OctOber 2012

A magazine focusing on all things sports in northwest Kansas

INK.

With hard runners such as cameron staples, the

trego golden eagles hope to leave their mark on eight-man football

The Hays Daily News

In the mIx

1

2

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What’sup?A look inside

this issue

Volume 2, Issue 8Sports Ink. is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News. Copyright © 2012 Harris Enterprises. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in

part without permission is prohibited. Sports Ink. is a registered trademark of The Hays Daily News, 507 Main, Hays, KS 67601 (785) 628-1081.

Cover illustration by steven Hausler shausler@dailynews.net

sports ink. Contributors: niCk MCQueen nmcqueen@dailynews.net Conor niCHoll cnicholl@dailynews.net everett royer sportsink@dailynews.net

steven Hausler shausler@dailynews.net klint spiller kspiller@dailynews.net

Here we come

6

8

13

‘D’ it upQuinter’s Colton Corwin

has a nose for the football and a mind for

the game.

in the thick of thingsbehind an impressive run game, trego has beCome

relevant among the eight-man ranks.

great resume

Year in and Year out, the ness CitY high sChool Cross

CountrY program turns out state-Caliber runners. The Norton Community High School football team takes the field for its

season opener against Smith Center in late August. The Bluejays came away with a season-opening victory.

STEVEN HAUSLER • Hays Daily News

3

I’ve never understood how athletes do two sports in one season.

Hays High School junior Lane Clark is an example of one of those remarkable athletes.

Clark is a starting center midfielder for the soccer team, and he’s also the kicker for the football team.

Clark has to find ways to split his practice time between the two sports and also keep up with life’s other commit-ments.

It’s even more difficult to be a two-sport athlete at Hays High than other schools.

For soccer and football, Hays High has to travel much longer distances than most to find schools of similar size.

In early September, Clark had to be in McPherson for four days between foot-ball and soccer — nearly a four-hour round trip from Hays.

Clark misses a significant amount of class time, but he said his teachers help out by allowing him to make up work.

While I don’t understand how he keeps up with everything, I think I un-derstand why two-sport athletes do it.

First off, sports are fun, so why wouldn’t you want to participate in as many as possible? Secondly, when you are talented in two different sports, it is probably difficult to choose just one.

Finally, both sports need Clark. Hays High football and soccer are

two teams that could have quite a bit of success this season, and Clark plays a significant position for both teams. At center midfield, Clark serves as a distributer to his teammates, and as a kicker, Clark provides his team with scoring opportunities the Indians wouldn’t have if he wasn’t on the team.

He is a vital member of both teams, so I respect his willingness to stretch himself across two sports for his school’s gain.

However, I am concerned athletes like Clark stretch themselves too thin some-times. Your adolescence only comes once, and you don’t want to waste it.

As a person who juggled multiple responsibilities between school, sports,

student organizations, work and family while I was in high school, I missed many other opportunities for fun.

I believed stoicism was important and I was strong enough to handle it, but I wasn’t. During my senior year, I worked myself so hard that I didn’t have enough time for sleep, and I ended up exhausting myself to the point that I

got sick. While I imagine

Clark is being smarter than I was when I was his age, it’s still something students should take into con-sideration when they take on an additional

sport.Sports are fun, and the bonds of

friendship and lessons you gain from sports will stick with you as long as you live.

But students should take time and seriously contemplate whether the advantages of being a two-sport athlete are worth the costs associated with it.

Spiller

For Starters

Klint

Two sports — too hard?

KLINT SPILLER, Sports InkLane Clark plays both soccer and football for Hays High School this fall.

4

Office: 785.798.2300Cell: 785-798-5341

swiftinc@gbta.netP.O. Box 466,

Ness City, KS 67560

ACIDIZING CEMENT TOOL RENTAL

Alex Delton,

Delton had a stellar debut as the Indians’ starting quarterback, rushing for 102 yards and four touchdowns, and throwing for 78 yards and another score in a 44-43 over-time loss to Junction City on the road. The next week, Delton threw for 144 yards and rushed for 115 in the Indians’ 58-28 win against perennial power McPherson. Delton is the first sophomore to earn the Indians’ starting job in preseason since the 1960s.

