Silver Lake graduated quarterback Cody Hay, a 2A first team all-state pick with 1,806 passing yards and 27 touchdowns. SL lost 51 percent of its rushing yards and 49.6 percent of receptions. Five of the top-six tacklers were seniors for a 10-1 squad that easily paced 2A with 6.9 points allowed a game. The Eagles took third in offense with 46 points per contest.
This fall, junior Daigan Kruger emerged as the starting quarterback. Known for his intensity, Kruger had suffered season-ending ACL knee injuries the last two years. Seniors Mason Schwartz and Dylan Roush are first-year transfers who came to SL to first play baseball. Both players have done well picking up the Eagles’ techniques and terminologies.
The new players have yielded another 4-0 start for Silver Lake for 45th-year coach C.J. Hamilton, the state’s all-time winningest coach at 436-93. SL has longtime assistants Warren Bledsoe and Mike VandeVelde run the offense and defense, respectively. Bledsoe has been at Silver Lake since ’89. Hamilton, a Silver Lake alumnus, has his sons, Travis and Trevor as the other assistant coaches.
“If somebody moves in, or if a freshman comes up and picks up on our system and picks up our terminologies and picks up our techniques, and it happens in a relatively short time, then I know we are being effective teachers,” coach Hamilton said. “And then at the same time being motivators. I think we motivate these kids to be accountable to one another. I think we motivate these kids to play hard and have fun. I mean, that’s what it’s all about really.”
This Friday yields the annual War on 24 that will decide District 3 and likely provide the 2A East favorite. Both Silver Lake and host Rossville are 3-0 in district play. The Mid-East League teams are separated by 5.6 miles.
Silver Lake has won four in a row, though the games are always close. Last season, SL won 14-13 and held off Rossville when it had first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Before then, the three previous meetings were 36-28, 14-0 and 17-14. Prior to that, Rossville won four of five.
“This rivalry, it’s been going since the ‘30s and ‘40s,” Hamilton said. “We are just a part of it. I mean, the rivalry is all the communities and former players from both teams and things like that. I have several parents of kids that I am coaching now that played in this game, so they understand what it’s about. But whatever has happened in the past is in the past, and you have got to focus on what we are doing right now, and we are just trying to get better.”
No. 1 Rossville, a highly experienced team with junior quarterback Torrey Horak and wide receiver Bo Reeves, is 6-0 overall and leads 2A by a substantial margin in scoring offense with 355 points (59.2 points per contest).
“Often times when we play there’s a lot on the line,” coach Derick Hammes said. “And I would say that’s certainly the case this week. What means the most to me, I would say just simply that our community takes a lot of pride in the game, and we like to do well for everybody in town.”
Last year, Horak helped Rossville finish sixth in 2A with 37.8 points a game. One in a long line of great Rossville dual threat quarterbacks, Horak has completed 35 of 63 passes for 560 yards with 10 scores against one interception. He easily leads with 47 carries for 684 yards and 17 scores. Hammes stands at 76-15 in eight years with Rossville. His offense derives from watching former Big Eight option football with Oklahoma and Nebraska and has evolved through the years with ideas from high school, college and pro.
“We still have options within the games, so we put players in conflict, and then in today’s game, it’s a matter of your throwing, rather than doing a dive and a pitch,” Hammes said.
Hammes worked at Topeka Hayden as an assistant for eight years and formed the offense.
“Probably where the nuts and bolts of this all came from, we were playing a team that maybe had a little more talent than we did, and we decided to spread the field a little bit,” Hammes said. “I had a little input with coach (Tom) Stringer at the time, and basically we used the quarterback as a running component.”
Junior Corey Catron and senior Woodrow Rezac have combined for 55 rushes and eight rushing scores. Reeves paces with 16 catches for 313 yards and seven scores, and Rezac has three receiving TDs.
“Our system centers around the quarterback and the decisions that the quarterback makes,” Hammes said. “So if you want to run a system like we do, you have to put a high-end athlete in that position. You have to have a kid play that position that is smart and most of all, that kid has got to handle everything that we throw at them. It’s not a quarterback-based system. Our quarterback can certainly get other people involved, and I really think that you can see that with this year’s group.”
Hammes gave significant credit to his line and the players’ work ethic and chemistry. Hammes is coaching the line for the first time after two coaches opted out of the season for COVID-19 reasons.
“It’s the things that happen up front that are still the things that have been done for ages and ages,” Hammes said. “It’s blocking, and we do a lot of gap schemes.”
SL had its first two contests cancelled because of COVID-19 and has delivered 57.5 points per game since it returned to play. Hamilton has been highly pleased with the progression of some of his more inexperienced players, primarily his young linebackers, Kruger and his new receivers. At linebacker, senior Trent Reamer returns, and juniors Matt Barnes and Kale Frehe have performed well.
“We are evaluating them all the time, and making sure that we are taking steps forward, and we are not staying stagnant or we are not taking steps back,” Hamilton said. “All the emotion of it – I mean, I am sure there’s emotion to start the game, but once the game gets going, I think it’s a matter of settling down and focusing on your responsibilities and how you contribute to the team.”
Hamilton, who designs the offense, has continued to make tweaks and changes throughout the years. This season, SL has averaged 167 passing and 261 rushing yards per contest. Last year, the Eagles were at 166 passing and 178 rushing yards a game behind an experienced offensive line. SL returned all but one offensive line starter.
The OL returners have, for the most part, started since their sophomore year. Seniors Caige Cromer, Connor Pruyser, Mason Maldonado and Jacob Wegner are key up front. Maldonado and Cromer are at tackle. SL does not use a tight end. The Eagles held off rival Riley County, 29-28, in the season opener versus RC’s experienced front.
“Pretty much tough positions for us to play, because a lot of times they are single team blocking, don’t get a lot of help,” Hamilton said.
Kruger has completed 33 of 67 passes for 667 yards with 12 scores against one interception. Hamilton was uncertain what to expect before the year started. Hamilton likened Daigan’s emotional persona to Kyle Kruger from the early 2000s. Kyle set the state record for career passing yards (8,781).
“He’s a fierce competitor,” Hamilton said. “….Because of his leadership skills and his competitiveness, everybody just kind of looked to him to be the guy.”
He easily leads with 36 carries for 334 yards and seven TDs. Kruger has been an excellent punter with 40 yards a kick. Three players have seven catches and three touchdowns, including Schwartz, known for his great hands. Formerly at Washburn Rural, he didn’t play last year and wasn’t eligible because of transfer rules. Roush has returned a punt 56 yards.
“That’s just my style,” Hamilton said. “Some coaches go in with the idea I’m going to put my program in, and what it is, it is, and then that works for some people. I am always looking for a different ingredient or a situation or a scheme that I feel like gives us a little bit of an advantage.”
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