This is the sky over Maize High School’s football stadium Friday night. The Hutchinson High School football game at Maize was delayed because of lightning and the stadium was evacuated. Other games across Kansas were delayed Friday night as severe weather rolled in. Hutchinson shut out Maize 21-0. (Photo courtesy of Curtis Morgan/Sports in Kansas).
The Hutchinson Salthawks shut out the Maize Eagles 21-0 in a lightning-delayed football game Friday night at Maize.
Hutchinson, which defeated Valley Center 13-0 last week, has recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since the 1984 season.
The game was stopped at the 4:31 mark of the first quarter and there was a 1 hour, 40-minute lightning delay. Several high school football games throughout Kansas also had weather delays.
Hutchinson took a 7-0 lead with 5:59 left in the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Kade Smith. The drive was 47 yards long.
Hutchinson kicker Taysen Runyon missed wide right on a 47-yard field goal attempt. Maize missed a 57-yard field goal attempt with 35.8 seconds left in the first half. Hutchinson led 7-0 at halftime.
Smith broke loose for a 58-yard touchdown run with 9:49 left in the third quarter. Runyon’s extra point kick gave the Salthawks a 14-0 lead.
Hutchinson linebacker Carter Morgan intercepted a pass with 5:15 left in the game to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Terrell King. Runyon’s extra point kick with 3:33 left in the game gave Hutchinson a 21-0 lead.
Smith rushed for 196 yards on 33 carries. The Salthawks amassed 286 yards of total offense, possessed the ball for nearly 33 minutes, held the Eagles to 91 yards (56 yards rushing and 35 passing) of total offense and intercepted two passes.
Hutchinson football coach Mike Vernon said the Salthawk players responded well in the second half after sitting through the lightning delay.
“It was a nightmare for a teacher-coach to have 60 kids inside a locker room during a lightning delay,” Vernon said during his postgame radio interview. “They stepped up during the lightning break. They just flew around and made plays. There is a lot of pride over there on defense.”
Vernon said he would like to take some of the workload off Smith, who has carried the ball 68 times the last two weeks for 433 yards.
“We’re trying to take the carrier off his back,” Vernon said. “He is a workhorse.”
Hutchinson (2-1) will play at Salina South on Thursday. Maize hosts Derby, the No. 1 team in Kansas Class 6A, next Friday.
Derby defeated Salina South 59-7 Friday night.
“They (Salina South) have a young energetic staff,” Vernon said. “They will have a plan for us.”
Great Bend’s Ian Premer catches five touchdown passes in Panthers’ win over Buhler
Great Bend High School’s junior all-state tight end Ian Premer caught five touchdown passes from quarterback Daxton Minton to lead the Panthers past Buhler 43-26 in a weather-delayed game at Great Bend.
The touchdowns totaled 169 yards.
Premer, 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, is the No. 1 Sunflower State recruit for the Class of 2026. He also intercepted a pass.
Great Bend’s Jackson Hall also scored on a pick-6 interception.
Great Bend improved to 3-0. Buhler dropped to 2-1.
HutchCC golfers move up to No. 3 in NJCAA poll
The Hutchinson Community College men’s golf team move up to No. 3 in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NJCAA Division I national rankings released on Friday.
The Blue Dragon golfers placed second at the Samuel Proal Classic, losing to NCAA Division I opponent Colorado State-Pueblo by one stroke on Monday and Tuesday in the 2024 fall season opener. The Blue Dragons shot 17-under par for 54 holes at 847.
Sophomore Charlie Box tied a Blue Dragon individual 54-hole scoring record with a 13-under 203.
The Blue Dragons had three golfers in the Top 10. Sophomore Davis Razinskas was at 5-under 211 to place third. Freshman Jaydon Carruthers was at 1-under 215 and tied for ninth.
The Blue Dragons opened the season tied for fourth in the preseason poll with Indian Hills.
This week, the Dragons had one first-place vote.
Midland took over at No. 1, followed by Odessa, Hutchinson, Indian Hills and New Mexico.
The Blue Dragons will compete Monday and Tuesday at the Iowa Western Invitational at Bent Tree Golf Club in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Salthawk varsity boys soccer team downs Andover
The Hutchinson High School boys soccer team defeated Andover 5-2 Thursday at Salthawk Soccer Complex.
The Salthawks led 2-1 at halftime.
Scoring goals for the Salthawks in the first half were Alex Mendez and Jack Yoder. Griffin Galyon scored two goals in the second half and Hayden Waymire added a goal.
The Salthawks play at Goddard Eisenhower next Tuesday.
Andover won the junior varsity match 3-1.