Hays High sophomore QB

Who’sThat?

Notable performancesin northwest Kansas

Ethan HamelHamel, a freshman at Stockton High

School, is part of a young group of tal-ented Tigers that started 1-1 this foot-ball season. He also is Stockton’s top

cross country runner. Hamel helped the Tigers defeat Hill City, 22-18, in the first week of the season. The victory ended a 14-game losing streak versus Kansas State High School Activities Associa-tion teams for Stockton. In cross country, Hamel was the team’s top runner and finished seventh in the

season-opening Norton Invitational on Aug. 30. Hamel ran 20 minutes, 14 seconds, just 11 seconds away from fourth. Then, Hamel took fourth at the Stockton meet in 19:51.

Terrell LaneLane, a sophomore running back at Hutchin-

son Commnunity College and a Norton native, broke the Blue Dragon’s school mark for rushing yards in early September.

Helping a 63-49 victory against Garden City Community College, Lane rushed for 308 yards for the No. 14 Blue Dragons and scored on rush-ing touchdowns for 5, 64 and 59 yards. Lane broke a 45-year-old rushing record in Hutchinson set by Mack Herron. Lane finished the night with 350 all-purpose yards and five total TDs.

Kristin HuserHuser, a junior for the Victoria Knights’ vol-

leyball team, helped Victoria to a 8-2 record to start the 2012 season. Huser, in early september, recorded 48 digs, a block, 20 kills, and 15 aces in the Knights’ second-place finish at the Otis-Bison/La Crosse Tournament. The Knights were ranked No. 2 in the Kansas Volleyball Association state rankings in Class 1A Division II as of

Sept. 12.

Got an idea of someone who you think should be included in Who’s That?

Send it to sportsink@dailynews.netwith Who’s that? in the subject line,

or call (800) 657-6017.

Taylor TustinTustin, a Wheatland-Grinnell sophomore cross

country runner, got off to a fast start this season, win-ning at Quinter and Norton. The Thunderhawk, who fin-ished all-state as a freshman in 2011, won her first two races in times of 16 flat and 17:41. Tustin also competed this summer with the Kansas Flyers Track Team and was a member of fourth-place, 3,200-meter relay at the U.S.A. Track and Field National Junior Olympic Championships.

5

the game

W allace County High School coach Kevin Ayers first saw a rare talent in Quinter junior defensive back

Colton Corwin in 2010. That year, Corwin started for more than half the season as a freshman and picked off six passes for a 6-3 Bulldog squad. Corwin ranked second in the country among freshmen in interceptions, regardless of classification, according to maxpreps.com.

“Some kids just have a nose for the football — a knack. It’s an innate ability to read a

quarterback, read a receiver, and he has that,” Ayers said. “You can tell, even when he was young, as a freshman, that he had that knack, and then his physical ability has progressed and grown as he has matured.”

Two falls later, Corwin is arguably the area’s best defensive back as a junior. In the last two seasons, the area has produced mul-tiple players that have played defensive back in the Shrine Bowl, including La Crosse’s Tayler Stull and Marcus Moeder, Thunder Ridge’s Joel Struckhoff, Smith Center’s Truitt

Mind on

FILE PHOTOQuinter’s Colton Corwin was a quarterback before a season-ending injury in 2011. Coming back in 2012, Corwin is one of the better defensive backs in the area.

Page 6 October 2012 SPORTS INK.

Quinter’s Corwin

one of the best on ‘D’

6

the gameKuhlmann and Hill City’s Reggie Jordan.

Statistically-speaking, though, no defen-sive back is as productive on a per-game basis as Corwin, also a starting running back.

“He is an outstanding defensive back,” Ayers said.

Led by his innate sense, Corwin plays the “monster,” or safety, in the Bulldogs’ 3-2 defense, and has put up big numbers for a Bulldog team that is 13-5 when he plays. In 18 career games, Corwin has 163 tackles and 10 interceptions. As well, he has rushed for 917 yards and 15 scores. Bulldog coach Greg Woolf said Corwin “knows the angles.”

