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: Concordia (Alex Hammeke -- Kpreps)
After a difficult 3-6 season last fall, Concordia went to work on the offseason. With a new head coach in Jordan Echer and solid nucleus that included 14 returning starters, the Panthers probably weren’t expected to be among the favorites in a loaded 3A District 8 that includes traditional-power Scott City, and contenders Beloit and Colby. Concordia reached the playoffs last year as the fourth qualifier out of the district, falling to eventual state runner-up Pratt in the first round.
Last week, Concordia had an impressive 34-24 victory over Beloit to improve to 4-3 on the season and 3-1 in district play. Junior quarterback Wyatt Trost had three rushing touchdowns in the contest, and went 7 of 9 passing for 77 yards. Keyan Miller and Hunter Schroeder also scored rushing touchdowns. Schroeder also had an interception in the game, and is tied with fellow teammate Stryker Hake with three interceptions on the season. Beloit led 16-0 after the first quarter, and was coming off a 28-13 victory at Scott City, who were previously-undefeated and were ranked at the time.
Two of the Panthers three losses on the season are to Wamego and Marysville, who are both 6-1 and considered among the top contenders on the east side of Class 3A. Concordia’s other loss came to undefeated Colby. Those three losses have come by an average of 17 points, while last year, Concordia lost to those same three opponents by an average of more than 32 points per game.
Entering this week, Concordia currently sits alone in second place in the District 8 standings with a 3-1 record. The Panthers have a chance to double their district win total from last season when they travel to Scott City this week. Concordia is riding on a two-game winning streak, and have won three of the past four games. The Panthers have clinched a playoff spot alongside district champion Colby, while Beloit and Scott City are still in the mix with the Panthers for the runner-up spot.
Helmet sticker: Hill City (Conor Nicholl -- Kpreps)
Entering the fall, the Ringnecks were on the cusp of the Eight-Man, Division I rankings. Those expectations quickly slowed when Hill City opened 1-3 with losses to Osborne, Thunder Ridge and at Clifton-Clyde. All of the defeats came by at least 26 points. However, all three squads are 7-0 and are ranked in eight-man.
Since Week 5, Hill City won at Stockton, 42-14, defeated Lincoln, 66-20, and then earned a great road win, 30-22, versus Victoria. Last Friday, Hill City led 30-22 after three quarters but the game was postponed to Saturday because of the weather. The teams came back Saturday morning and the score remained the same after four quarters.
Dalen Journigan earned the team’s overall and offensive player of the game honor. Junior Justice Clark was the defensive selection, and Kaleb Atkins picked up the award on special teams. Journigan has served as one of eight-man’s top all-purpose players since 2017. He enjoyed a hallmark game. The score was tied at eight after the first quarter, and Hill City led 24-22 after the second quarter.
Journigan played quarterback and completed his only throw for 11 yards as Hill City eschewed the pass. In the first six games, Hill City had thrown eight interceptions. He delivered 38 carries for 261 yards and all four of the team’s touchdowns. Clark finished with 17 tackles and caused two fumbles.
Third-year coach Travis Desbien led Hill City to 5-4 marks in his first two seasons. The Victoria victory likely gives Hill City the District 7 runner-up and a Week 9 home game. The Ringnecks have played more than nine games in a fall just twice in school history, a 7-3 season in ’09 and an 11-2 state runner-up in ’10.
This is arguably the best win under Desbien. Before Friday’s victory, Hill City was 11-0 against teams that finished with a losing record in ’17-18 or currently have a losing mark in ’19.
Hill City was 2-11 versus teams that had a winning record in ’17-18 or currently have a winning mark in ’19. Victoria entered the game 5-1 and defeated Ringnecks, 42-41, last year.
In a 66-20 victory versus Lincoln in Week 6, Clark was the team’s overall and defensive player of the game, while Journigan and Atkins earned offensive and special teams honors. Derek Keith played quarterback, though Journigan rushed 22 times for 221 yards and four scores.
Overall, Journigan has 129 carries for 999 yards and 16 touchdowns and has cleared 100 yards in four games. He has taken over in the running game for junior quarterback Jayce Hamel, who has not played since Sept. 20. At that point, Hamel had 74 carries for 489 yards and seven TDs, along with 280 passing yards and a touchdown. All of Journigan’s 100-yard performances have come since Hamel has missed time.
