Football notes: Heights QB won’t play at Dodge City
Heights senior quarterback Chris Reed will not play in Friday’s football game at Dodge City, according to coach Rick Wheeler.
Wheeler did not disclose the reason and would not say if Reed would return in future games. Junior Forlanda Parker (5-foot-6, 160 pounds) will start in Reed’s place.
Reed has a team-high 238 rushing yards, averaging 10.4 yards per carry, and has thrown for 112 yards for the Falcons (1-1).
Familiarity — Scott Vang is in his first season as Goddard’s football coach, but he already has a unique relationship with many Lions players.
He’s coaching sons Jake, a senior; Luke, a freshman; and two nephews, Tucker, a junior; and Tate, a freshman.
“I knew a lot of the players from little league, so I kind of stepped back into a situation where I knew what to expect,” Vang said. “They know how I operate and how I feel about things.”
Goddard is 2-0, matching its total number of wins from 2011, and plays at Andover Central (1-1) tonight. The Lions are in their first season after they split with Eisenhower, which opened in 2011 but started playing football this fall.
“I’ve been through three different coaching staffs,” Goddard senior noseguard Mason Swann said. “This is one of the better ones. The coaches are more interactive with us.”
Vang loves the storylines on this team.
“We have all kinds of kids that came out of the woodwork,” Vang said. “We recruited kids in the hallway, and I’m sure that the kids did, as well…. We’re in a unique situation with a kind of network, and it’s working out good for us.”
Hutch’s test — Hutchinson, the state’s top-ranked team, returned all its defensive starters from 2011’s team that won the Class 5A title.
But in a win over Campus last week, five of those defensive players were out with injuries, including three-year starting safety Tanner Higgins, who hurt his shoulder in the first play of the Sept. 7 game.
The Salthawks’ starting fullback, Tyvon Brown, who led the team with 144 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the first two games, is no longer on the team.
With Hutchinson playing host to Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst tonight, losing such players could be a concern. But Hutchinson coach Randy Dreiling is perpetually confident in his team.
“We don’t make any excuses,” Dreiling said. “We play with what we’ve got. It’s how we’ve always done it. We have enough guys in the program, they’ll step up when it’s their time. We’re able to get guys on the field. I like the way they’ve been playing, although it will be a little tougher against Rockhurst…. We’ve got good kids and pretty good chemistry.”
Hutchinson’s offense starts with quarterback Trevor Turner, who has 79 rushing yards and 244 passing. The Salthawks will continue to focus on the run without Brown. There’s not a single back who has dominated for Hutchinson, with eight players gaining 42 or more yards.
“That’s the way we’re doing things this year,” Dreiling said. “We don’t have that one guy. It’s a curse, but it’s a blessing. Everyone else gets involved and it’s tougher to key on them.”
Buhler’s tough start — Buhler opened the season with Rose Hill, beating the defending Class 4A champion 26-21, then went to Collegiate and rallied to win 28-21.
That would be a tough start for any team, but now the Crusaders take on Mulvane (2-0) and then will play at McPherson on Sept. 21. Rose Hill, Collegiate and McPherson have all been ranked in 4A this season.
“In years past, we haven’t had a tough schedule,” Buhler coach Steve Warner said. “It will make us better. It helps coaches. We’ve had to stay on our toes. When you get way ahead, play-calling is real easy, so we have to be on top of play-calling every play.”
Buhler’s defense will have quite the test against Mulvane, which has scored 98 points and put up more than 600 yards Sept. 7 against Augusta.
“Their offensive is very dynamic,” Warner said. “… We’re going to have to have long, sustained drives to keep the ball out of their hands.”
The key to those long drives is running back Riley Allen, a 6-foot, 170-pound junior with track speed. He has 474 rushing yards, averaging nearly eight yards.
No surprise — Southeast had the surprise win of Week 2, beating Kapaun Mount Carmel 24-0, but Buffaloes coach Chris Asmussen said it wasn’t unexpected.
“It’s one of those wins that, inside our program, we knew we could win it,” he said. “We knew we should win it.”
Lineman Dominique Kelly, who is more than 400 pounds, has been a force on the line.
“He’s a big kid and he’s tall,” Asmussen said. “He doesn’t just have the big gut. He has big shoulders, big neck. He’s built more like a football player.”
Running backs Larenz Moore and William Young have also been tough to stop because of their ability to run outside or up the middle. Both average nearly five yards per carry.