“He is a good athlete, he has just kind of got that God-given gift to see what is going on and know how to do it,” Quinter sophomore Jason Werth said.

As a freshman, Corwin took over in the defensive backfield after Justin Roesch suffered an injury. He finished with 57 tackles and the six interceptions, including one returned for a score against Hill City, the eventual Eight-Man Division I state runner-up. Last year, Quinter started off 6-1 and allowed 14.6 points per game.

“Colton is just a ball player out there on that field,” sophomore fullback Brett Crist said. “He just knows where the ball is going to be, and he will be there to pick off that ball and he is one of those players that wants to make a big play just to get the team jacked up.”

However, Corwin, who started at quarter-back last season, suffered a season-ending knee injury in a Week 7 victory against Hoxie. He finished with 78 tackles, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Corwin was the lone Northwest Kansas League sophomore to earn first team de-fensive back. Quinter finished the season 0-3 and allowed 50 points per game in those contests.

“He was kind of the leader of the defense in a way, he is kind of in the middle, picked everything up that we left behind,” Werth said.

This year, the 6-foot, 180-pound Corwin returned healthy and recorded 11 and 17 tackles as Quinter started 1-1.

“That’s the nature of that position,” Quinter defensive coordinator Jeff Ruck-man said. “You want somebody there who can feel and not get caught up in all the criss-cross and can see where the ball is go-ing, and I think Colton really has that.”

After Week 2, Corwin had games with double-digit tackles in his career, including four with at least 16. His career high came in Week 3 of last season when he collected

21 versus Sylvan-Lucas. “He would be a great linebacker,

but it would be such a waste, because you get him back there, he can see everything,” Ruckman said. “… We would lose that ability to pick balls off and run down things.”

Ruckman admits Corwin “isn’t real super fast.” More than any-thing, though, Corwin understands the opponent’s scheme.

“He has got a real good sense,” Ruckman said.

Conor Nicholl, Sports Ink

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the mIxWaKEENEY — In his entire athletic ca-

reer with WaKeeney-Trego Community High School, senior Cameron Staples could not recall an event where his dad

was not on the sidelines or in the crowd.Often his biggest supporter, that’s something Cam-

eron has come to rely on — and uses to drive him. He now knows, though, those aren’t the only set of eyes on him.

A four-year varsity starter for the Trego football team, a varsity wres-tler and golfer, Staples has come to expect people keeping tabs on him — knowing each time out his

actions might come under scrutiny.That thought process drives him to

go all-out every time, leave it all out there, and try his best not to make mistakes or cut corners.

“It just takes one person to do something wrong, and another person can just say “Hey, I can do that, too,’ ” Staples said. “That can start snowballing and go off the deep end.”

Right in

Staples, Trego hope to be in

contention for state playoffs

Page 8 October 2012 SPORTS INK.

story byNick McQueen

photos bySteven Hausler

PAGE 10

8

Sports Ink. October 2012 Page 9

RIGHT: Trego senior running back Cameron Staples has enjoyed a strong finish to 2011, and continued that success in the early portion of 2012. TOP LEFT: Trego coach Myron Flax is in his 15th season at Trego.

9

Senior John Griffith is in his third year as the Golden Eagles’ starting quarterback.

That philosophy also fuels his lead-by-example attitude on the football field, and has helped him enjoy improve-ment in each of his four seasons in the Golden Eagles’ backfield and linebacking corps. In turn, the Eagles are in the middle of a potential turnaround in 2012, due, in part, to Staples’ attitude.

“He’s just one of those kids that is just such a fierce com-petitor, that he never wants any-one to be better than he is,” said 15th year Trego football coach Myron Flax. “He’s going to work hard in the offseason and in practice. He’s not one to take plays off. He does not some-one else to be better.”

In 2011 and at the start of this fall, not many have been better than Staples. Though the Ea-gles finished 3-6, Staples and the Trego offense got things rolling late in the season. After an 0-4 start, the Golden Eagles finished 3-2 in their last five games, highlighted by a 223

yards-per-game average for Sta-ples. In that span, the Eagles averaged nearly 50 points per contest, after averaging 11 in the first four losses.

