An abbreviated version of the Louisburg cross country team took part in what will be one of their largest meets of the season Saturday at the Wamego Invitational.

More than 100 hundred runners took to the Wamego Country Club course to square off in the Class 4A race and four Wildcat boys found themselves in the middle of it all.

Jerynce Brings Plenty, Truman Ellison, Noah Cotter and Spencer Mattison took part in the competition that featured 136 runners from all over the state and one of them left with some hardware.

Brings Plenty earned his first medal of the season as he took 31st in 17 minutes and 50 seconds.

“The boys ran well at Wamego,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “Jerynce medaled and is progressing well. The three sophomores, Levi, Truman, and Spencer, had great performances. We only had four running because of ACT testing. If we keep on the path we have started, the end of the season will be exciting.”

Ellison and Cotter ran most of the course together and earned a pair of top 50 finishes. Ellison was 44th in 18:29.30 and Cotter was right behind him in 45th in 18:29.53.

Mattison finished with a time of 19:49 and took 90th overall.

More than 20 schools competed in the Class 4A race and Southeast of Saline won the team title with 57 points and Wamego was second with 82.

Brayden Walker of Southeast of Saline won the race with a time of 16:08 and McPherson’s Caleb Mueller was second in 16:16.

Louisburg will field its full team this Thursday as the Wildcats travel to the Wellsville Invitational. Races are set to begin at 4 p.m.

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week two of the fall sports season, sponsored by Landmark National Bank.

MCKENNA LOHSE, JUNIOR, VOLLEYBALL

Louisburg senior McKenna Lohse put together a strong performance, in what was a busy week for the Wildcat volleyball team. Lohse and the Wildcats ended it with a first place finish at the Frontenac Invitational on Saturday and the team wrapped up the 8-game week with a 6-2 record.

Lohse, a middle blocker for the Wildcats, was a big reason for all that success. In those eight games, Lohse tallied 46 kills and also had seven aces. Against Pittsburg in the championship match Saturday, she finished with a team-high seven kills, and had 29 kills and four blocks total in the tournament.

The athlete of the week award is announced every Wednesday morning during the fall season and the winner is selected by Louisburg Sports Zone with the help of nominations from coaches.

Previous Winners:

Week 1: Myles Vohs

FRONTENAC — Louisburg volleyball had a difficult schedule through its first six matches of the season, that included two-ranked opponents, and it lost four of them.

Despite its rough start, Louisburg showed out in its first tournament of the season Saturday at the Frontenac Invitational. The Wildcats won all five matches, including a 25-19, 26-24 win over Pittsburg in the championship, to capture the tournament title.

Following a league victory Thursday over Ottawa, the Wildcats have now won six straight and are starting to build momentum on the young season.

“This was a great start to the tournament season,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We were really glad to get back on the winning side of our games, and it definitely helped build our confidence as a team. We battled through a couple of three set matches to start the day and worked hard to come back in the third to take them after dropping those second sets. 

“Coming home with a first place plaque to display in the front of the school is always a good feeling and we have set team goals to not let that be the only hardware we come home with.”

The Wildcats (7-4) got off to a little bit of a slow start as they defeated Cherryvale in three sets, 25-19, 18-25 and 25-12. They went three sets again in their next pool play match against Fort Scott, but again came away with a 25-19, 23-25 and 25-15 victory.

Louisburg won its pool after a 25-19 and 26-24 victory over St. Mary’s-Colgan, and once the Wildcats reached bracket play, they stepped it up.

“In our final two matches of the day, we hit a point where we decided that we weren’t going to let ourselves go to three again,” Willer said. “We wanted to focus on our side of the net and take care of business – trusting everyone to do their job and get us where we wanted to be. Thanks to some great serving, we were able to string together a few runs in each set to make that happen.”

It was the serving that lifted the Wildcats past a pair of good opponents in Girard and Pittsburg.

Louisburg defeated Girard, 25-21 and 25-18, to reach the championship match in big thanks to its performance from behind the service line. 

After the first set win, sophomore Adelyn Moore and senior Ally Brown helped serve the Wildcats to an 8-1 advantage in the second. However, Girard battled back and eventually tied the match at 15.

