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 Sunday 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: Bennington (Matt Gilmore -- Kpreps)
The Bennington Bulldogs remained undefeated with a 54-6 win over Lincoln on Friday. The Bulldogs are off to their best start in some time as they prepare to enter a brutal stretch of games that make up the challenging District 4 in Eight-Man, Division I.
In the next four weeks, Bennington will travel to Victoria (4-1), host Solomon (3-2), travel to Osborne (4-1), and close out the season at home against Logan-Palco (4-1). Realistically, the Bulldogs will have to win three of those contests in order to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
The Bulldogs feature an explosive offense that is averaging 53 points per game while Bennington is giving up only 10 per contest. J.J. Allen headlines the team’s roster with 20 touchdowns in the team’s five games. The senior speedster has rushed for 837 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. A Kpreps all-state selection as a return man last fall, Allen is averaging 40.5 yards per punt return with one touchdown this season.
Senior quarterback Devin Feil has passed for 316 yards and nine touchdowns with only one interception. Sophomore Javon Allen is the Bulldogs’ leading receiver with 208 yards and five scores.
The defense is led by juniors Layne Wilton (48 tackles) and J.T. Ohlson (40 tackles). Javon Allen also leads the team with three interceptions on defense.
Since taking over in 2015, David Gillett has led the Bulldogs to a 12-11 record. Coach Gillett is changing the culture of a program that is just 45-79 since the beginning of the 2004 season. Since transitioning to Eight-Man football last fall, the Bulldogs are now 7-7.
Helmet sticker: Labette County (Chet Kuplen -- Sports in Kansas)
Last season the Grizzlies made the playoffs for the first time in seven years and people around Altamont have seemed to get excited again about football. The Grizzlies have continued that momentum this year with their 4-1 start and 34-7 victory over SEK league rival Fort Scott on Friday.
Junior Quarterback Easton Dean, who stands 6-foot-7, passed for 165 and rushed for 104 with three combined touchdowns in the win over the Tigers. Labette led 20-0 at the half, before taking the blowout win 34-7. Fort Scott was tabbed as the SEK league favorite at the preseason coaches’ poll back in August. It marked the second year in a row the Grizzlies, led by head coach Sean Price, had beat the Tigers.
Labette County has just two playoff wins as a school and hasn't won a playoff football game since the year 2000. LCHS is looking to change that this season and turn the corner as a program. The Grizzlies lone loss this year came in a 39-0 blowout to 4A-I power Andale. LCHS will be back in action against Frontenac on Friday, a game they are looking to get back after losing 43-0 to the Raiders last year.
Helmet sticker: Osage City (John Baetz – Kansas Pregame)
Osage City improved to 5-0 for the first time in at least the past 10 seasons with Friday's 41-20 win over Mission Valley. The Indians are led by senior quarterback Tucker Kimball has thrown for over 1,000 yards through five games for a team that has scored at least 37 points in four of their five victories.
The Indians built a 28-6 lead over Mission Valley and eventually led 41-6 before the Vikings scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Kimball threw five touchdown passes in the win, two of which went to Trenton Plinsky.
Kimball and classmate Weston Littrell lead the Osage City ground game, while Peyton Pearson and Krimzyn Clark join Plinsky as capable receiving threats.
The Indians should face their stiffest test of the season this week in 2-1A power Lyndon, also undefeated and churning out offense at a rate of at least 47 points a game.
Helmet sticker: Osborne (Conor Nicholl – Kpreps)
The Bulldogs received a standout performance from multiple players in a 58-40 home win against Solomon to open Eight-Man, Division I, District 4 play, arguably the classification’s best district.
Osborne, the defending state champions, moved 4-1, 1-0 in districts after a two-point loss at Pike Valley in Week 4 that came down to the final play.
Osborne senior running back Denton Schurr set a school record with 465 rushing yards on 49 carries with seven rushing scores.
The Bulldogs played without the Holloway brothers: junior Darnell, the starting quarterback, and sophomore Darrien, a sophomore starting running back, because of team violation.
Junior Kade Miller handled a lot of carries with 16 rushes for 61 yards and a touchdown. It marked the first carries for Miller all year. Additionally, Miller had 32 receiving yards and picked off a pass. In his last 18 contests, Miller has tallied 13 interceptions and three fumble recoveries.
Sophomore Steele Wolters completed 6 of 7 passes for 34 yards in his first action under center. Osborne churned out 568 yards of offense.
Senior Roxton Brown led the squad with 14 tackles, including four TFLs, and Schurr finished second with eight tackles. Brown has 189 tackles and 20 TFLs in his career.
Miller, Wolters, Brown, senior Spencer Heise (six tackles) and junior lineman Jordan Wherry were at a different position Friday and played well.
Schurr now has 92 carries for 807 yards and 14 scores this year. In his career, he has tallied 442 carries for 3,573 rushing yards and 59 scores.
Schurr’s performance again showcased the Bulldogs’ ability to deliver big offensive numbers no matter the personnel for coach Cullen Riner.
He served as Osborne’s head coach in the 11-man ranks in the mid-2000s and then led the Bulldogs to a 10-2 season in the first year of eight man in ’10.
Riner then moved to assistant coach during the Steve Tiernan era from ’11-14. Once Tiernan left for Solomon, Riner took ’15 off and then returned as head coach last fall. Osborne is now 66-10 in eight-man football when Riner has been on staff.
Long known for their speed, Osborne has run the ball 87 percent of its snaps and averaged 357 rushing yards a contest in 2017. Eighty-nine percent of its offense has come on the ground. Osborne has averaged 52.8 points a contest.
The Bulldogs set the eight-man state scoring mark with 760 points en route to a 2013 state title, and then broke it with 764 points last season. In ’13, 69 percent of the yards came via rushing. Last year, 86 percent of the yards were on the ground.
Helmet Stickers (2017 Season)
Week 1 – Burrton, Pittsburg, St. James Academy, Thomas More Prep, Wetmore
Week 2 – Ellsworth, Goddard, Hays, Maize South
Week 3 – Altoona-Midway, Lakin, St. Mary’s Colgan, Southern Cloud, Wellington
Week 4 – Colby, Concordia, Manhattan, Riley County
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