Staples, who rushed for 95 yards as a freshman when Trego was still in the 11-man ranks, finished with 1,006 and 13 touchdowns as a sopho-

more in the Golden Eagles’ first year of eight-man. Then last season, his stellar final five games helped him finish with 1,537 yards, 22 touchdowns. That included putting up 312 yards and six scores against Hill City in a 76-42 Week 7 rout.

Also, in his first three sea-sons at line-

backer, Staples had 180 total tackles.

“Other than just being a great runner, he’s definitely a leader on this football team,” said Trego quarterback John Grif-fith, in his third year as the starting signal caller, fourth year overall. “He pushes other people and really brings the

“You need that guy that is just a livewire for you.”John GriffithTrego senior

2917 Vine, Hays(785) 625-4830

CamaroEnough said.

10

excitement every team needs.“You need that guy that is just a

livewire for you,” Griffith added.In a 2-0 start to 2012, Staples picked

up right where he left off. In a 70-36 rout of Osborne where Trego trailed at halftime, the senior rushed for 171 yards on 22 carries with three touch-downs. Then in a Week 2 56-8 win against Stockton, Staples posted 303 yards on 23 carries (13.17 average) and four scores.

“His balance on the field is unbeliev-able, and I attribute that to wrestling,” Flax said of Staples. “He’s got good balance and knows about leverage. That’s his biggest attribute as a run-ner.”

Trego in the playoffs?Flax will be the first to admit his

team has quite a ways to go if it wants to be back in contention for a playoff berth. The last time the Golden Eagles finished the regular season with a win-ning record was in 2006. Trego made the playoffs in 2008 with a 4-5 mark out of a three-team 2-1A district. Both of those seasons ended in first-round playoff losses.

Trego has suffered through two 4-5 seasons since 2006, an 0-9 showing in 2009, a 2-7 record in its first year of eight-man in 2010, and 3-6 in 2011.

Flax, who took a season off in 2009, reclaimed the position when the Golden Eagles chose to start playing eight-man.

Like many teams have in the past, Trego is hoping to climb to state

power, following the likes of Osborne (two sub-state championship games), Quinter (state championship in 2009), Hill City (state runner-up in 2010) and Victoria (state champs in 2004, ‘06, and runner-up in ‘08), which have benefitted from playing eight-man.

“The main goals is to win every game, and for many teams, that’s not possible,” Griffith said. “You have to realize that. A big goal for us is to play into November, and just see what hap-pens — try to make a run.”

The 2-0 start and big numbers from its top four skill players in Staples, Griffith, junior fullback Devon Ghumm and ju-nior end Clayton Riedel, might have the faithful excited about this season, but the Golden Eagles are humble enough to know it’s still an uphill battle.

Two weeks ago, Trego was preparing for a stern test in Jetmore-Hodgeman County, a team that clobbered the Eagles 46-12 in Week 2 last season.

Junior fullback Devon Ghumm, right, while paving the way out of the backfield, also has rushed for 264 yards and seven TDs in the first two games this season.

PAGE 12

2917 Vine, Hays(785) 625-4830

CamaroEnough said.

11

“We feel pretty good about where we are at, but we know we still have a lot of work to do,” Flax said after his club started 2-0. “We’re not close to where we need to be yet.”

To make a playoff run, Trego will have to maneuver through what has been touted by some as the toughest district this season in Eight-Man Division I. It starts Friday with the district opener against Hoxie in WaKeeney.

“Two games doesn’t make our season, and we’re going to have to pick up the intensity and the focus, even for this week (against Hodgeman Co.),” Flax said.

“There is not one week on the schedule where we feel we can afford to have a bad game.”

The turnaroundArguably, no team had a better midseason

push than Trego in 2011. Following a Week 4 54-6 beating at the hands of Quinter, Staples said the Golden Eagles really started to come together, the emotions grew — and all of a sudden, they felt like more of a team.

“We were bad at pointing fingers at each other,” Staples said. “We really weren’t

excited about too much until then (Week 5). We had a lot more emotion (from then on).”

