In the last 11 years, few in Kansas eight-man football have matched the impact of Osborne coach Steve Tiernan and Kensington-Thunder Ridge coach Joel Struckhoff.
However, the duo’s first meeting on the gridiron will occur Friday for the Eight-Man, Division II, District 5 title in Kensington. The convergence required multiple coaching changes, and a second stint in Osborne for Tiernan.
Both Northern Plains League squads are 7-0, 4-0. This week, for the first time this year, Osborne, the defending state runner-up, bumped to No. 1 in the classification after Axtell lost on the final play to Frankfort. Thunder Ridge has been ranked fifth most of the fall.
The towns are located just 40 miles apart in what Struckhoff labeled “definitely an interesting matchup.” The squads are half of the remaining Division II undefeated teams.
“I don’t really know coach Tiernan all that well, but I have talked to him a few times,” Struckhoff said. “Very smart individual, very good coach obviously. He really executes his offense in a very good manner. Gets his players into space. He knows he has speed, and he gets those guys into open spaces, and does a very good job of that.”
Thunder Ridge, paced by senior Reece Struckhoff, has outscored teams, 350-68. Osborne has delivered an improved defense, including zero passing touchdowns allowed, with a collective 362-54 margin. The Bulldogs are traditionally known for offense but have the No. 1 scoring defense in the classification.
Osborne has picked off nine passes, and forced 14 turnovers. Senior safety Steele Wolters is part of the speedy group with four passes defended, three interceptions, a fumble recovery and 75 tackles.
“I have told them before, ‘If we are bringing somebody, which we do quite often, like on a blitz, you have really got to cover for 30 yards,’” Tiernan said. “… They have taken that to heart and done a good job with it.”
As well, the Bulldogs have three seniors, Evan Garman, Connor Goheen, and Damien Rothenberger, who have made a big impact. The 6-foot-6, 201-pound Goheen was a reserve last year.
Garman and Rothenberger did not play football in ’18. Tiernan had a school meeting at the start of summer after he came over from Solomon. He talked about summer weights, and mentioned his basic rules: be on time, pay attention and try.
“’I don’t ask that you be good, that you are fast, that you are strong, that you are a two-year starter,” Tiernan said at the gathering. “I don’t care if you have even played before.”
Garman leads the team with 81 stops, while Goheen and Rothenberger have combined for 48 tackles. Rothenberger is at nose guard. Goheen starts at guard and defensive end and Tiernan said he’s “really come into his own.” Garman plays linebacker and receiver.
“Three or four guys actually that had never been out, that have come out,” Tiernan said. “And I am glad they did.”
Tiernan is one of the state’s all-time great eight-man coaches. He holds a 168-32 career record. Tiernan served as head coach at Baileyville B&B and won state titles in ’08 and ’10. B&B never played Thunder Ridge from ’08-10 when Struckhoff was the starting running back. Tiernan saw Struckhoff, an elite sprinter, at regional track meets.
In ’11, Tiernan went to Osborne. That year, Struckhoff led Thunder Ridge to a state championship – and beat B&B in the title game. Struckhoff still holds eight-man state records for rushing yards (6,919), points scored (856) and touchdowns (127) in a career.
Tiernan won a state crown with Osborne in ’13, and then left for Solomon starting in ’15. Last year, he paced the Gorillas to their best season in school history and an Eight-Man, Division I runner-up finish.
Tiernan and his wife, Stephanie, are both Tipton graduates, and they elected to return to Osborne this year and be closer to their parents, who are getting older. Osborne and Tipton are 24 miles apart. Tiernan, a 1988 Tipton graduate, said the move “had nothing to do with football.”
Struckhoff’s first year on staff at Thunder Ridge came in ’17 when he was an assistant. In ’18, he took over a program that had won just three games in three years and led the Longhorns to a 5-4 mark. That included a district loss to Osborne, then with coach Brandon Wise.
