Norton senior Tawni Griffey will take another undefeated record to the state tennis tournament and the MCL had a successful week on the gridiron in week 6.
Norton
Lady Jay senior Tawni Griffey is at it again. After a perfect sophomore season, including a state title, Griffey reached the 2011 state championship match with an unblemished record only to fall in two tie-break sets. Griffey will again head to state, this time with a 31-0 record, after winning the Russell regional on Saturday.
Griffey basically went untested through the cold and wet weather, shutting out her first two opponents, allowing just one game in a win over the fourth-place finisher from Central Plains, then winning the title over Ellsworth’s Rachel Herzog 6-1, 6-1. Sierra Black won her first match before falling to Herzog 6-0, 6-0 to end her season. The Lady Jays had even less luck in doubles play. Richele Green and Jessica White lost their play-in match to Russell 9-7. Ashley Hildebrand and Molly Scott lost to the eventual regional champs from Central Plains 6-0, 6-1 in the first round.
Osborne
The Bulldogs were already at the top of Div. I, District 4 entering Friday night. They will remain there after a 62-12 thrashing of winless Linn. Osborne led 34-6 at the half, and improves to 3-0 in district play, 5-1 overall.
Junior Kenton Ubelaker and freshman quarterback Jake Tiernan opened competition to see who could score the most. Ubelaker rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries, catching two passes, both for scores, for 116 yards. Along with those two touchdowns, Tiernan threw another TD pass to Brandt Wolters, who finished with 48 yards on four receptions. Tiernan finished with 198 yards and no interceptions on 7-of-10 passing. Maverick LeRock also had a nice game with 114 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Defensively, Ubelaker and Colin Clark each had interceptions.
Phillipsburg
Last week, LaCrosse scored 50 first half points in a 50-0 win against TMP. Friday, the undefeated Panthers took their shot at the Monarchs. Phillipsburg repeated history, leading 38-0 at the half en route to a 59-0 win.
The Panthers did it a variety of ways. Grant Wickham scored first on a six yard run, then Sean Newlan followed from 22 yards out. Jacey Minkler got in the mix with a 28-yard fumble recovery for a 21-0 first quarter lead. Newlan added a 36-yard score, and Hunter Kohler ran in from 25 yards before Justin Juenemann booted through a 30-yard field goal. The senior kicker also converted all eight PAT tries, giving him 30 point-afters and six field goals on the year. In the second half, Riley Juenemann connected with Tad Thomson for a 50-yard strike, then Seth Derr returned an interception 30-yards for a score. Stuart Lenneman capped off scoring with a 39-yard run. Newlan finished with 58 yards on two carries, and Kohler added 54 yards on seven tries.
Trego
There is little easy about Div. I, District 8 that features unbeaten and top-ranked Ness City, unbeaten Rawlins County, and perennial power Hoxie. Last week, the Golden Eagles fell to Hoxie. Friday, the squad dropped a 28-6 contest to Rawlins County. This week, Trego will have to face Ness City with a 3-3 overall, 0-2 district record.
Rawlins has not ran by too many opponents and Friday was no different as the Buffaloes managed just two scores in each of the first two quarters. Trego out-rushed Rawlins 221-216. Cameron Staples had more than half of that distance with 144 yards and a 61-yard score on 27 carries. Quarterback John Griffith added 54 yards on nine carries and completed 3-of-9 passes for 22 yards. Devon Ghumm caught all three passes and led the defense with 14 tackles.
Ellis
The Railroaders are 3-3 overall after Friday night’s win, but more important, Ellis is now 1-0 in Class 2-1A, District 7. The Railroaders dominated Wichita County, riding a 48-0 lead after three quarters for the same final. The final three Ellis games will all be district contests.
Quarterback Blake Hudson was again the offensive leader with 175 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries, and another touchdown and 72 yards on 5-of-14 passing. Senior running back Gage Younger added two touchdowns on the night, both on the ground, taking 12 carries for 115 yards. Younger went 44 yards for a score in the third quarter for the longest touchdown of the night. Hudson connected with Cadyn McCoy for the other big play, a 43-yard strike in the second quarter to put the Railroaders ahead 22-0.
Plainville
The Cardinal runners were in action at the MCL meet Thursday in Phillipsburg. Norton won both races. The Lady Cardinals finished second with 39 points behind Norton’s 16 points, just a point ahead of Hill City. The boys finished third, just three points better than Hill City.
Osborne’s Eileen Mick won the title by 10 seconds, and Cassidy Rathbun finished third in 15:46, less than a second from the silver medal. Brooklyn Eilers finished ninth in 17:27, Dakota Rogers grabbed 17th in 19:32, and Brianna Moos missed the top 20 by 10 seconds in 20:18. For the boys, Quinn Dewey paced the Cards in 18:43, good enough for eighth place. Nolan Weiser finished 14th in 19:41, Josh McCrickard ran a 19:52 for 17th, and Trevor Sutter finished 21st in 20:03.09, just 0.22 seconds off a top 20 time.
Hill City
The Ringneck cross country teams headed to Phillipsburg to compete against MCL runners and others at the league meet. Against MCL teams, the Lady Ringnecks finished third with 40 points, coming up just a point shy of Plainville. The boys finished fourth with 60 points, just three points behind Plainville.
Osborne’s Eileen Mick won the MCL competition by 10 seconds, followed by a pack of runners. Leslie VanLoenen finished at the back of that pack in fourth with a time of 16:46.90, just 1.09 seconds from the silver medal. Bethany Eckols finished 13th in 18:19, and Kayla Keith ran a 19:02 for 16th. Emani Sipple and Brittany Lee rounded out the top 20 at 19:49 and 20:08, respectively. Phillipsburg’s Wyatt Ratzlaff ran away with the boys’ competition, winning by 36 seconds in 17:19. Shane Jones led the Ringnecks in 18:11 for third place, 16 seconds behind the silver. Michael Poe ran a 19:51 for 16th, Tanner Colburn finished 19th in 20:00, and Devin Keener placed 25th with a time of 20:38.
Stockton
The Tiger runners competed at the MCL cross country meet Thursday in Phillipsburg. The Lady Tigers lacked the numbers to compete as a team, but the Stockton boys finished fifth with 72 points, 12 points behind Hill City.
Reed Stephens led the boys in 18:34 for sixth place, 15 seconds from a top-five finish. Ethan Hammel grabbed a top 20 finish at 18th in 20:00, and Christian Hammel grabbed the final top 20 spot just two seconds behind him. Cayden Conyac ran a 21:36 to finish 32nd. For the Lady Tigers, Hannah Lindsey finished 11th in 17:34, six seconds off a top 10 time. Christina Bedore ran an 18:44 for 15th as the only other Stockton girl in the race.
Smith Center
After a rare 0-2 start, things looked little better for the Redmen football team at 1-3. Then district play began. First, Smith Center blanked Washington County 30-0. Friday night, the Redmen held off Ell-Saline in overtime, giving the Cardinals their second loss while improving to 2-0 in Class 2-1A, District 6 play, 3-3 overall. Smith Center remains the lone unbeaten squad in the district.
The Redmen scored the only touchdown of the first half for a 6-0 lead. Ell-Saline scored the next two touchdowns but was unable to convert either two-point conversion. Smith Center tied things up in the final two minutes of regulation, but they too failed to convert an extra point. In the extra frame, the Cardinals scored first but again failed on the two-point try. When the Redmen got the ball, quarterback Payton Buckmaster crashed into the end zone from five yards out. His two-point conversion gave the Redmen the dramatic win.
