North Central Kansas League Catch-All: Fall Week 3

The 2012 North Central Kansas League football season got into full swing this past Friday night and Clay Center made the loudest announcement.

The Tigers are still the only NCKL team that is still undefeated on the season and Clay Center took that step by defeating two-time defending champion, Abilene, 14-13.

The Tigers, however, are still a half-game back in the NCKL standings as Wamego got the early leap on the rest of the NCKL with its second-week victory over Marysville. The Red Raiders are still undefeated in NCKL play, giving them a half-game lead over the Tigers.

This week will be another full NCKL slate as all six NCKL teams will play league games on the grid-iron this Friday night.

Concordia

The Lady Panther tennis team traveled to Phillipsburg on Tuesday for a quad with Norton, Phillipsburg and Scott City and finished with 15 points to place third as a team. … The Concordia cross country teams ran at Clay Center on Thursday where the Panther boys finished fifth with 129 points and the Lady Panthers were third with 85 points. … The Lady Panther volleyball team swept an NCKL showdown with Chapman Thursday evening, winning the opening match 25-9, 25-16 and completing the sweep with a 25-9, 25-20 victory. … The Panther football team suffered its second loss of the season Friday night when they dropped a 32-22 contest to Wamego. The Panthers will look to get back on the winning side of things this Friday night when they play at Abilene.

Abilene

The Abilene cross country teams ran at Clay Center on Thursday where the Cowboys finished seventh with 128 points and the Cowgirls were seventh with 167 points. … The Cowgirl volleyball team suffered its first losses of the season on Saturday in the Topeka Hayden Invitational. The Cowgirls were 1-2 in pool play, defeating Kansas City Ward 25-16, 25-19 but falling 18-25, 25-22, 25-20 to Silver Lake and 25-16, 25-18 to Topeka Hayden, which put the Cowgirls into the consolation semifinal match where they beat Topeka Hayden 25-14, 25-16, propelling the Cowgirls into the 5th-6th place match against Wichita Carroll where the Cowgirls dropped a 25-23, 25-13 match, leaving them 2-3 on the day. … The Cowboy football team is still searching for its first win of the season after falling to 0-3 on the season this past Friday with a 14-13 loss to Clay Center. The Cowboys will look for that win this Friday night when they play host to Concordia.

Clay Center

The Clay Center cross country teams played host to a meet on Thursday where its boys finished in second place with 70 points and the Lady Tigers finished sixth with 145 points. … The Tiger football team picked up its third straight win on the season and remains undefeated on the year, the only undefeated NCKL team in 2012, with a 14-13 win over Abilene. The Tigers will look to remain undefeated this Friday night when they play at Marysville.

Marysville

The Marysville cross country teams ran at Clay Center on Thursday where the Bulldog boys finished ninth with 244 points while the Marysville girls did not have enough runners to earn a qualifying team score. … The Bulldog football team is still searching for its first win of the 2012 season after falling 47-14 this past Friday night to Chapman. The Bulldogs will look for that first win this Friday when they play host to Clay Center.

Wamego

The Wamego cross country teams ran at Clay Center on Thursday where the Wamego boys won the team crown with 30 points and the Lady Raiders finished second with 75 points. … The Red Raider football team picked up its second NCKL win of the season Friday night with a 32-22 win over Concordia. The Red Raiders, who have a half-game lead over Clay Center in the NCKL standings, will look to keep the winning alive this Friday when they play at Chapman.

Chapman

The Lady Irish tennis team played at Ellsworth on Thursday where they won the team crown with 34 points. … The Chapman cross country teams ran at Clay Center on Thursday where the Chapman boys finished in eighth place with 192 points while the Lady Irish did not have enough runners to earn a qualifying team score. … The Chapman volleyball team got swept in an NCKL affair Thursday evening, falling 25-9, 25-16 and 25-9, 25-20 to Concordia. … The Fighting Irish football team snapped another long losing streak this past Friday night when they picked up their first NCKL victory since 2007 with a 47-14 win over Marysville. The Irish will look to keep the winning alive this Friday night when they play host to Wamego.