Louisburg’s Haley Cain (left) and Anna Dixon team up for a block Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ league dual with Paola at Paola High School. Louisburg improved its record to 21-6 with a 3-1 win. 

PAOLA – Focus and energy wasn’t a problem for the Louisburg High School volleyball team Tuesday as rival Paola had its full attention.

The Lady Cats, the No. 2 ranked team in Class 4A-Division 1, traveled to Paola for a Frontier League dual and they put all that energy to good use as they jumped out to a quick 25-17 win in the first set. Although that focus might have gone away a little after falling in the second set 21-25, Louisburg responded with a convincing 25-12 and 25-15 victory in the final two sets to win the match, 3-1.

“They were pumped,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “It is always a good rivalry between Louisburg and Paola every time we play. The girls were excited and ready for the match. I think in that second set our energy level went down a little bit because we used a lot of that adrenaline early on and we made a few more mistakes. But overall I thought we played well.”

Paola didn’t have much of an answer for Louisburg’s Anna Dixon as she caused havoc at the net for the Panthers. Dixon, a 6-foot-2 junior, put away a team-high 20 kills to lead the Lady Cats.

Sophomore Haley Cain also had a big night with 10 kills and senior Sophie McMullen added nine in the win.

A lot of those kills were thanks to junior setter Carson Buffington as she tallied 36 assists on the evening.

“Anna swung well on the outside and she and Carson are really starting to connect,” Compliment said. “Carson is starting to connect well the hitters across the board, and with that happening, she is starting to get more confidence. Anna, and others like Sophie and Haley, really had some nice hits.”

Louisburg (21-6) also did some damage from behind the service line as the Lady Cats recorded 15 aces in the four sets. McMullen and Cain both led Louisburg with four aces, while Buffington, Dixon and libero Riley Kallevig each added two.

“The girls served really well and were a lot more aggressive,” Compliment said. “Carson and Riley both stepped up and served well and did well on their spot serves.”

Senior Mikayla Quinn goes up for a kill Tuesday against Paola.

Defensively, McMullen was busy as she recorded 21 digs on the night and Dixon finished with 11 from her all-around spot. Kallevig added nine digs in the victory.

The Lady Cats got off to a good start as they ended the first set on a 12-3 run to go up 1-0 and then staked themselves a 16-13 lead in the second before Paola stormed back and went on a 12-5 run of its own to tie the match.

In a pivotal third set, Louisburg made sure the match wasn’t going to be in doubt. The Lady Cats took leads of 10-3 and 20-8 to win the third set easily and did much of the same in the fourth.

“One of the thing we have been working on is just finishing things and coming out with an attitude of going after every point,” Compliment said. “I thought the girls did a good job of that, especially after the second set.”

Louisburg will have the rest of the week off before it hosts Spring Hill on Tuesday for another Frontier League dual.

The Louisburg High School girls cross country team won the Ramsey Invitational on Thursday at Prairie View High School. Members of the team are (from left) Carlee Gassman, Kaitlyn Lewer, Reilly Alexander, Isabelle Holtzen, Payton Shaffer, Emily Williams and Trinity Moore.

LA CYGNE – It was a gold medal performance type of day for the Louisburg High School cross country team.

Not only did the Wildcats sweep the individual crowns Thursday at the Ramsey Invitational at Prairie View High School, but the Lady Cats also won the team title for the first time this season and captured the Prairie View crown for the third consecutive year.

Sophomore Trinity Moore won the girls race with a personal best time, while senior Tim Smith took first place on the boys’ side by more than 20 seconds. Between the boys and girls teams, the Wildcats medaled seven runners in all.

“To watch Trinity and Tim both work through the race, make moves on the leader and then put distance on them and keep running their race was just outstanding,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “It is something we talk about in practice, about pulling away and taking the energy away from people and it was just all positive.

“The girls team worked really well together, especially early in the race. Even though they got a little separated, they kept working and we put seven runners in the top 20. When you do that, you win races.”

The Louisburg girls team of Moore, Carlee Gassman, Kaitlyn Lewer, Isabelle Holtzen, Reilly Alexander, Payton Shaffer and Emily Williams ran away with the title with 44 points. Anderson County was second with 53.

As for Moore, she trailed Jayhawk-Linn’s Kate Dawson through half of the race before she made her move and pulled away in a time of 20 minutes and 36 seconds to win her first competition of the season.

“It is amazing,” Moore said. “I had to work really hard because there was a lot of competition in this race. I just kept my form and I had a drive to go past (Dawson). I just had the mentality to keep going and I really wanted to win.”

Gassman, a sophomore, had her best finish of the season as she medaled fourth in 22:56. Lewer, a junior, finished 11^th overall in 23:50.

Louisburg junior Kaitlyn Lewer stays ahead of a pack of runners Thursday during the Ramsey Invitational at Prairie View High School.