Trego still lost two games in the final five, but put up 30 points in one loss and 44 in the other, then closed the season with a 52-6 rout of Sylvan-Lucas to finish 2-3 in district play.

The team used that finish to fuel this offsea-son and start 2-0.

“The coaches have such a great job of push-ing us, and it’s just coming in with a taste of success,” Griffith said. “Then you want to keep getting more and more from that.

“That’s been a big thing. That success we had toward the end of last season has sort of changed the mentality on this team.”

If the Golden Eagles do make the school’s first playoff run in the eight-man ranks, it will be on the backs of its veteran leaders — like Staples, who has accepted one of those roles, even if he doesn’t know it.

“I have always been told that there are peo-ple watching me,” Staples said. “So I’ve always tried to do what’s right — leader or not.”

What’s been right, so far in 2012, is making the most of his opportunities when he gets them in a balanced Trego attack.

“We’re able to get the ball around and ev-eryone is able to play well,” Staples said. “No one person has the team on their back, and everyone’s getting with it — having fun.”

From left, Riedel, Staples and Griffith run through drills at practice prior to their Week 2 game against Stockton earlier this month.

Flax runs drills during practice earlier this month.

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NESS CITY — More than 60 minutes into a grueling workout, a troop of Ness City High School runners

sprinted as fast as they could up a long hill.

With their legs strained and lungs burning, they silenced

the voices in their head scream-ing for them to

stop and con-tinued bat-tling up the hill. Like a field general,

their coach, Patrick Younger, stood at the top of the hill, waved them around the corner and yelled words of encour-agement, such as “A.Y.G., A.Y.G., All you’ve got” and “No other school is doing this.”

When the runners finished, they collapsed on the dirt road. Younger approached his runners, congratulated them and offered them water.

Younger likely was correct in what he said to his runners. Not many other cross country teams in the state are do-ing what Ness City is doing.

Younger basically runs a collegiate training program at a small high school that fluctuates between Class

2A and 1A from year to year.His complex program of high mileage, speed and weights asks for a large commitment from his

runners, but so far, they’ve committed and it’s paid divi-

dends. In his sixth year coaching cross country at Ness City, Younger’s

teams have churned out six state trophies on the girls’ and boys’ sides, including three state championships,

and he’s also been named coach of the year twice by the Kansas Cross Country Track and Field Coaches Association. In his seven years coach-ing track and field, Ness City also has won two state titles on the boys’ side.

A school the size of Ness City typi-cally does not produce talent like the Eagles do from year to year.

On the boys’ side, Younger has had six runners produce times in the low 17s or faster in the 5,000-meter race. Many programs are fortunate in that time to have just one runner that fast, let alone six.

While Younger’s teams have been blessed with talent, his runners be-lieve its his training regimen that has had a large impact on what Ness City has produced.

“It’s a pretty intense program, but I think it pays off,” Ness City senior Wyatt Beckman said.

Younger’s program revolves around an optional intense summer running program. Runners can choose to put in high mileage, so they have a base for the season.

The amount varies based upon the run-ner.

NOT A WALK IN THE PARKDemanding program in Ness City

Ness City runners participate in one of the Eagles’ practices earlier this month near Ness City.

Junior Dallas WinterPAGE 14

13

Less fit runners don’t go as far, but the boys’ top runner, Beckman, said it wasn’t uncommon to run 60 miles a week. He said the highest mileage he reached was 90 miles in one week.

During the summer, Ness City meets up as many as five times a week and goes for runs.

“That’s been the big key with Wyatt and Dray (Carson),” Younger said about his top two runners on the boys’ side, who run in the low 17s to high 16s. “They always put in a decent sum-mer, and you can kind of see the way they’ve progressed.”

“You can still be good without put-ting in a decent summer, but if you want to be one of the best in your class, putting in a summer is crucial,” Younger added.

To bring the teams together, the run-ners go to Younger’s parents’ home in Kansas City, Mo., for a week-long run-ning camp in the middle of July where they train with Younger’s alma mater, Staley High School, and former coach, Todd Warner.

“We bond,” Younger said. “It’s amaz-ing how close they get from that week, and they are excited for the season to start.”

