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Bell's Green, Too
Central Kansas
Jake Snodgrass at Derby isn’t leading the only green machine this fall. Through eight games, Bishop Carroll junior Blake Bell had performed as the best prep football player in the state. He already had over 2,000 passing yards, compiling over 300 yards most games.
Bell was on national radar as a college quarterback prospect even before he took his first prep snap in the season opener against Wichita Heights... More 
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Green Machine
Central Kansas
If the coach had been a KU guy, the story wouldn’t have had enough ripples. As it is, a K-State graduate’s team this fall has most resembled a prep version of the 2007 Kansas Jayhawks football team: Physically underwhelming and coming off a string of unimpressive seasons – yet well-coached and possessing a wealth of capable role players.
The immediate correlation between the 2008 Derby Panthers, that prep squad... More
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Freshman Phenom
Central Kansas
Proceed with caution, Wichita. He’s just a kid.
Granted, young Perry Ellis has already earned national attention as a rising basketball star, and he is considered a hotshot, sure thing, can’t-miss prospect by the recruiting websites so en vogue these days.
Yes, the Heights High School freshman has attended – and made quite a name for himself – at the big-time summer basketball camps, where college coaches and... More
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Bygone Glory Days
Central Kansas
Whenever the last undefeated team in the National Football League loses its first game of the season, members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, which finished 17-0, toast glasses of champagne to celebrate their achievement lasting another year.
Jay Agnew isn’t as stuck in the past as Csonka, Griese and Shula. As a member of the 1983 East High Aces, the City League’s last public school football team to win... More
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Cutting Corners
Central Kansas
The surface was muddy and the car started to slide, the rear end slipping to the right such that a spinout – or worse – seemed the likely result. Craig Crossette, making it look easy, simply made the necessary adjustments and straightened the car out.
Drivers handle such occurrences all the time, so there is nothing remarkable about the story – except for Crossette’s age at the time.
... More
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Riding High
Central Kansas
Even before the incident that reduced his mom to tears and caused other riders to marvel, Aviery Hickey already had sufficient buzz in the motorcycling community, so he certainly didn't need the are-you-kidding-me moment that occurred a couple months ago.
Nonetheless, there is little doubt that the motocross race on Aug. 23 at Jeeps Cycle Club added to an already sparkling resume, and not simply because he won the... More
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Hold Up
Central Kansas
Randy Dreiling said he felt empty afterward. Having yanked down the headset from his ears too many times to count throughout the game, in the closing minutes of Hutchinson’s Border War at Rockhurst he resigned himself to silence in the closing seconds. As the Salthawks’ nationally-ranked opponent burnt the final 2:38 off the clock with a secure 28-21 lead, Dreiling kept pursed lips, alternating final glances from scoreboard to field... More
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Small School Mid-Season Volleyball Report
Central Kansas
Subtitle: Class 2A
Berean Academy-Elbing (22-17)
Berean Academy is recovering from a fatal auto accident last spring in which one player was killed. Coach Amy Vogt called two other players’ recoveries from the accident miraculous. The two, now sophomores, have taken their place back on the court, offering inspiration for a new season.
After the loss of nine seniors, Vogt has three returning letter winners, including senior Kayla Eilert... More
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The Rivalry That Isn't
Central Kansas
The angst accruing between the two towns finally came to a head on a brisk Friday night in the fall of 1969. Quarterback Jack Fisher led Garden Plain to a romping victory at Andale, giving the Owls their fourth consecutive win in the series. He remembers the scuffle that ensued.
“The Garden Plain fans went for the goalposts and got the first one down,” says Fisher. “A few... More
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Clubbing
Central Kansas
The high school-club rub is increasingly frictional. High school coaches who grew up with high school ball as the only “game-situation” athletic activity during any particular season are frequently troubled that their players have year-long commitments to out-of-season sports away from school.
“It’s showing up,” says Goddard volleyball coach David Gardner. “It’s not so much in the same sport for high school and club but the ones that... More
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2008 Volleyball Preview
Central Kansas
Class 6A
1. Derby Panthers (26-14)
Four-year setter Danielle Stuhlsatz has graduated, but three standout seniors return – all-state hitters Sammie Shook (5-9) and Joanna McFarland (6-2) and middle blocker Melissa Anderson (5-11). After losing to eventual state champ Washburn Rural at sub-state, Derby is looking to compete for a state title.
Coach Shelby Kraus-Estes has high expectations for junior Shelby Yardley (5-4), who takes over at... More
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Game Watch
Central Kansas
Thursday, September 4
Bishop Carroll at Wichita Heights
Pundits touted the 2007 season opener between Carroll and Heights as the de facto city championship. Carroll eked out a double-overtime 28-21 win. From there, the teams went opposite directions. Carroll made the 5A state final, and Heights missed the playoffs.
Bishop Carroll has won three of the last six City League titles outright and tied for first with Wichita Heights in... More
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Beginning an End
Central Kansas
We’ll concede that the season opener in Leon won’t be the most meaningful football game under the Friday night lights on Sept. 5.
Without a doubt, bigger games, with higher-profile athletes and more successful programs, will be played around the state on opening night.
But if you enjoy rooting for the underdog, witnessing fresh starts or taking in a game that is guaranteed to produce a feel-good... More
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Coaching Is Communicating
Central Kansas
It is the stuff that is passed down from generation to generation – the voices, which either whisper or shout in emulation of the coach who got players to play hard. Coaches as different as John Wooden and Bobby Knight.
Last October, after Andover High volleyball’s lackluster Game One in the 2007 sub-state final against archrival Circle, Sue Coffman took her girls off the court and marched them... More
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Picking Up the Pieces
Central Kansas
Folks in Valley Center still talk about Brandon Clark, an uncommonly talented 1997 graduate who was perhaps the best athlete the community has ever produced.
As the story goes, he once picked off a pass at the opponent’s 38-yard line and needed only six strides to cross the goal line. (Of course, in 10 years the number of strides will be three, and in 20 years he will have... More
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A collection of this month's best action photos.
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