Holtzen (23:59) and Alexander (24:27), both seniors, also earned medals with their 13^th and 15^th place finish, respectively.

“I think Trinity ran her race in the first mile and she was patient and the girls came back to her,” Reece said. “When Trinity made her move and closed the gap, she fed off of (Dawson). It was Trinity’s race to have.

“Carlee’s race was outstanding. She probably went out a little fast as she wants to run right with Trinity, but she is learning as well and she has big races in her as we get through the end of the season. It is going to happen.”

Shaffer (24:42) and Williams (25:04) rounded out the Louisburg girls in 16^th and 19^th place.

Smith had his best day of the season for the Louisburg boys as he literally ran away with the boys’ race in 17:42 and won by 23 seconds – his first victory of the season. He passed Anderson County’s Owen Lutz and Central Heights’ Tyler Stevenson close to the midway point of the race and pulled away.

“Honestly, it was a really fun race for me,” Smith said. “A lot of people went out fast in the first mile and I just kind of stuck with them and trailed just a little bit. In about the second mile, I was able to pass the guy who was in first and he drifted. Overall, it was an awesome race for me and I am really proud of the girls too.”

Smith wasn’t the only positive for the Wildcats as senior Wyatt Reece earned a medal and finished fourth in 18:17. Those two results, along with sophomore Evan Murphy and freshmen Cade Holtzen and Carson Houchen, helped the Louisburg boys team to a third place finish with 86 points.

Louisburg’s (from left) Tim Smith, Cade Holtzen, Evan Murphy, Wyatt Reece and Carson Houchen pose with their third place team medals.

Murphy finished 22^nd overall in 20:37 and Holtzen was 25^th in 20:41. Houchen rounded out the Wildcat lineup in 34^th in 21:13.

“Tim ran great, especially on a hot, humid day,” coach Reece said. “He ran just like Trinity. Wyatt started off strong, but he cramped up a little bit after the first mile, but it was able to loosen up and he was able to get back in the race. He ran a good race too. We look at last year’s times, and they both ran faster and Wyatt was almost 20 seconds faster. Our sophomore and freshmen boys ran good races and for them to take third as team is just fantastic. They are super excited.”

The Wildcat junior varsity also left Prairie View with a few medals. Abby Crooks took fourth overall in the girls race in 26:59. Teammates Shaylor Whitham (27:08) and Kennady Wilkerson (27:16) medaled in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Louisburg will try and use that momentum for another good finish this Thursday when they travel to the Pittsburg Invitational.

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week four of the fall sports season, sponsored by Louisburg Chiropractic Office and Dr. Damon Dennis.

DESMOND DOLES, FOOTBALL, SENIOR

Louisburg junior Brayden Gage outruns the Eudora defense for a big gain Friday at Eudora High School. The Wildcats got a late touchdown to pull out a 14-7 victory and they are now 3-1 on the season.

EUDORA – In a tie game with 17 seconds left in regulation, Louisburg’s Desmond Doles broke the huddle with his Wildcat teammates.

As he lined up on the outside, Doles kept hearing the words of his coach, Robert Ebenstein, over and over again in his mind.

“Coach just told me to calm down, catch the ball and use my big strides to get into the endzone,” Doles said.

Doles did exactly that.

He caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Madden Rutherford and gave the Wildcats a 14-7 win over Eudora on Friday at Eudora High School. It was the second time Doles connected with Rutherford for a score.

“They had nine in the box sometimes with cover 1 over the receivers and you have to make to those plays and Desmond made them,” Ebenstein said. “Madden put the ball where it needed to go, and that is what you hope for when you play in this offense. You hope for 1-on-1’s and winning those matchups and we won two.”

The game-winning score brought a lot of joy to the Wildcat sidelines, but a little relief as well as Louisburg overcame three turnovers and two blocked punts to pull out a big road win that pushed its record to 3-1 on the season.

Desmond Doles (left) celebrates with teammate Garrett Lowry after Doles scored the game-winning touchdown in the Wildcats’ 14-7 victory.

On two different occasions, the Wildcats had a chance to put some distance between themselves and Eudora, but fumbled twice inside the redzone and another time while trying to receive a punt.

Still, the Wildcats fought through all that and came up with big stops on defense, including late in the fourth quarter when they forced Eudora to punt deep in their own territory to set up the game-winning score.

“At times it looked we were trying to give it away,” Ebenstein said. “We turned it over twice inside our 10, we had two blocked punts and we had another punt go off our helmet. For our kids to come together in the fourth quarter, move the ball and then stop them – I am proud of them for that. We are in week four, so we aren’t young anymore, but I am proud of the growth they are showing. For a young team to buckle down and make those plays, those are signs of good things to come.”