During the school year, Ness City has

a six-day training program. Mondays typically are mileage. Tues-

days are speed. Wednesdays are recov-ery days, with a less intense workout. Thursdays are high-intensity training, and Fridays are pre-meet workouts for Saturday meets.

“I think our (training program) is pretty tough,” junior Taylor Gabel said. “Our coach pushes us to do our best and makes us go hard in practice so it’s easy during the races.”

Ness City also usually has two-a-days once a week, and they finish their workouts three times a week with dumbbell weights workouts.

“It adds up pretty quick,” junior Dray Carson said.

Younger establishes themes for his workouts based on what he thinks his team needs.

On a Thursday early in September, Ness City logged a 60-minute workout that ended with hills training after-ward.

With that workout, Younger wanted to emphasize mental toughness, strength and endurance.

The runners did a fartlek workout for 60 minutes where they ran hard for 30 seconds and jogged for 30 seconds. For instance, during the hard portions,

KLINT SPILLER, Sports Ink.Ness City coach Patrick Younger (in blue) runs with his team during a practice outside of Ness City earlier this month.

Ness City senior Wyatt

Beckman won the

Monarch Invitational

in a time of 16:57 in early

September in Hays.

Page 14 October 2012 SPORTS INK.

14

Beckman and fellow speedster, junior Dray Carson, would outrun their teammates, but on the low-intensity portions, they would circle back, allowing the slower runners to stick with them.

Younger said many of his workouts revolve around running together. Keeping the team together encourages the slower runners to stick with the workout.

“During our workouts, we compete kind of against each other, but then we work together and push each other,” sophomore Ashley Moore said. “Younger, he wants you to push yourself and keep going. It’s a lot of hard work.”

This is important, because with cross country, seven runners compete on varsity with five counting towards the team score. Therefore, everyone’s performance is valu-able — not just the top runners.

Ness City freshman Addie Beutler said it helps to stay together.

“I was behind more today,” Beutler said. “I wasn’t feeling good, and it really does help you out a lot when they do come back. That way they are not way up there.”

Through all of these workouts, Younger is like a general. His voice booms as he explains his team’s workout, and like a good field general, he goes to war with his run-ners, performing the workouts with them.

Younger doesn’t just tell his runners what to do. He shows them and is an example of what his workouts produce.

Younger’s personality while coaching is in-tense. It’s not uncommon for him to sprint

to different portions of races and scream for his runners to go faster, but he also keeps the mood light and filled with humor.

“We absolutely hate (the workouts),” Beutler said. “They drive you crazy, but you smile after. There’s always something in

practice that makes you laugh. No one has coaches like ours.”

Younger ran at Highland Community College after high school and transferred to Fort Hays State University where he ran for Jim Krob.

His program is designed to prepare run-ners for collegiate running.

“I tell them if you are planning on running in college or not running in college, regard-less, you will be prepared to run in college,” Younger said.

His cross country program has been ex-tremely successful so far, but not every year has resulted in hardware.

In fact, neither team qualified for state in 2011. It was the first time that’s happened in Younger’s tenure.

They narrowly missed qualifying, but it was still a disappointment. However, Younger said his team is using last season’s experience for fuel this season.

“Last year was probably good for us,” Younger said. “I was just as bummed (as anyone else), but looking back to where we are at this point this season to where we were at this point last season, we are so much father ahead. I think a lot of that is from motivation from not qualifying the boys or girls last year.”

With the blend of talent and training Ness City has combined this summer and fall, the Eagles will attempt to return to their former glory and earn some state hardware Oct. 27 at Wamego.

Klint Spiller, Sports Ink.

The Eagles’ Jessie Rubottom was second in the Monarch Invitational behind TMP standout Heather Ruder.

15

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ON

with Nick McQueen

Just a Minute

Sammy Watkins

Joseph Randall

Jordy Nelson

Dalton Miller

Teammate

Lucas MelvinCoach

John RisewickTeammate

What professional or college player does he remind you of most?

Bugs Bunny — He just has a good

time

The Roadrunner

Johnny Bravo — he’s just

funny

What cartoon character do you think he is most like?

