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: Haysville Campus (Chet Kuplen -- Sports in Kansas)
Campus (4-3), led by head coach Greg Slade, beat Hutchinson for the first time since 1999. The Colts won in dominating fashion on Friday night, 35-7. Most, if not all the players, on the team weren’t even alive the last time this happened.
Federico Harvey has been one of the most impressive breakout players in Kansas this season and threw for 323 yards with three scores in the win over the Salthawks. Tyler Kahmann, Quinton Hicks, Cameron Harvey and Braden Haak have also stepped up to have breakout years for the Colts catching the football.
Defensively, Campus is also getting it done as Quinton Hicks is one of the top junior linebackers in the metro. Harvey also doubles as one of the best defensive backs in Kansas. Harvey is an elite athlete that is also a state champion triple jumper going over 46 feet last spring. This has been Campus' best season since 2006 when they finished 5-4.
Helmet sticker: Liberal (Conor Nicholl – Kpreps)
Liberal earned a key Western Athletic Conference comeback road win, 23-21, against Great Bend. The 5-2 Redskins delivered a 14-point fourth quarter comeback. Liberal trailed 21-7 before Syris Dunlap scored from 19 yards out. After a Liberal interception at the Great Bend 32-yard line, the Redskins scored again on a Cesar Burciaga’s run, but his extra point was blocked and Liberal still trailed 21-20. Great Bend drove inside Liberal territory, but the Redskins earned a stop of fourth-and-short.
Then, Liberal delivered the game-winning drive that included a 46-yard completion on 3rd and 17. Burciaga kicked the game-winning 23-yard field goal with nine seconds left. Both squads had exactly 266 yards. It marked the only time Liberal led the entire contest.
Liberal moved to 5-2 and has been one of Class 5A’s surprises under first-year coach Jason Dunlap, a former Redskin standout in the ‘90s under legendary coach Gary Cornelsen.
It marked Liberal’s first win against Great Bend since 2003 when Cornelsen was still coach.
Dunlap has followed a line of past Liberal graduates who have tried to turn around the Redskins. Dunlap and his son, Syris, have helped key the improvement. Defensively, linebacker Misael Monarrez enjoyed a strong game versus Great Bend and has 84 tackles, second-best in the league.
Libera has won its most games since a 5-5 season in 2013 and has clinched its first winning mark since 6-4 in 2005 under former coach Steve Warner, now at Buhler.
Liberal leads the conference with 202 points and stands second with just 110 points allowed for an average score of 29-16. Last year, the Redskins finished 4-5 and scored 24 points a game and allowed 27. This year is easily the program’s best scoring defense in the last decade.
The Redskins lead the WAC with 258 rushing yards a game. Overall, Liberal has already tallied 2,290 yards of offense. Last season, Liberal had 2,222 yards. Syris Dunlap had 677 rushing yards as a freshman and paces the league with 883 rushing yards and 16 scores. He has thrown for 484 yards. Alan Marquez (444 rush) and Cesar Burciaga (290 rush) have played solidly for coach Dunlap, previously the middle school coach.
Other than a 20-0 Week 3 loss to Hays High, Liberal has only fell, 28-27, against one-loss and WAC champion Garden City in Week 5.
Helmet sticker: Mission Valley (Matt Gilmore – Kpreps)
The Mission Valley Vikings earn one of my two stickers this week after rallying to shock Rossville, 33-27 in overtime. The Vikings trailed three-time defending Class 3A champs 27-13 with 3:27 remaining in the game before beginning their improbable comeback on the road. It was Rossville’s first district loss since 2011 and the Bulldawgs first district loss to an opponent other than Silver Lake in several years.
Quarterback Cade Clark scored on a 10-yard run with 2:36 remaining to pull the Vikings within 27-21. Rossville drove inside the Mission Valley 40-yard line, but an errant Bulldawg snap was recovered by the Vikings near midfield. One play later, Clark hit Trenton Marcotte on a 26-yard post to the Rossville 25. A few plays later, the Vikings would score on a 4-yard slant from Clark to Logan Brown with 25 seconds remaining to tie the game at 27. The Vikings hit the PAT but were whistled for a false start. After the five-yard penalty, Rossville blocked the second PAT attempt to force overtime.
Rossville got the ball first in overtime but could only reach the 5-yard line. The Bulldawgs then missed a 21-yard field goal wide left. The Vikings possession began with a Blake Roberts four-yard run to the six. Then Clark scrambled to his right, avoided a tackler and tossed the game-winning touchdown pass to Tanner Metzger.
Clark passed for 158 yards and three scores to lead the Vikings. Marcotte had three catches for 99 yards, while Roberts paced the ground game with 138 yards and a score.
Mission Valley (5-2) can take another step closer to securing a fourth consecutive playoff berth with a win over Council Grove (4-3) this week. Rossville (2-5) will travel to St. Marys this week followed by a home game with Council Grove in Week 9. The Bulldawgs have reached the playoffs in each of the past 15 years having last missed the postseason in 2001.
Helmet sticker: Shawnee Mission Northwest (Matt Gilmore -- Kpreps)
The Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars won their third consecutive game on Thursday by routing Shawnee Mission North, 63-13. Junior quarterback Spencer Stewart threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another as the Cougars built a 42-6 halftime lead. Stewart connected on a pair of touchdown passes with Hayden Goodpaster and threw another scoring strike to Caleb Johnson. BJ Harvey added a pair of first-half rushing touchdowns from behind center and Jaime Alexander and John Hanneman also scored.
Northwest is now 4-3 on the season and currently sits in a three-way tie for the third-best record on the eastern half of Class 6A. If the season ended today, the Cougars would be the No. 5 seed due to the point margin tie-breaker, but SMNW can improve its position this week with a home game against Olathe North. The Eagles are also 4-3 and have won three consecutive games.
The four wins in a season are the most for the Shawnee Mission Northwest program since finishing 4-6 in 2011 season. The Cougars have posted a 9-37 overall record in the past five seasons having reached the playoffs only in 2013. Northwest had finished 1-8 in each of Bo Black’s first two seasons as head coach, but grabbed some momentum this season with a 36-29 victory over Grandview (Mo.) in the Sunflower-Suburban Showdown. The Cougars were only one of two Kansas teams to earn a victory against their Missouri opponents with the other being Class 6A’s top-ranked team, Lawrence Free State.
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
Week 5 – Bennington, Labette County, Osage City, Osborne
Week 6 – Dighton, Galena, Satanta, Victoria
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