Louisburg began the contest on a strong note as Rutherford connected with Doles on a slant pass and turned it into a 40-yard touchdown early in the first quarter. As good as the opening drive was, the Wildcats struggled to get going offensively for much of the first half.

Defensively, however, the Wildcats were stingy and held Eudora out of the endzone until late in the second quarter. Louisburg fumbled the snap on a punt and Eudora recovered to take the ball on the Wildcat 20-yard line.

With 48 seconds left in the first half, Eudora quarterback Alex Brown found Elijah Kennedy for a 17-yard touchdown pass and the game was tied at 7-all at halftime.

Eudora’s defense continued to make it hard on the Wildcat offense in the second half. The Cardinals played with nine players in the box at times, and made it difficult on the Wildcat running attack. Still, Austin Moore reeled off some big runs for the Wildcats as he finished 97 yards on the ground on 21 carries.

Quarterback Madden Rutherford hits an open receiver thanks to protection from lineman Brayden White (left) and running back Austin Moore.

“On film this year, they have only shown a 4-3, and in the past they have always been a 4-3 defense, but they came out in a 3-man front, with two outside backers and two safeties over the top and it surprised us a little,” Ebenstein said. “I knew they were going to be ready to go and coach (Phil) Katzenmeier has them ready to go, and well-coached teams like that are tough to beat.”

The Louisburg defense made it tough on Eudora as well. The Wildcats forced four turnovers as Garrett Harding, Kohl Vogel and Will Ridley each recovered a fumble and Blue Caplinger intercepted a pass early in the third quarter.

Doles was also active defensively as he recorded a team-high 11 tackles, while fellow defensive back Christian Tosterud had nine tackles and a forced fumble. Lineman Garrett Lowry added seven stops on the night.

Junior Noah Larson brings down Eudora quarterback Alex Brown for a loss Friday in Eudora.

Late in the fourth quarter, Louisburg put one of its best drives together offensively as it moved the ball down to the 1-yard line with under four minutes left in the contest, but fumbled the snap.

The Wildcat defense held once again and forced a Eudora punt, which led to the game-winning drive and Doles’ touchdown catch.

“Coach just said that it was going to be a backside hitch and that I needed to catch it,” Doles said. “That has been a big emphasis for me because I have dropped some of those in the past.

“It was a very good win. We needed a good bounce back win after what happened last week. When it came down to it, we did our best and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Louisburg will try and make it two in a row this Friday when it travels to Baldwin. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

LOU               7             0             0             7 – 14

EUD               0             7             0             0 – 7

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

L: Desmond Doles 40 pass from Madden Rutherford (Drake Varns kick)

Second quarter

E: Elijah Kennedy 17 pass from Alex Brown (Kick good)

Fourth quarter

L: Doles 11 pass from Rutherford (Varns kick)

STATISTICS

RUSHING – Austin Moore 26-97; Madden Rutherford 11-25. Totals: 37-122

PASSING – Madden Rutherford 6-14-137-2

RECEIVING – Brayden Gage 2-68; Desmond Doles 2-51; Austin Moore 2-18

TACKLES – Desmond Doles 11, Christian Tosterud 9, Garrett Lowry 7, Mitchell Drew 5, Blue Caplinger 4, Austin Moore 4, Kiefer Tucker 4, Garrett Harding 4, Noah Larson 4, Will Ridley 3, Brayden Gage 2, Kohl Vogel 1, Michael Waldron 1.

The Kansas High School Activities Association released the classifications for the 2017-18 season on Tuesday morning, and for Louisburg High School, much remains the same.

The Wildcats are currently a Class 4A-Division I program with 532 students, but after this season the classification system will change. Class 4A will get rid of the divisions and 4A will have just 36 schools. Louisburg is still expected to be in 4A for the foreseeable future.

However, several schools across the state made classification changes.

Arkansas City and Sumner Academy dropped from Class 5A to 4A for the upcoming season, while Galena, Hugoton and Marysville all moved up to 4A. Maize South jumped from 4A to 5A.

Colby , Goodland, Scott City and Haven all dropped from 4A to 3A schools, while McLouth moved up from 2A to 3A.

Hays is currently the largest 4A school with 791 students, followed by Sumner Academy (782), Andover Central (764), Bonner Springs (762) and Arkansas City (757).

Sub-state and regional assignments for the fall season will be released in the coming days.

High school football fans across Kansas got a new look at the football classifications when the Kansas High School Activities Association released them Tuesday morning.

Those fans also got to look at what the new classification system will look like. As it pertains to Louisburg, Class 4A will only have 32 schools for the next two years in football, compared to 48 teams this season and will mirror the Class 6A and 5A playoff format.

Louisburg announced an enrollment of 407 students, while the largest school in 4A is Pittsburg with 618 students and moved down from Class 5A. Goddard also moved down from 5A to 4A and has an enrollment of 613.

