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 the most recent 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: Cedar Vale-Dexter (Conor Nicholl – Kpreps)
Cedar Vale-Dexter has enjoyed a much-improved passing game and continued success despite limited numbers from junior standout running back Brogan Myers.
Last Friday, the Spartans defeated Sedan, 36-28, in a critical Eight-Man, Division I, District 1 contest. The game was originally supposed to occur in Dexter, but shifted to Cedar Vale because of field conditions. The Spartans are 4-1 for the second straight year in again one of the deepest eight-man districts.
Cedar Vale-Dexter is 2-0 in district, while West Elk, Sedan, Central Burden and Oswego are all 1-1 in district. Overall, Oswego is 4-1, while West Elk and Sedan are both 3-2. Last year, Sedan won the district title, but the only loss came to Cedar Vale-Dexter.
The Spartans led 22-0 and received another big game from senior quarterback Clayton Henderson. CVD passed for 308 yards and rushed for just 40 yards. Henderson completed 14 of 27 passes for 223 yards and three scores.
Devin Catlin had four receptions for 102 yards and a score, along with eight rushes for 70 yards and a touchdown. He picked off two passes. Catlin, also a standout basketball and baseball player, had transferred over from Oxford.
Arik Artherton had a big game on both sides with 63 receiving yards, 10 tackles, two assists and three TFLs.
Henderson has already thrown for more touchdowns than he had all of last season. He passed for 649 yards with a 7/6 TD/INT ratio in a 5-4 season in ’18.
This year, he opened six of seven for 261 yards with four scores in a 50-0 win versus Altoona-Midway. He has helped CVD still play well despite a big dip in numbers from Myers.
Last year, Myers rushed for 1,422 yards and was leading the state in rushing before he was limited by injuries in the final 3.5 games. He tallied 35 carries for 262 yards and nine touchdowns in the ’18 win versus Sedan. In this year’s game, he had six carries for 28 yards.
Myers had three carries for 11 yards against Altoona-Midway. He finished with 11 carries for 274 yards and five scores in a 66-20 Week 2 victory versus South Haven.
In Week 3, Cedar Vale-Dexter lost 56-28 to Caldwell, currently 4-1. Last season, though, the Spartans fell, 58-0, to Caldwell.
This year versus Caldwell, Henderson completed 11 of 30 passes for 178 yards and two scores against three interceptions, and rushed 16 times for 63 yards and two scores. Myers had 10 carries for 70 yards versus Caldwell.
In a 56-6 win versus Flinthills in Week 4, Henderson completed 12 of 18 passes for 165 yards and four scores. Cole Criss added 17 carries for 119 yards, as Myers had three carries for 22 yards.
Helmet sticker: Lyons (Alex Hammeke -- Kpreps)
My helmet sticker goes to the Lyons Lions on their victory over Ellinwood on Friday. The Lions defeated the Eagles 12-7, to break a 33-game losing streak. The Lions’ last victory came October 27th, 2015 when Lyons defeated Ellsworth, 21-13.
Lyons was down 7-6 heading into the 4th quarter when backup quarterback Carl Clark was able to run in a score from two yards out for what would become the winning points.
Lyons was able to force four Ellinwood turnovers and held the Eagles to 209 yards and three-of-nine on third down. Lyons also held Ellinwood to 73 rushing yards. Ellinwood was without standout running back David Hammeke to injury.
Helmet sticker: Southeast-Cherokee (Matt Gilmore – Kpreps)
My helmet sticker goes to the Southeast Lancers for claiming the schools’ first ever league championship in football. The Lancers beat Jayhawk-Linn, 44-24, on Friday to win the Three Rivers League (11-Man Division) outright.
The Lancers led 26-18 at halftime, then outscored the Jayhawks 18-6 in the second half. Jakob Tavernaro started the second-half scoring with a short touchdown run, then Zayden Hendricks added a touchdown to extend the Lancer lead to 20 at 38-18.
Tavernaro would later add another touchdown late in the game for the 44-24 win.
Bryce Petersen passed for 147 yards and three touchdowns in the game, while Hendricks led the rushing attack with 185 yards and three scores.
For the season, Hendricks has rushed for 684 yards and nine touchdowns and is averaging more than 13 yards per carry. Petersen has passed for 373 yards and seven touchdowns and added 494 yards rushing with five more scores.
Southeast remains unbeaten overall at 5-0 and unbeaten in district play along with Humboldt and Riverton. The Lancers will host Erie (1-4) this week before taking on Riverton (3-2) and Humboldt (5-0) to close out the regular season.