Senior Elias Delacruz intercepted a pass and beat the Andover goal keeper in a one-on-one situation. The JV Salthawks took a 1-0 lead into the half, but couldn’t hold the lead.
Hutchinson varsity tennis meet at Derby postponed to Sept. 26
The Hutchinson High School varsity girls tennis team’s competition at Derby Thursday was postponed to next Thursday (Sept. 26) because of the heat.
Buhler, Hutchinson Trinity boys 2nd, 3rd at Buhler Invitational; Buhler girls 4th
The boys cross country teams from Buhler and Hutchinson Trinity Catholic placed second and third at the Buhler varsity meet Thursday at Prairie Ridge Cross County Park in Hutchinson.
Southeast of Saline won the boys team title with 59 points, followed by Buhler with 107 and Hutchinson Trinity with 117.
Buhler placed fourth in the varsity girls team competition with 112 points. Great Bend won the girls team title with 20 points, with runners placing first, third, fifth, sixth and eighth.
Buhler’s Gavin Lindahl placed sixth in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 17 minutes, 28.9 seconds. Buhler’s Kai Mendenhall placed 14th, 18:22.8, Ryan Cherry, 16th, 18:36.4; Andrew Morgan, 33rd, 19:12.7; Henry Trumpp, 38th, 19:20.2; Samuel Hougham, 56th, 19:56.1; Sammy Hershberger, 60th, 20:11.6.
Hutchinson Trinity’s Jacob Lindstrom and Cameron Kiser placed 12th and 13th with times of 18:16.8 and 18:17.2. John Lindstrom placed 22nd, 18:43.4; Malachiey Alvarez, 26th, 18:49.1; Sam Madden, 44th, 19:28.6; Abrose Pennycuff, 53rd, 19:44.6; Max Ryan, 54th, 19:44.8.
Buhler sophomore Corbin Starkweather placed second in the varsity girls 5,000-meter race with a time of 20:38.4.
Buhler’s Ava Koster and Isabella Friesen placed 24th and 25th with times of 23:09.4 and 23:18.6; Haylee Kinast, 39th, 24:35.4; Allison Johnson, 47th, 25:34.2; and Khloe Blackwell, 49th, 25:51.5.
Buhler girls tennis team third at home meet
The Buhler High School girls tennis team placed third at the Buhler Varsity Invitational.
Sofia Spies placed first in singles and Ashlyn Coker placed eighth.
The doubles team of Addie Caywood and Emily Allen placed fifth and the team of Katelyn Harding and Kylee Bradshaw placed 11th.
Both singles and doubles divisions were open draws.
Spies, a freshman, was the Ad Astra Radio Athlete of the Week last week.
According to Ad Astra, Spies was the No. 1 singles division winner at the Circle Invitational. In three matches played, Spies won 24 of 29 games she played.
Her closest match was the championship match, where Spies defeated Wichita Classical’s Greer Kice 8-3. Buhler finished third in the team standings.
Spies was 15-2 through the weekend as the Crusaders’ No. 1 singles player. In five events this season, she has won three and finished second at the other two.
Spies has won events in Hesston, Salina Central and Circle while also being runner-up at Wichita Collegiate and Maize.
Buhler girls golf team 5th at McPherson Invitational
The Buhler High School girls golf team placed fifth at the McPherson Invitational Thursday at the par-70 Turkey Creek course.
The Crusaders posted a 347 score.
Buhler’s Anika Paulsrud tied for third place and medaled in the individual competition.
The Crusaders’ Macy Miller tied for 25th, 87; Juliette Shank, 35th, 93; Addison Specht, tied 36th, 94; Paityn Weber, tied 48th, 101; Harlie Terrell, 50th, 102; Gracin Bergmeier, tied 63rd, 108.
Inman runners compete at Bennington meet
The Inman boys and girls cross country teams competed at the Bennington Invitational Thursday.
In the boys varsity race, Inman’s Riley Roots and Tyler Martisko both brought home a medal placing fourth and eighth, respectively.
In the girls’ varsity race, Inman’s Abigail Siemens earned a medal for placing 17th.
In the junior high races, Inman’s Wyatt Wichert brought home a medal placing fourth in the seventh grade boys race. Loki Turcotte also finished well enough to bring home a medal placing fourth in the eighth-grade girls race.
“This race was a test of desire and stamina, not only because of the course but also the heat of the day,” said Inman cross country coach Jay Parsons. “Bennington holds their meet at Rock City Park, south of Minneapolis and this course is hillier than any course we have run yet this season.
“But along with that, the weather was hot and due to a wet globe instrument, all high school races were reduced to two miles along with the eighth-grade races. So in the end, it was a day of a hard workout.”
The next meet for Inman is next Thursday at Marion.