Area schools, such as Osawatomie and Prairie View, made a big move thanks to the new classification system as both programs dropped down to 3A.

Bishop Miege, which has won the last three state championships, is also still a 4A school with 524 students.

Louisburg senior Sophie McMullen goes up for a kill Saturday during the Lady Cats’ match with Olathe North at the Louisburg Invitational. The Lady Cats finished in fifth place overall with a 4-1 record.

In most tournaments, going 4-1 and knocking off a pair of state-ranked teams in the process, usually means your team is going to leave with some sort of hardware.

The Louisburg High School volleyball team did just that – well, everything but the hardware part anyway.

The Lady Cats’ lone loss in the Louisburg Invitational on Saturday came in pool play and two other teams in their pool finished with a 2-1 record. Louisburg fell to Shawnee Mission West in two sets, but beat Leavenworth in two and knocked off state-ranked Olathe North in three sets.

The top two teams in each pool moved on to the championship bracket, but Louisburg wasn’t one of those as it lost the tiebreaker and were sent to compete in the consolation bracket at Louisburg Middle School.

Louisburg, the No. 3 team in Class 4A-Division I, didn’t let that get it down as it won its final two matches of the day to finish in fifth place, including a win over No. 2 Basehor-Linwood in the fifth-place match. Despite the good record and big victories, the Lady Cats wanted more.

“The moral of the story is every match and every single set is important,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “It may have been a different story had we beaten Olathe North in two, or if we beat Shawnee Mission West. Every game, every set and every match is important and you can’t take them for granted. Losing that match to Shawnee Mission West, or losing a set to Olathe North is what pushed us into the bottom half of the bracket, going 4-1 and ending in fifth place.”

Pool play started well for the Lady Cats as they opened with a 25-21 and 25-21 win over Leavenworth, but Louisburg saw its one setback happen in its next match. Shawnee Mission West knocked off Louisburg 25-20 and 25-21 that forced a must-win match-up against Olathe North, the No. 4 team in Class 6A, in its final pool play contest.

The Lady Cats (20-6) rallied from behind in the third set against Olathe North to win 25-19, 20-25 and 25-23. Louisburg opened that third set with an 8-2 lead, only to see North go on a 9-0 run to grab an 11-8 advantage.

(From left): Carson Buffington, Sophie McMullen, Haley Cain, Reilly Ratliff-Becher and Anna Dixon celebrate a big point Saturday against Olathe North.

Olathe North led 15-9, but the Lady Cats went on a 7-1 run to tie it at 16-all. Louisburg then came back again from a 19-16 deficit to go up 22-20 and eventually hold on to win.

Junior Anna Dixon and senior Sophie McMullen gave the Lady Cats a big boost when they needed it the most. Dixon had a team-high 14 kills to go along with 12 digs, while McMullen was all over the place on defense with 21 digs and also had 12 kills to go along with a team-best six aces.

“We got down several times where we had to battle back,” Compliment said. “The Olathe North match was a tough one and they are a good team and for them to come and win that third set was good. They showed their confidence, they were aggressive and they didn’t pull back. That is what is frustrating sometimes is that we play our best against certain teams and other teams we relax and don’t play as well.”

The victory gave the Lady Cats a 2-1 record in pool play and finished in a three-way tie for first. Louisburg lost the tiebreaker based on set percentage and were sent to the consolation bracket.

It was there Louisburg opened bracket play with a 25-19 and 25-15 win over Fort Scott and then exacted some revenge in its fifth-place match with Basehor-Linwood. The Lady Cats had lost to Basehor twice already this season, but came through this time with a 25-20 and 26-24 win.

Once again, the Lady Cats had to come from behind and did so with a big comeback in the second set. Louisburg found itself down 22-14, before finishing the match on a 12-2 run.

“I talk to the girls a lot about finishing the match, or finishing the set and don’t sit back and think it is going to happen,” Compliment said. “To see them come from behind and beat Basehor, a team that has beaten us twice already this year, was big. We were down eight points at one time and that was great to see them battle back and not give up.

Mikayla Quinn (left) and Anna Dixon rise up for a block Saturday during the Louisburg Invitational.

“They were disappointed that they had to come over to the middle school. At the same time, we finished 4-1, and yeah we lost to Shawnee Mission West, who we had beaten previously earlier in the year. We didn’t start out well and we didn’t play with a lot of urgency. But for them to get four wins, especially against Olathe North and Basehor-Linwood, those are big confidence victories for the rest of the year. Losing that tiebreaker taught our girls that every set is important. I have seen teams go 2-1 in pool play out at state and have gone home. You can’t take anything for granted.”

Dixon had a big day at the net for the Lady Cats as she had a team-high 59 kills and nine blocks to go along with 54 digs.