Helmet sticker: Winfield (Matt Gilmore -- Kpreps)
My second sticker this week goes to Coach Linn Hibbs and the Winfield Vikings. Winfield is off to a 4-1 start after last week’s 25-7 victory over Augusta. The four wins are the most for Winfield since the 2013 season.
The Vikings have displayed some balance on the offensive side of the ball with quarterback K.C. Crandall and Nolan Foust out of the backfield. Crandall passed for 175 yards and a touchdown in last week’s win over Augusta, while Foust rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns.
In their Week 4 win over Labette County, Foust rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
The Winfield defense has been the story. The Vikings have allowed 32 total points in their four wins. The one loss, came 47-0 to Class 4A No. 2 McPherson.
Winfield currently sits in a good position to secure a home playoff game to open the Class 4A bracket. The Vikings are among the top four teams on the west side of Class 4A and will travel to El Dorado (2-3) this week.
ACA Sportsmanship Award (Week 5): Caney Valley & Jalen Bush
Kpreps is excited to announce a new award for the 2019 season – the weekly Sportsmanship Award. We have teamed up with 'A Class Athlete' (ACA) to recognize those individuals or groups that demonstrate sportsmanship and high character during the heat of action. This award is open to students or student-athletes who goes above and beyond to demonstrate an act of kindness or sportsmanship.
We are pleased to announce that this week we are recognizing Jalen Bush and the Caney Valley Bullpups.
Sheri Thompson submitted the featured photo of the Caney Valley football team along with Jalen on the sidelines prior to the coin toss of the Bullpups’ last home game against Columbus. Jalen was paralyzed as the result of a car accident on the morning of the Bullpups’ 2018 Homecoming nearly one year ago.
Since the accident, the outpouring of support from Caney and the surrounding communities has been incredible in organizing events such as a Crockpot Chowdown and Silent auction benefit. Jalen also threw out the first pitch of a Bullpups baseball game last spring, and was nominated for the Homecoming King last week.
Each week during the season, we will choose an individual or group as recipient of this award. Winners will receive the Sportsmanship Excellence Award Certificate, and the unique ACA helmet sticker as part of our Kpreps Helmet Stickers feature. At the end of the season, we will choose one overall winner, for the annual Kpreps-ACA Sportsmanship Award.
Please help us by emailing your nomination stories, pictures, or videos to matt@kpreps.com and ACA@kpreps.com. You can also send to Kpreps via social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc). Please include the name of the person(s) involved and a description of the act or event that you are nominating. Nominations for the award will be accepted through Tuesday of each week, with the winners announced thereafter. We will list the weekly winners here, at kpreps.com, and also on aclassathlete.com. The overall winner will be announced after the State Championship games.
ABOUT A Class Athlete:
A Class Athlete was started in 2016 to encourage young athletes in all sports, to play hard, play to win, but also to play with class and dignity. Originally targeting youth sports, ACA quickly expanded to include middle school and high school sports, and beyond (coaches, cheerleaders, fans – everyone!). In recent years, participation in youth sports has continued to decline, and the #1 reason according to the kids: 'It's not fun anymore.' ACA is determined to bring the fun and the kids back!
Participating in sports is very beneficial in many areas. It helps build confidence and self-esteem, teaches respect, teamwork, and leadership skills, and improves communication and cooperation – all qualities needed to be successful in life. It is said that participation in sports reveals a persons’ character. But ACA believes, when sportsmanship is emphasized, it is a very important aspect in building a young person's character and integrity.
For more information, please visit www.aclassathlete.com.
Helmet Stickers (2019 Season)
Week 1 – Great Bend, Hutchinson Central Christian, KC Harmon, Larned, Ottawa
Week 2 – Blue Valley Northwest, Cheney, Deerfield, La Crosse, Northeast-Arma, Shawnee Mission West
Week 3 – Belle Plaine, Clearwater, Lawrence, South Barber
Week 4 – Chase County, Eureka, Shawnee Mission Northwest, Wheatland-Grinnell
Week 5 – Cedar Vale-Dexter, Lyons, Southeast-Cherokee, Winfield
A Class Athlete Sportsmanship Award (2019 Season)
Week 1 – Landon O’Hare, Lincoln High School
Week 2 – Plainville High School & Student Council
Week 3 – Kayden Christiansen, Lakin High School
Week 4 – Hunter Engle of Madison and Nate Burdette of Maranatha Christian Academy
Week 5 – Jalen Bush & Caney Valley High School
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