This year, Thunder Ridge was expected to be improved with Reece Struckhoff, the coach’s cousin. Reece was around the Longhorns when Joel played and showed athletic ability from a young age. Joel helped coach him in youth basketball and football activities.
Struckhoff had to miss last football season after he transferred back from Stockton. He has multiple collegiate offers and one of the state’s strongest pound-for-pound players. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder wears No. 28 (Joel’s number) and can bench 350, clean 315, squat 445 and run 4.56 in the 40-yard dash.
Reece first made sizable gains in the weight room when Joel returned to Kensington. Reece and senior Joseph Ferguson keyed the weight room turnaround.
“It was always something that we thought he may grow up to be pretty talented at some point,” Joel said. “And he definitely blossomed into that. He has worked extremely hard to get to where he is at right now, though. Hard work pays off, and he’s the perfect definition of that.”
Reece has completed 25 of 31 passes for 376 yards with seven touchdowns against zero interceptions. Struckhoff has also delivered 83 carries for 1,342 yards and 30 rushing scores.
The starting middle linebacker, he has 106 tackles and a fumble recovery and an interception for touchdowns. Struckhoff has returned three kicks for scores.
“Just in eight-man football, you kind of want to have your best player out on the football field at all times,” coach Struckhoff said. “He is very dynamic in the return game, and obviously he throws a pretty good ball. We have got a lot of guys that can catch the ball, so that’s just something that we’ve taken advantage of with Reece being mobile and having a good arm.”
Senior fullback Colton Davis (413 yards) and junior Jacob Barnes (195 rushing) have delivered strong seasons blocking. Davis has followed in the Longhorn tradition of powerful, team-first fullbacks.
The line features freshman Kaleb Wagenblast at left end, left guard Joseph Ferguson, senior center Riggs Reneberg and junior right guard Mark Ferguson. Coach Struckhoff has been highly pleased with the Ferguson brothers.
The right end has had Barnes or freshman Dylan Bice, a standout junior high player who has had an impressive fall. Reneberg is at defensive end. He has 76 tackles, including a team-high 11 sacks.
“Coming into the season, I knew Reece had possibilities of doing some amazing things,” Struckhoff said. “He’s off to the right start anyway, doing everything that we thought he could do, and obviously he has got a great line in front of him, and a great fullback in Colton Davis. And obviously Jacob Barnes, too, when we run our three-back system, he’s a great blocker as well. He has had a lot of things go really well for him this year.”
Osborne returned senior Darrien Holloway, one of the state’s top running backs. He has 71 carries for 809 yards and 17 touchdowns. Sophomore Mason Schurr has 46 carries for 388 yards and seven scores. Holloway tallied 1,574 and Schurr 855 yards last year. Along with Goheen at guard, junior Lance Kaser is at center, sophomore Dayton Lantz starts at right guard, and senior Vaughn Stull at tight end.
Wolters is in his first season as the starting quarterback. He has completed 24 of 33 passes for 322 yards with nine touchdowns against zero interceptions. Rushing-wise, he has 47 carries for 361 yards and six scores.
“He is just very smart,” Tiernan said. “He picks things up, right off the bat. He is one of those guys that worries about every last detail, so he’s always making sure that he has it just exactly right before he does it.”
Defensively, Stull and Schurr start at cornerback. Stull has picked off two passes. Holloway is at linebacker. He has 44 tackles and two interceptions. Osborne’s improved defense has continued to allow the opponents to run more plays, but has kept teams from scoring. Hoxie held a 69-38 play edge, while Hill City was at 55-48. Stockton, Wilson and Northern Valley all had more plays in Bulldog blowouts.
“They are not too afraid of contact,” Tiernan said of the defense. “They like to go hit people, and when I came from B&B before, we had an offense that could score a lot of points, but every now and then we struggled on defense some. I thought it might be the same thing with all the speed we have, but wow, I am not sure our defense isn’t better than our offense.”
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