McMullen recorded a team-best 10 aces and added to 39 kills and 38 digs to her stat line.

Junior setter Carson Buffington ran the offense well for the Lady Cats with 118 assists and defensively had 24 digs. Sophomore Haley Cain had 21 kills and four blocks, while senior Mikayla Quinn finished with 10 kills and six blocks.

Defensively, sophomore libero Riley Kallevig and sophomore Reilly Ratliff-Becher also had positive impacts for the Lady Cats. Kallevig had 38 digs to go along with eight aces and Ratliff-Becher finished with 27 digs.

Reilly Ratliff-Becher digs up a ball Saturday during the Lady Cats’ home tournament.

“Reilly and Riley do a good job of reading stuff and they are fun to watch in the back row, especially with both of them being sophomores and watching them grow,” Compliment said. “We transitioned Reilly from being a JV setter to being on the back row on defense and has done a good job of embracing that role.”

Louisburg returns to action tonight when it travels to rival Paola for a Frontier League dual. Freshmen is set to begin at 4:30 p.m., with junior varsity and varsity to follow.

Louisburg gets league road win

The Louisburg High School volleyball team didn’t have much of a problem on the road Thursday at Baldwin in a Frontier League dual.

The Lady Cats rolled to a 25-14, 25-9 and 25-9 win over Baldwin as they still have just one league loss on the season, which was to De Soto earlier in the year.

Louisburg recorded 13 aces on the night, including seven from senior Sophie McMullen. McMullen and junior Anna Dixon were big at the net with 15 kills each and sophomore Haley Cain added seven.

Junior Carson Buffington came through with 31 assists. McMullen and sophomore libero Riley Kallevig had 16 and 15 digs, respectively, to lead Louisburg defensively.

“The team played really well for all three sets,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “They came out ready to play and never let up all evening. Sophie and Anna both had a great night on the service line. They both had some big serves, and made some great plays at the net. Our back row defense was pretty spot on all night as well.”

Its name is just one of the many changes to the annual Louisburg 5-kilometer race.

Formerly Blazin’ The Burg, the Louisburg Chamber of Commerce is introducing a new version of the event and a collaboration with two other area 5K races.

The Louisburg Cider Run, which gets underway at 5 p.m. on Oct. 7 in downtown Louisburg, features four different courses for group of all ages. It will offer the traditional 5K course, along with a kids fun run, a 10K course and a newly added relay.

The relay will be a mile course that will include teams of four runners or less.

All participants 21 and over will get a souvenir cup and one pour of hard cider after completion of their event. The event will also feature an after party with food, music and drinks.

“We have two fun new additions that I think will bring more people and more excitement to this year’s run,” Jenny O’Brien, one of the event organizers, said. “The first is the addition of the Mile Hard Cider Relay that consists of a team of 4, with each team member running a quarter-mile. With our new race name, Louisburg Cider Run, the Hard Cider Relay is perfect and offers everyone a chance to get involved because it’s a distance that is attainable for those who do not run or walk regularly to achieve. The team concept also makes this more achievable and something that folks can gather a group of friends and enter for fun.”

For those runners that want to make a weekend out of it, they will have the opportunity to compete in the Fermentation Series. Louisburg Cider Run is one of three 5K races that will be held in a two-day period.

The Fall Fermentation Series is three 5K runs in 24 hours on Oct. 7 and 8. The Series kicks off on Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. at the No One Fights Alone 5K at Night Hawk Winery in Paola, and continues that evening with the Louisburg Cider Run.

The series finishes with the Oktoberfest 5K on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 8 a.m. in Martin City, Mo. Each race will provide shirts and swag and finishers of all three events will receive a Fall Fermentation Series medal upon completion of the Series.

“The second addition that will draw more runners is that the Cider Run is part of a running series of 5Ks this year called the Fermentation Series,” O’Brien said. “KC Running Company is awarding a medal to each runner who completes the series of races.”

For those that are just interested in the Cider Run, there will be plenty to do before and after the race is complete.

KC Deeyas, Burnt Offering BBQ, Pita for Good, Smoothie Wave and Kona Ice will be on hand for refreshments. Standard Beverage Corporation and Angry Orchard Tap Trailer will also be at the event.

Pre-race entertainment will be put on by the group, Happy Faces. After race music will be put on by Turner Blues Experiment.

For those interested in signing up for the Louisburg Cider Run, please click here.

If you are interested in entering the Fermentation Series, you can click here.

To purchase Cider Run race merchandise, please click here.

Players from the 1997 Louisburg High School football state runner-up team posed for a quick photo last Friday after being honored before the crowd at Wildcat Stadium.

Several members from the Louisburg High School 1997 state runner-up football team returned home Friday – home being Wildcat Stadium.

