Back to Kpreps this fall, our contributors will hand out helmet stickers to a team or individual that delivered the most important performance of the week in their opinion. Check back each week to see that week’s helmet stickers, and follow @Kpreps on Twitter and Facebook to watch as the Kpreps helmet fills up with stickers as the season goes on.
Helmet sticker: Canton-Galva (John Baetz – Kansas Pregame)
The Canton-Galva Eagles are soaring to new heights under second-year coach Shelby Hoppes after their 38-20 win over Solomon Friday night delivered a district championship. The Eagles improved to 6-1 with the victory, the most wins in a season since a 7-4 finish in 2006.
In Friday's win over the previously unbeaten Gorillas, the Eagles got huge games from junior quarterback Landon Everett and freshman wide receiver Tyson Struber. Everett completed 10 of 17 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 118 yards and four scores on 21 carries. Struber caught 10 passes for 109 yards and the touchdown reception, and added a 68-yard kickoff return score. The duo also keyed the Canton-Galva defense combining for 18 total tackles with each recording an interception.
The Eagles outgained the Gorillas 391 yards to 273, and in one stretch from the 6:43 mark in the second quarter through the end of the third, they outscored Solomon 32-0.
Canton-Galva will be favored in this week's contest with Herington and could be poised to make some noise in the playoffs. Regardless of their finish this season, the Eagles will enter 2019 with high expectations as there are no seniors on this year's squad.
Helmet sticker: St. Thomas Aquinas (Chet Kuplen – Sports in Kansas)
St. Thomas Aquinas captured the Eastern Kansas League title with a dominating 41-21 victory over Bishop Miege. This was the first win for Aquinas over Miege under Randy Dreiling. Sophomore Tank Young carried 44 times for 312 yards and scored three touchdowns, breaking the school record of 1,414 rushing yards in a season set by Cameron Jackson last fall. Young’s performance also set a single-game rushing mark at Aquinas.
Bishop Miege led 14-0 to start the game but Aquinas would dominate the rest of the game with physical line play on both sides of the ball. The offensive line unit, which features two power five offer kids, may be one of the best lines we’ve seen in 5A in quite some time. Defensive line and linebackers also swarmed the football for the Saints and will be a very tough team for anyone in Kansas to establish the running game against. Aquinas also added a very high-quality assistant this past week in former Shawnee Mission East head coach Dustin Delaney. Delaney was most recently at Eaglecrest (CO) to begin the year, but is now a part of the Saints staff.
Helmet sticker: The Turners - Scott City & Wichita Homeschool (Conor Nicholl -- Kpreps)
This week’s helmet stickers go to the Turner brothers. Jim Turner, a longtime Scott City assistant, is in his third season as Beaver head coach and has produced records of 7-3, 11-1 and 7-0 for one of the state’s most tradition-laden programs.
His brother, Bill, is the only football coach Wichita Homeschool has ever had since the program started in 2012. He has the Warriors enjoying their second undefeated season.
On Friday, the Turners and their programs each enjoyed key quality victories. Scott City won the GWAC and Class 3A, District 4 when it won, 35-12, against previously unbeaten Colby, off to its best start since 1990.
Homeschool moved to 7-0 with a wild 88-66 home win versus rival Wichita Sunrise Christian Academy. Coach Turner calls this year’s Homeschool team the best in team annals. The Warriors and the 2015 squad that finished 10-0 are the only teams in program history undefeated this late in the season.
Junior Will Day completed 17 of 30 passes for 282 yards with a 6/1 TD/INT ratio. The team also rushed for 319 yards and six TDs, led by 13 carries for 162 yards and four scores from Day.
Junior Luke Johnson finished with seven carries for 101 yards and two scores. Senior Marshal Masterson recorded nine catches for 163 yards and three TDs. As well, Johnson had 23 tackles and Masterson returned a kick for a score.
For Scott City, the Beavers have plenty of multi-year talented starters, such as quarterback Parker Gooden, running back Wyatt Hayes and wide receiver Marshall Faurot.
A key change for the Beavers occurred on the right side of the line. Scott City moved senior Chase Cupp, at 6-1, 250 pounds, from guard to right tackle, next to senior right guard Kyle Sherwood (5-10, 225). It’s the first time Cupp has ever played tackle in his career. Both players are returning starting linemen.
The tandem has helped open holes and provided a veteran presence as the left side of the line is younger and has gone through some changes. Together, they helped Hayes and Gooden combine for more than 330 yards of total offense versus Colby.
Helmet sticker: Wellington (Matt Gilmore – Kpreps)
My sticker this week goes to coach Zane Aguilar and the Wellington Crusaders for picking up their sixth win of the season on Friday by beating Winfield, 22-7. The Crusaders have now won five consecutive games since their lone loss of the season, 28-0, to Class 3A’s top-ranked Andale.
The Crusaders have steadily built momentum in Aguilar’s three years at the helm. After a winless season in 2016, Wellington finished 5-5 last year and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Now, the Crusaders will finish with no worse than a top four-seed on the west side of Class 4A and will finish as the No. 2 seed with a win over Mulvane on Friday.
It’s been quite a turn around for a program that was a consistent 4A contender in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Crusaders won the Class 4A state championship in 2001 and 2002 under coach Linn Hibbs, and reached, at least the state semifinals three other times in a span of seven years. Wellington is among the schools with the most playoff appearances in state history. But since Coach Hibbs resigned after the 2010 season, Wellington had not been back in the playoff bracket until last season’s first-round exit.
It was Hibbs’ Winfield Vikings team that the Crusaders defeated last Friday night. Grey Hatfield rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries to lead the offense. Michael Ledbetter’s short touchdown pass to Silas Poppelwell gave Wellington a 14-0 lead. Winfield closed the score to 14-7 in the fourth quarter, but Wellington’s DeAndre Washington returned a fumble for a touchdown late in the game for the final margin. Wellington is now 2-1 against Winfield since the Crusader’s old coach took over the Vikings in 2016 after a three-year stint at Shawnee Mission Northwest. A win over Mulvane on Friday can put Wellington in good position to make a deep playoff run much like those orchestrated by Coach Hibbs when he was at Wellington.
Helmet Stickers (2018 Season)
Week 1 – Chapman, Salina Central, St. James Academy, Southeast-Cherokee, Wichita North
Week 2 – Kapaun Mt. Carmel, Russell, South Central, Washburn Rural
Week 3 – Colby, Ellinwood, Flinthills, Sylvan-Lucas Unified
Week 4 – Blue Valley North, Centralia, Gardner-Edgerton, Ness City, Smith Center
Week 5 – Bishop Miege, Newton, Olathe West, Oswego, Phillipsburg
Week 6 – Dodge City, Cimarron, Hillsboro, Jackson Heights, Junction City
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