Overall, Journigan already has 1,165 all-purpose yards, a career high. He recorded 713 all-purpose yards as a sophomore, and 1,053 as a junior. In his career, Journigan has averaged 8.3 yards per carry with 1,896 rushing yards and 31 rushing scores.
Defensively, Journigan leads the Ringnecks with 75 stops – also already a career high. Clark has picked up 63 tackles, five interceptions and four forced fumbles. The 5-foot-9, 146-pound Clark has made huge strides. He also played in a pair of JV games this fall. Entering 2019, Clark had 31 career tackles.
Helmet sticker: Hugoton (Conor Nicholl – Kpreps)
Second-year coach Nick O’Loughlin, a Hugoton native, has the Eagles in position for their first district title in many years. Hugoton opened 0-3, though with close losses at Scott City (14-0), at Colby (16-8) and versus Ulysses (29-14) in GWAC play. After a 33-13 home win versus Kingman, Hugoton took another close road loss in a 14-12 defeat to Nickerson.
However, Hugoton has bounced back with quality victories, a 21-7 home win versus Pratt and a critical 39-15 road victory versus Larned. Entering the contest, Hugoton was 2-4, and Larned was 4-2.
Eagle quarterback Sawyer Harper accounted for six touchdowns, including five passing. Larned took a 7-0 lead before Hugoton tallied 31 straight points. Hugoton ran an incredible 87 plays – 24 more than Larned – for 397 yards. The Eagles were plus-four in turnover margin. Overall, Hugoton completed 17 of 33 passes for 328 yards and five scores.
District 7 has a three-way tie with Hugoton (3-4, 3-1), Holcomb (4-3, 3-1), and Larned (4-3, 3-1). Hugoton gets Holcomb at home this Friday. O’Loughlin is now 7-2 in district play. From ’11-16, Hugoton was 8-10 in district action.
It marked the second-most points in the O’Loughlin era. Hugoton has tallied 127 points through seven contests after 100 at this point last year. In 2018, Hugoton finished 4-5, 4-1 in district play.
Helmet sticker: Wichita East (Matt Gilmore – Kpreps)
My helmet sticker goes to the Wichita East Blue Aces for winning their fifth consecutive game to improve to 5-2 on the season.
After beginning the season with losses at Goddard (34-22) and at Wichita Northwest (75-8), both of who were state-ranked, the Blue Aces have reeled off five consecutive wins over Kapaun Mt. Carmel, Wichita South, Wichita North, Liberal, and Wichita Southeast. During their win streak, the Blue Aces have allowed an average of only 10.6 points per game while scoring more than 31 points per contest.
Last week, East defeated Southeast 32-7 behind a pair of touchdown passes by Nickendre Stiger. Norman Massey has been a key player out of the backfield and on defense for the Aces, while Daylan Jones made the SportsCenter Top 10 earlier this season for his one-handed touchdown catch against Kapaun.
WATCH – Daylan Jones one-handed TD catch (courtesy @blueacesfb)
The Blue Aces, under second-year coach Ene Akpan, have won five games in a season for the first time since 2012 and have a chance for their first six-win season since 2008 if they can get by Wichita West this week. It was the Pioneers that defeated Wichita East twice in consecutive weeks to end the 2018 season. West on the final regular-season game 28-7, then defeated East 47-0 in the first-round bracket game a week later. Wichita East hasn’t won a playoff game since 1980.
ACA Sportsmanship Award (Week 7): Carson Ukele of Sabetha
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 Carson Ukele of Sabetha.
In one of the state’s marquee games, Wamego defeated No. 4 Sabetha, 28-15, in a critical Class 3A, District 4 contest. Afterward, Sabetha’s Carson Ukele again led the postgame prayer, a role he has done every week. The Wamego Smoke Signal captured the moment in this photo which has widely circulated online.
Sabetha is the defending back-to-back 3A state champions. After the 7-6 state victory against Marysville in 2017, Ukele lost his parents, sister and uncle in a car accident on the ride home.
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
Week 6 – Dodge City, Hutchinson Trinity, KC Washington, Saint Francis
Week 7 – Concordia, Hill City, Hugoton, Wichita East
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
Week 6 – Colton Neitzel of St. Francis
Week 7 – Carson Ukele of Sabetha
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