As they entered through the gate, emotions came flooding back. They remembered the packed stadium, the thrill of playing football on Friday nights and all the history they created together.

“The longer I have been here the more it has meant because more memories come back,” Jason Worthington, a lineman from the 1997 team, said. “You forget some of this stuff until the sights and smells come back in. I stepped in the locker room, and the coach (Robert Ebenstein) was gracious enough to come let us talk to the team, and it was just a wave of emotions coming back. They may be 20 years old, but they feel like they are brand new.”

The 1997 team received many ovations from the crowd that year as it was the first squad in school history to reach the state championship game.

A lot of those players came back to Wildcat Stadium to be recognized one more time as they were introduced to the home football crowd at halftime of last Friday’s game with De Soto to commemorate the 20th anniversary of that state runner-up finish.

“It is pretty exciting,” Sari Antisdel said. “We were in the locker room before the game. To have those same exact feelings as you had 20 years ago, I mean we are old men now and to see the crowd and be a part of this whole experience has been fun. It is pretty impressive to see what has changed with the football program since all those years ago.”

Antisdel, who was a starting fullback and linebacker as a senior, was among several players who returned to be honored from that historic Wildcat team. He was surrounded by former teammates and coaches, who all had a chance to relive the ‘good-ole days’ during the first half of Friday’s contest.

“I haven’t seen a lot of these guys in 15-20 years,” Antisdel said. “I recognize some of the faces, but it was good to see them again. Even some of the freshmen off that team – I asked one of them what their name was again and he told me and he said ‘Yeah, I remember your thigh pad a lot running over me.’ They were just as much of the team as anyone because we needed them for practice and helping us to get better.”

Louisburg rolled through much of the regular season with wins over Eudora (54-0), Anderson County (40-7), Wellsville (22-20), Gardner (28-0), Prairie View (30-6), Osawatomie (33-7), Baldwin (64-6), Paola (22-0) and Spring Hill (33-8).

The 1997 season was a memorable one for many. Not only was it the school’s first appearance in the state championship game, but it was also filled with many unforgettable games along the way and it started in the playoffs.

In that season, Louisburg opened with a 40-0 win over Prairie View in bi-districts, before facing the defending state champion – Fort Scott – in the regional round.

The Wildcats pulled a shocker as they knocked off the Tigers 13-6 to earn a regional title and a spot in the sub-state championship game.

“I think my favorite win during that time was probably Fort Scott,” Antisdel said. “They were the best team and beating them was pretty impressive. We were a tight knit group that thrived on every play from getting turnovers or kickoffs. We tried to take advantage of every single down.”

Kevin Vohs (left) and Sari Antisdel look out onto the crowd while they were being honored as part of the 1997 state runner-up team.

Louisburg did that same thing in its sub-state matchup with Topeka Hayden, which was ranked No. 1 at the time. It was memorable in more ways than one.

The game was played in sub-zero temperatures and Louisburg forced eight turnovers on the night as it pulled off a second-consecutive upset with a 21-14 victory.

“My favorite memory is just how tough that team was,” said Gary Griffin, a former head coach and defensive coordinator on the 1997 team. “We beat Fort Scott, which was the defending state champion, and came back and beat the No. 1 team in the state in Topeka Hayden and both them were better than us, but we were just tougher. We found ways to win games and it was a good bunch of kids. Coach (Kris) Kehl got them to buy in to the team concept and we had three really good classes in a row. The sophomore class helped us out quite a bit, but the senior class was as good of leaders as we have ever had.

“It was the coldest game I have ever been at. Their running back was really good and he didn’t have sleeves on and I will never forget that. It was so cold that we had space heaters on the sidelines. He platooned with another guy and he had to have been cold. We probably forced him to fumble three or four times.”

The Wildcats were considered a ‘tough’ running team that found a lot of success behind a veteran offensive line of Worthington, Ben Coffey, Aaron Cain, Chad Hardesty, Trevor Finch and tight end Joe Pate.

A pair of sophomore running backs, Billy Neff and Phillip Bowden, saw a lot of time in the backfield and were led by Antisdel – a senior fullback. Jason Harwood was the team’s starting quarterback, while Nate Peters, Jeremy Heston, Kevin Vohs and Ben York saw time at wide receiver.

“Our 152-pound wrestler, Chad Hardesty, was our starting center and nose guard and played both sides of the ball and was all-league,” Worthington said. “I don’t know that we were all that big, but we had a lot of experience. Most of us on that line, we had played together since our sophomore year so we gelled really well.  Then we had some young guys like Billy and Phillip come up and were great running backs for us and got some great leadership from Sari back there as well. We always tried to be good leaders to help some of that young talent that we had and those guys had some great years in their own right.”

Defensively, the Wildcats were led by much of those same players on the defensive line, while Neff, Bowden and Antisdel put on a lot of hits at linebacker.