Just something energetic

“Nobody worry about

me”

“300 Violin orchestra”

If a song played every time he took the field by himself, what would it

be?

Dodge Viper — Fast and powerful

Trans AmHe has an

S-10, but he’s a Ferrari

What kind of car do you think best describes him?

Big Bad Brooks

BasherRight-hand

Smash

If he became a pro wrestler, what would his ring name be?

Ping Pong

Talking Fishing

Name one talent (outside of sports) you think he could win an award for.

BrooksNorton High School senior

Jacob

Page 16 October 2012 SPORTS INK.

Q: After two games, two wins, you feel pretty good about the potential season you guys could have?

A: We’re feeling good. We just have to keep focused and just take it one game at a time.

Q: Norton has always seemed to crank out good running backs. What’s the secret up there?

A; We just work hard, I guess. We have some of the best coaches in the state. They’re great to work with. Mr. Melvin would do anything for us.

Q: What are your thoughts about some of the changes taking place in the MCL coming by 2014?

A: I think it’s for the better. It will make for some more competition in the league. Get some bigger schools in there, might lead to better competition and possibly a little more recognition for the league.

Q: What makes Norton such a tough place to play?

A: Our field is just dug into the ground. The stands built into the hill are full. The fans fill it up — it’s loud.

Q: Outside of Norton, where do you feel are some of the toughest places to go try and win?

A: For us, Ellis is a hard place, plus Phillipsburg and Smith Center. Those are tough. Smith Center and Phil-lipsburg, just because of the rivalry. Ellis, I don’t know — we just have always had a tough time there.

Q: Look ahead to basketball season, what are your expectations?

A: Hopefully, we can continue to win during football season, and that will carry over to the basketball sea-son. Feel pretty good.

Q: Have you made any big decisions yet as far as athletics in college?

A: I want to play college football. That’s the main goal. If I can’t get an offer in football, I might be able to switch to track. The only thing right now is to play college football — haven’t picked a school or anything.

Q: What is your most memorable game you’ve been a part of so far with Norton?

A: Sophomore year — traveled to Phillipsburg for the last district game. Won the district, the league — great game.

Q: Outside of athletics, what do you do for fun up there in Norton?

A: Love hanging out with family and friends. We like to golf. Right now, after practice, we’ll sometimes go out and shoot some doves. That’s good for me.

Q: Do you have any favorite athletes or teams you follow closely?

A: I like the Chiefs, and I love KU basketball. When I was a little kid, I turned on the TV and Texas was play-ing — seemed to love them ever since.

Q: Have you made up your mind about any career possibilities or what you’d like to do?

A: I want to go into athletic training. I love competing, and I would just like to stay around it. I’ve always been around it, and I would like to continue to be around it — help some others out after I’m done playing.

Q: Give me your prediction, what two teams will be playing in the national title game?

A: USC and Alabama.

16

A spattering from NW Kansas

Ink. BLOTSVictoria has started strong again in

volleyball with an 8-2 record after a second-place finish in the Otis-Bison tour-nament Sept. 8. The Knights had a great season last year, but narrowly missed the state tournament under veteran coach Deb-bie Bottorf. Then, the Knights ended a long drought without a state appearance in girls’ basketball and qualified for the Class 1A Division II tournament. This fall, Victoria could end a long skid with no state tourna-ment appearances in volleyball. Bottorf, in her 14th season, has never made a state tournament appearance in volleyball.

C.N.

Perhaps the most competitive football team in the past two-plus seasons to

not get a postseason berth is the Hoxie Indians. They are probably the unluckiest team as well. For one reason or another, namely injuries, Hoxie has been held out of the postseason, despite going 13-7 (includ-ing two games this season) since 2010. The injury bug bit the Indians again in a Week 2 contest against Wallace County. Two big plays caused the Indians to face a 14-0 hole. On the first, Wallace County quarterback Gavin Mote bounced one to the outside for a big gain that set up an eventual touchdown. Hoxie was missing a starting linebacker that might have been in a little better position to make the play. The same could be said for a botched punt by the Wildcats, where Wallace County’s Eli Kuhlmann found a crease, broke two tackles and ended up with a 44-yard gain, setting up a 14-0 Wildcat lead. Hoxie also has had the unlucky draw of a tough district each of the last two seasons. Surprise, surprise, the Indians are part of what some call the most competitive in Division I again. It starts Friday with a matchup against Trego.

