball player, but I know it helps Watkins on the football field. He’s a little small to play quarterback in the rough AV-CTL, but don’t tell him that. He’s the best player I’ve seen this season not necessarily because of what he has done on the field, but because when you watch him, you can tell losing is unacceptable. He just won’t lose and he can will his team to victory, much like he did last week against Junction City.

Watkins isn’t a refined passer — he’ll never put up big numbers staying in the pocket. But he knows his limitations and he knows, more importantly, what he does well — run. He’s shifty and quick, so he can make a big gain out of what appears to be a busted play. He’s the perfect quarterback for the style of play coach Roger Robben prefers.

He’s also a good quote — a “go to” quote, and there aren’t many of those in high school sports. The last personal one I remember is Dupree  Lucas, a Southeast basketball player. I don’t know if Goddard has quite enough to beat Hutchinson on Friday. But the Lions have a leader in Watkins, and that just might be enough to get past the Salthawks.

Bishop Carroll has an impressive athletic history and is perennially near the top of the City League standings in most if not all sports.

The Golden Eagles have been especially strong in football and girls basketball, however, and that has a lot to do with their coaches. Don Racine, the girls hoops coach, has been at the school much longer than football head man Alan Schuckman, but their career paths have been remarkably similar.

Racine took over as Carroll girls coach in 1979 and the Eagles went 13-7 in his first season. A few good years and a few OK years followed, but by the time Racine was in his 10th season, he had turned Carroll into a consistent threat for a state title. His 10th season was 1988-89, when the Eagles finished 21-3 and second in Class 5A.

Schuckman took over as Carroll football coach in 1995 and the Eagles went 3-6. A few good years and a few OK years followed, but by the time Schuckman was in his 10th season, he had turned Carroll into a consistent threat for the state title. His 10th season was 2004, when the Eagles finished 9-1 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

It should be noted that the Eagles actually went deeper into the postseason in 2003, but that team had three losses and no Carroll team since has had more than two.

Racine’s teams had finished in the top three at state six times before the Eagles finally broke through in 2003-04 for their first title under Racine, who is the all-time winningest coach in CL basketball history, boys and girls. This is Schuckman’s sixth appearance in the playoffs.

Racine lost in the semifinals twice in a row before winning a title, and Schuckman’s Eagles lost in the semifinals last season — does that mean Carroll will lose to Salina Central in this Friday’s semifinals and the Eagles will have to wait another year for a football championship?

I realize that Racine’s record has no bearing on what Carroll’s football team will do this season, but comparisons are fun. In this case, the comparison has validity because of the similar paths Schuckman’s and Racine’s careers have taken at Carroll. Even if history says that the Eagles will have to wait ’til next year, I think this is the season Schuckman finally brings it home.

Well, only if you’re a fan of 8-man football. And judging by some of the crowds I’ve seen at these games, there are a lot of you out there.

The thing I like about 8-man football is that different teams seem to show up in the championship game every year. Aside from sustained “dynasties” from Midway-Denton in the late 1980s and Hanston more recently, no dominant team has emerged in 8-man ball. Eight-man fans, why do you think that is?

Anyway, since 1983, when 8-man split into two divisions, 26 schools have won at least one 8-man state championship. Now granted, 24 years is a long time — some of the schools that have won have since either merged with other schools or become big enough to field 11-man teams. But in general, parity has ruled the 8-man game.

I bring this up because the schools in Saturday’s 8-man championship games in Newton don’t exactly have trophy cases full of football hardware. We’ll be looking at at least one first-time state champion when Macksville meets Hanover in the Division I game, while South Haven can become a first-time winner in Division II. Its opponent, Sharon Springs, hasn’t won since 1991.

At least, I think these facts are correct. The print of past state champions in the annual football programs is so small that I may have missed something. But I don’t think so — I double checked.

For 8-man newbies, let me tell you why it may be worth your time to drive up to Newton and watch at least one of these games on Saturday — lots and lots of scoring. In most games I’ve seen, one team has a tight end that towers over everybody and weighs about 250, so he just takes short passes and rumbles down the field, usually to the end zone. Last year, the Waverly quarterback tossed seven touchdowns in leading his team to the championship.

I won’t be covering the games this year, so the Newton game officials won’t have to put up with me putting up signs in the press box for them not to announce the outcome of the Ohio State-Michigan game. That game has a lot less meaning than it did last year, anyway. But these games will definitely be worth watching, and we’ll get at least one first-time champ. It happens every year.

Friday’s state football semifinals are loaded with rematches. Some from earlier this season and some from the 2006 playoffs. Just take a look at all of them:

6A: Goddard at Hutchinson (Hutch won the first meeting 21-7); Olathe South at Olathe North (North won 24-20).

5A: Salina Central at Bishop Carroll (Carroll won last season’s playoff game 35-13)

4A: Ulysses at Andale (Andale won last year’s playoff 20-14).

3A: Garden Plain at Conway Springs (Garden Plain won 35-6); Silver Lake at Rossville (Silver Lake won 46-6).

2-1A: St. Francis at Smith Center (Smith Center won last year’s playoff 6-2); St. Marys at Pittstburg Colgan (St. Marys won last year’s playoff 22-15).

So will most of these rematches turn out the say way? Probably so, but there will be some interesting games.

Goddard gave Hutchinson one of its best games of the season. Bishop Carroll needs a victory to reach its first 5A final in 29 years. And the Ulysses-Andale games have been some of the state’s best playoff games each of the past two years.

The game that really interests me, though, is the Smith Center game. One more shutout and the Redmen set the state record with 12.

My prediction: Smith Center gets the record, but then it gets scored on in the 2-1A championship.