“Our offensive stats that year were really low, but the reason being was we won the field position battle a lot,” Coffey said, who was also an all-league lineman. “Our defense did a great job and our offense started on our opponents side of the field a lot. The fabric of our team was we just grew up together starting in elementary school and had a great senior class. We didn’t have the best athletes in the state, but as a unit, we were right there.”

(From left) Ben Coffey, Ryan Dunn, Jason Worthington and Chad Hardesty were just a few of several players from the 1997 team that made school history and were honored last Friday at Wildcat Stadium.

Then came the state championship game against Sabetha that was held at Emporia State University. Louisburg came up short in its quest to get the school’s first state championship as it fell, 14-13, and ended its season with a 12-1 record.

Sabetha opened the game with a 69-yard touchdown run and then blocked a Louisburg punt in the endzone to jump out to a 14-0 lead. The Wildcats came roaring back as Neff scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the lead in half in the second quarter.

In the third, Harwood found Peters for a 20-yard touchdown, but the Wildcats missed the extra point. Each team committed three turnovers on the day.

“We missed an extra point that we all thought was good,” Griffin said. “They had college goal posts, which were narrower than high school ones, and on a high school field it would have been good for sure. We just ran out of time at the end. Of all the playoffs games that we played, Sabetha was probably the worst team of the bunch and that is probably what hurt us worse than anything is we knew we were a better team when we left the field. We just left one out there.

“It was pretty disheartening, but no one expected us to be as good as we were. We surprised everyone. We got no accolades in the preseason, and as the season went along, we just steamrolled people and caught Fort Scott and Hayden on good nights.”

Despite the loss, the state championship game is still a fond memory for a lot of the Wildcat players.

“It was very foreign,” Coffey said. “We were traveling to the middle of the state and playing on a university campus in the afternoon. It was different for us. We were really giddy and nervous on the bus on the way up there and we couldn’t believe we were here.

“We were just smashing heads with everyone. It seemed like we were in the middle of the field the whole game and neither team could move. It felt like the team that made the most mistakes that day would lose. They just made one less mistake than we did.”

It was a time the Wildcats coaches wouldn’t forget either.

“That put Louisburg on the map,” Griffin said. “We had a good run. I think we were 8-1 the next year and 9-0 after that. Year after year we would have great seasons and that 97 team was the team that kind of propelled us. That is when we turned into a football town. The whole town of Louisburg was at Emporia. We would fill the stadium several years after that and it was a good time.”

Several of the players know that a lot of their success was in part to head coach Kris Kehl, who molded the group of Wildcat players together and changed the culture of Louisburg football.

“I give so much credit to coach Kehl,” Worthington said. “He was one of the most intense guys that I have worked with, whether it was in high school or college. I remember that state game, him grabbing me by the face mask and yelling at me to ‘Protect your (bleeping) quarterback Worthington,’ and seeing Copenhagen fly at my face at the time. There are few people I respect more in life than coach Kehl.”

Antisdel added, “I think our eighth grade year we only won like one football game. When Kehl started when I was a sophomore, he kind of set the tone for what the program was going to become. He wanted it to be a 365 day type of deal, whether it was with weights or whatever. Our goal was to win state and we came close.”

Those were just some of the celebrated times that were shared on a special night at Wildcat Stadium – a place where history was made 20 years ago.

“The memories I shared with everyone means a lot,” Coffey said. “If anything, I hope it allowed the younger guys and the other classes to know what needed to be done. From there, it just built a heck of a run with this sport and others. Everyone went their own separate ways after that season, and that season is the most common thing that we have and that is kind of cool.”

Members of 1997 football team are:

Class of 1998: Jeremy Heston, Jeremy Criswell, Josh Meek, Jason Worthington, Ben Coffey, Chad Hardesty, Trevor Finch, Eric Nauman, Nate Peters, Ryan Shaffer, Joe Klassen, Micah Drake and Sari Antisdel.

Class of 1999: Jon Batchelder, Luke Siebenmorgen, Jason Harwood, Kevin Vohs, Ben York, Justin Kesterson, Troy Meek, Patrick Page, Ryan Kuepper, Matthew Trapp, Aaron Cain, Joe Pate, Brad Torrence and Adam Longgood.

Class of 2000: Bret Marks, Tyler Witt, Matthew Donegan, Dustin Bollinger, Thomas Overly, Ryan Dunn, Ian David Hall, Jeremiah Brittingham, James Ward, Grant Hash, Billy Neff, Andrew Shaffer, Dereck M Kerr, Phillip Bowden, Darin Hollrah, Cooper Smith, Craig Hufferd.