- N.M.

Very rarely are blowouts in football intriguing, but occasionally, you get a

glimpse at true talent and budding super-stars as they come in to relieve the starters. As a sophomore, David Cardinal was used sparingly but more heavily during blowouts. Right away, I could tell he was going to be something special. At the time, I thought

he might have been the best runner on the team, despite being just a sophomore, and he dominated as junior, running over teams and earning WAC Player of the Year honors. I felt the same way when I saw Hays High quarterback Alex Delton play as a freshman last season. His combination of intelli-gence, athleticism and throwing ability was evident — even in limited playing time. As a sophomore, he stepped in and played great the first two weeks of the season, rushing for more than 100 yards in each of his first two games and completing 57 percent of his passes for 213 yards. With three seasons to develop, Delton could be the next superstar for Hays High. In fact, he might be already.

- K.S.

A factor I have found interesting during the course of my time here

is the amount of student-athletes who have become good friends with others

from neighboring or sometimes even rival communities. Often times while conducting interviews, we will uncover friendships or even dating relationships we would have never though imagin-able. When I was in high school so many years ago, those types of bonds started to form. Those bonds are much closer now because of the work these kids put in during the summer-time. More so now than ever, high school students who want to improve their skills are part of summer teams and countless summer activities and camps, and those connections are being made. It really creates a mutual respect among competing programs. You really start to notice that respect when they take field, and it shows up again while talking to them. Dare I say..… sometimes, I wish some parents out there could get the hint.

N.M.

Sports Ink. October 2012 Page 17

STEVEN HAUSLER, Sports InkHoxie High School quarterback Chase Kennedy, center, listens to his coach during a timeout in their game against Wallace County in early September in Sharon Springs.

17

Now I’ve seen everything. OK, not really — but I’m getting closer. I’ve

been travelling to towns throughout west-ern Kansas for 12 years on the job.

One thing that always amazes me is the experiences you can find in towns with populations not even large enough to fill the lower level at Hays’ Gross Me-morial Coliseum.

Whether it’s sam-pling some of the fine meals you can get at numerous local joints, or the sights you see along the way, a trip on Friday night can give you a full taste of the de-lights waiting for you in our neck of the woods — or plains.

It’s often been told to me no matter how many times you visit a place, there always is something new to see — or do.

Not that the size of the town had anything to do with such an experience on a trip west to Sharon Springs in early September, but it certainly will go down as a top moment.

Prior to the start of the Wallace County football game against Hoxie, staff mem-bers were frantically working to get the scoreboard working in the southwest corner of the end zone. But, game time rolled

around, and no such luck. Despite the glitches, though, the show

must go on. And, so it did. With no visible clock

on the scoreboard, the defensive battle (20-6 win for the home team) was hand-timed on the field by the officials — thus introducing the four-minute warning to

football. Instead of waiting for the two-minute

warning (as done in the pros), officials gave each sideline an extra two minutes to prepare for their final push — confus-ing, to say the least.

It was not, by any means, an ideal view-ing experience for the fans in attendance. And, it was probably a headache for those involved trying to run a smooth opera-tion.

But, the whole time this was happen-ing, I was thinking how cool it was to not have a visible time — nor a lit up score.

It was just two teams —16 guys on the field, a few coaches and one goal. It’s all about having fun. No pressure, no limits.

This game had a true backyard, play-ground feel, an experience you probably won’t see too often.

Maybe next time, the lights will go out. Football by headlights anyone?

McQUEEN

The Closer

nick

STEVEN HAUSLER, Sports InkWallace County and Hoxie High Schools battle on the field during an eight-man game earlier this month in Sharon Springs.

A four-minute warning?

Page 18 October 2012 SPORTS INK.

18

19

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(High school is only 4 years of their life)