By John Mesh
According to Kansas Sports Central, the Hutchinson-Andover Central game at 7 p.m. Friday at Gowans Stadium is one of the notable matchups in the state of Kansas on Week 1 of the 2024 football season.
Andover Central is listed by KSC as the No. 4 team in the state to watch behind Derby, Blue Valley and Nemaha Central. Cunningham is the No. 5 team to watch.
Kansas Sports Central’s other top matchups are Blue Valley vs. Blue Valley Southwest, Blue Valley West vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, Saint James vs. Bishop Miege, Mill Valley vs. Olathe South and Blue Valley North vs. Blue Valley Northwest.
The Hutchinson-Andover Central matchup will be broadcast on Hutchinson Eagle Radio station KWBW. Pregame is 6:30 p.m. and kickoff is 7 p.m.
In Thursday night’s 8-man action, the Reno County Sabres played at Stafford.
In other Friday night 11-man games, Halstead hosts Hesston, Haven plays at Hillsboro, Nickerson plays at Conway Springs and Sterling plays at Sedgwick.
In Friday night 8-man games, Fairfield plays at Hartford and Pretty Prairie plays at Lyndon.
In Saturday’s 8-man action, Hutchinson Central Christian hosts Wichita Sunrise Christian.
Ad Astra Radio’s radio games are Lyons at Beloit, 94.7 KSKU; Larned at Smoky Valley, 95.5 KLBG; Mulvane at Buhler, 95.9 KWHK; Hesston at Halstead, 96.7 KMPK; Great Bend at McPherson, 98.9 KMCP; Chase at Pawnee Heights, 98.9 KGBK; Baldwin at Iola, 99.3 KIOL; Trinity Catholic at Inman, 100.3 KNZS; and Sterling at Sedgwick, Sports 1.
HutchCC volleyball team falls to Odessa
The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon volleyball team played Odessa College at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Odessa College OC Invitational in Odessa, Texas.
HutchCC lost in three sets to No. 15 Odessa 25-12, 25-17, 27-25.
The Blue Dragons (6-5) will play New Mexico Junior College at noon and Vernon College 5 p.m. on Friday and Panola College at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
Vype Kansas Spotlights feature football players from Hutchinson, Inman, Buhler
Vype Kansas magazine has featured numerous area high school athletes in the past several years.
With football season starting in Kansas this weekend, area athletes have been put in the spotlight: Hutchinson’s Terrell King, Carter Morgan and Kaleb Cape, Inman’s Dylan Larson and Buhler’s Brendan Scripsick.
Matt Browning wrote the articles on King, Morgan and Cape. Hayden Swope wrote the articles on Larson and Scripsick.
King is an All-State defensive back and wide receiver for the Salthawks. Browning described King as having a chip on his shoulder as he begins his senior season.
What I’m most excited for this season is to prove myself that I can play at the highest level there is and to show that to all of the coaches who overlook me,” King said.
King’s numbers speak for themselves: He recorded 54 tackles with three interceptions on defense, as well as racking up 754 all-purpose yards and scoring seven touchdowns.
So while he is a stalwart on defense, King is trying to prove what kind of receiver he is, too.
“Something I’ve been working on and wanting to improve are my routes,” King said. “And some things I’ve been doing to help is working out with my college friend whose routes are top tier. So I’m learning for someone who knows what they’re doing.”
While Hutchinson’s Carter Morgan was a first-team all-league linebacker a year ago, he was thrust into a new position: long snapper.
It was certainly a new experience and there were ups and downs, so Morgan spent much of his offseason looking to improve at that position.
“I was put at long snapper for the first time last year so I am definitely hoping for better results,” Morgan said. “I’m also wanting to be a better all-around player for our team.”
Cape will be a senior offensive lineman for the Salthawks this season. As a junior, he was a second-team all-league selection. In his entire time as a varsity lineman, Cape has allowed just two sacks.
Cape told Browning that he knows there is more growth in his game for 2024.
“I want to work on pass protection and run blocking,” Cape said. “I’ve worked on getting quicker feet by doing a bunch of cone drills and working on staying low of the ball. I’ve also been looking at old film to see where I could better myself in being a better right guard.”
Larson, who also plays on the offensive line, told Swope he often reminisces back to his freshman year when the Teutons made it all the way to the state championship game.
“My favorite memory of high school football is from my freshman year when we went to state,” Larson said. “Although we lost in a heartbreaking fashion it was a fantastic experience and I would love to make it back there this year.”
Now a junior in high school, Larson is putting in the work every day to make it back to that state field again.
“I am preparing for this upcoming season by attending our summer weights program every day as well as all the camps and practices we’ve had throughout the summer,” Larson said. “As an offensive lineman, I can always improve on my blocking.”
Scripsick is the Buhler quarterback. He told Swope that it’s finally his turn to step up and be the leader he’s been preparing to be for the last four years.
“A weakness I focused on improving was consistency with my throwing and being on time with my receivers, also making sure everyone in the offense is on the same page and being a leader that some of the younger guys can look up to,” Scripsick said.
Cape, Larson and Scripsick and their teams will be in action Friday when football season starts in Kansas. Hutchinson hosts Andover, Inman hosts Hutchinson Trinity Catholic and Buhler hosts Mulvane.
Terrell King article — https://southcentralksvype.com/featured/hutchinsons-terrell-king-athlete-spotlight-presented-by-allen-samuels/
Carter Morgan article — https://southcentralksvype.com/featured/hutchinsons-carter-morgan-athlete-spotlight-presented-by-salthawk-threads/
Kaleb Cape article — https://southcentralksvype.com/featured/hutchinsons-kaleb-cape-athlete-spotlight-presented-by-hutchinson-cc/
Brendan Scripsick article — https://southcentralksvype.com/featured/buhlers-brendan-scripsick-athlete-spotlight-presented-by-the-medicine-shoppe/
Inman runners compete at Tescott meet
The Inman High School and Inman Junior High School boys and girls cross country teams competed at the Tescott Invitational Wednesday.
In the boys varsity race, Inman’s Tyler Martisko started his third high school cross-country season with a medal by placing second. Riley Roots, also starting his third high school cross country season, finished in the medals placing third
In the girls varsity race, Inman’s Abigail Siemens started her third high school cross-country season with a medal placing 12th. Addison Wedel started third her high school cross-country career with a medal placing 20th.
In the boys junior varsity race, Inman’s Hunter Schrader ran his first high school cross-country career but finished outside of the medals.
In the junior high races, Inman 7th grader Teagan Stutzman started her cross country career by running in the combined 7th-8th grade girls race. She finished outside of the medals.
Wyatt Wichert, a seventh grader, started his cross-country career by running in the combined seventh and eighth-grade boys’ race and earned a 10th-place medal.
“I know as a coach, I look forward to the first meet of the season,” said Inman coach Jay Parsons. “It is a chance to see where everyone is in terms of conditioning and preparation. It also gives the new runners a chance to experience what it takes to run in a competitive race. I wasn’t looking for any particular time and/or place since this is the first meet of the season. Therefore, my goal for them was finish the race and compete the best they can. Everyone did just that.
“Overall, I was pleased with the start of the racing season. I saw some things that if I can communicate to the runners and get them to understand we will become better runners, more consistent and competitive.”
Inman runner Abigail Siemens said: “I didn’t perform to my best abilities due to a side cramp and I need to work more on pacing.”
Parson added, “That goes right along with the fact it is the first meet of the season but now that it’s over, we have some things to work and build on.”
The next meet for Inman Junior High is on Tuesday at Prairie Hills Middle School in Hutchinson. The next meet for Inman High School is next Thursday (Sept. 12) at Hesston.