Class of 2001: Troy McKitrick, David Alexander, Bradey Ewy, Ian Hansberger, Monte Harwood, Andy Donegan, Jared Dorsch, Kurt Nauman, Ryan German, Eddy Monteil, Eric Pemberton, Noah Hoppe, Mitch Langley, Matt Sauber, Jeremy Oehlert, Winston Koechner, Brian Batchelder and Jeremy Yeager.

Head coach Kris Kehl and assistant coaches Gary Griffin, Wayne Whiting, Darin Gagnebin, Doug Elias and Mike Krull.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

SABETHA 14, LOUISBURG 13

S:      7             7             0             0 – 14

L:      0             7             6             0 – 13

First quarter

S: Jason Hartter 69 run (kick good)

Second quarter

S: Adam Pyle recovered blocked punt in endzone (kick good)

L: Billy Neff 1 run (Sari Antisdel kick)

Third quarter

L: Nate Peters 20 pass from Jason Harwood (kick failed)

STATISTICS

RUSHING: Sari Antisdel 14-56; Billy Neff 9-32; Jason Harwood 10-16; Nate Peters 2-9; Phillip Bowden 2-6. Totals: 37-119

PASSING: Harwood 8-17-121

RECEIVING: Peters 3-63; Kevin Vohs 2-25; Antisdel 2-6; Ben York 1-27

Louisburg senior David Holiday sends a pass across the field Thursday during the Wildcats’ match with Eudora. Holiday scored a goal and had an assist in Louisburg’s 8-0 win over the Cardinals.

Once the opening whistle sounded, the Louisburg High School boys soccer team was off and running.

Sophomore Landon Johnson received a quick pass and he sent the ball over to senior teammate Christian Scholtz, who scored Louisburg’s first goal 20 seconds into the match Thursday against Eudora.

It was a sign of what was to come for Scholtz and the rest his Wildcat teammates.

Louisburg pelted Eudora with seven more goals and rolled to an 8-0 victory at Wildcat Soccer Stadium. The Wildcats didn’t score again until the eight minute mark in the first half, but once that happened, the flood gates opened.

“I think we played well and we came out quick,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “Getting a goal in the first 20 seconds really set the tone. We had lots of chances to start, but we just couldn’t bury one early. We just pushed through, and once the outside midfielders started figuring out where they needed to be, we started exposing them on the outside. They tried to take away the middle with their formation, but they left the outside open and we were able to run for days. We had a good showing and the boys were able to find feet and that helps tremendously.”

Scholtz was a big part of the Wildcats’ positive result as he had his best performance of the young season. The Louisburg midfielder finished with four goals as he gave the Cardinals fits on the outside.

“Quite honestly, he could have had quite a few more if I could have gotten him to sprint in that first half,” Conley said. “In the second half, he started getting after it a lot more and he just had free run after free run. We told him he was going to have a big day if he could make that run and the second half he was just on fire.”

The Wildcats (6-1) had plenty of chances on goal throughout the game as they tallied 34 shots on the night and had seven corner kick opportunities.

Those shots started finding the back of the net late in the first half as sophomore Eli Minster scored to make it 2-0 with eight minutes left before halftime.

It David Holiday’s turn as he was able to make an impact off the bench. Holiday, who was injured early on in the year, scored his first goal of the season to make it 3-0.

Holiday then returned the favor a minute later when he sent a pass that set up Scholtz’s second goal of the evening to earn the assist and help give Louisburg a 4-0 lead at halftime.

“He has been hurt for quite some time,” Conley said of Holiday. “We babied him a little bit coming back for the first couple games and then we threw him to the wolves against Baldwin. This time he was just part of the rotation doing his thing. This is as fit as he has been and he is a smart kid that reads it and he had a good night.”

Scholtz continued his big night early in the second half when he scored back-to-back goals to earn the hat trick. Johnson followed with a goal of his own to make it 7-0 with 35 minutes left in the match.

Louisburg midfielder Jarod Rose heads the ball away from the Eudora goal Thursday at Wildcat Soccer Stadium.

Senior Grant Ryals put the game on ice as he converted a penalty kick after being taken down in the box. Fellow senior Brock Bila did a good job of finding his teammates with three second half assists, while Johnson had two assists on the night and Ryals had one.

The defense protected the Wildcats’ big lead as they earned the shutout, and goalies Ambrose Stefan and Dalton Ribrody combined on the clean sheet.

“We were incredibly unselfish and I think that is something that we can build on,” Conley said. “It is the way we have to play, and with the system we have and if we play that way, we are going to be tough to stop.

“Ambrose made a couple big saves and the defense played well. I thought Ryan (Haight) did a great job marking their best player and he didn’t have many touches at all in the first half. It was a team win for sure and the kids played their butts off.”

The Wildcats will try and make it three wins in a row tonight when it travels to Bonner Springs. The varsity match is slated to begin at approximately 6 p.m.