Brown once again put the Wildcats back on top as she served five straight points, including three aces, to put Louisburg up 21-15 and the Wildcats were able to pull away. Brown finished with five aces in the match.

The serves helped set up kill opportunities from Addison Mallett and Evyn Richardson, who helped continue the run.

“Serving was a big part of our success in the latter half of the day,” Willer said. “We continuously talk about winning the serve and pass game, and we were able to serve aggressively – especially in those last two matches to give us an advantage over each team. Ally’s serve came up huge for us in the semi-final game against Girard. That stretch included three aces and some other killer serves that set us up for success.”

Mallett led the Wildcats at the net in that match with six kills and four blocks, while junior Caileigh Kilgore had five kills and Richardson had three blocks. Junior McKenna Lohse had four kills and two blocks. 

Moore, the team’s setter, ran the offense well with 17 assists. Defensively, senior libero Aspen Coulter led Louisburg with nine digs and senior Jaden Bentz added seven.

The good serving continued in the championship match against Pittsburg. 

Coulter, Moore and Lohse all put together key serving runs to give the Wildcats the early lead. Coulter had two aces in the match, while Moore and junior Delaney Nelsen each had one.

“In the championship, Aspen, Adelyn, and Kenna had a combined total of 30 serves, which were all aggressive enough to push Pittsburg out of system as much as we could,” Willer said. “When we are tough behind the service line, we are much tougher to beat.”

Lohse was big for Louisburg at the net in the championship match as she posted a team-high seven kills and junior Rylee Telken added five of her own. 

Defensively, Coulter was all over the floor with a team-high 16 digs, while Kilgore and Brown had seven and six, respectively.

For the tournament, the Wildcats had 31 aces in the five matches. Nelsen led the way with seven aces, while Brown finished with six. Coulter and Moore each had five of their own.

Moore had a busy day running the offense and doing a little bit of everything from the setter spot. She tallied 108 assists in the five matches to go along with 26 digs and 15 kills.

“Throughout the whole day, we ran a really balanced attack,” Willer said. “Adelyn did a great job of distributing the ball and finding our hot hitters when we needed a kill, and she threw in a few of her own as well. It was really nice to see that if one of our hitters was struggling, we were able to find others to step up and fill our offensive needs.”

Several Wildcats stepped up at the net as Kilgore led the way with 31 kills, while Lohse and Mallett had 29 and 25, respectively. Richardson added 18 kills, while Telken (13) and senior Katie McKain (12) also finished with double-digit kills.

Richardson posted a team-high 11 blocks on the day to lead the way defensively and Mallett had seven. In the back row, Coulter had a team-best 58 digs, while Brown finished 31.

It was exactly the kind of day the Wildcats were hoping for after a rough stretch to start the season.

“Throughout the day, I was constantly changing and tweaking our lineup to try out some different options and just get some different looks with our core group,” Willer said. “No matter the lineup, our players adjusted and adapted to every different combination and found a way to mesh. Regardless of who was playing in the game or not, everyone remained supportive and encouraging of their teammates which made it a fun day for everyone.”

Wildcats sweep Ottawa in league dual

Before Saturday’s tournament, Louisburg was able to start a winning streak during Thursday’s home Frontier League dual against Ottawa.

Louisburg won the match in three sets, 25-19, 25-8 and 25-22, to move to 2-0 in league play.

The Wildcats got out to a rough start before Ottawa’s starting middle blocker, Dylan Nichols, had to leave midway through the first set with a serious leg injury.

“With the competitive nature of our league, securing those wins on league nights is really great,” coach Leanna Willer said. “It’s tough to do consistently in this league because we have so many strong teams. Ottawa started off really strong, and it was clear our girls were a little nervous heading into the first home league match, but we were making a comeback in the first set. 

“Unfortunately, Ottawa did suffer an injury that took their team out of it for a little bit. We never want to see that happen to anyone, but Ottawa came back together and really put up a fight in the third set and it was good for us to remain strong as a team and get the win.”

Louisburg was able to serve well again as it totaled eight aces, including three from junior McKenna Lohse. 

Junior Caileigh Kilgore and Lohse were also strong at the net with 13 and 11 kills, respectively, while Moore had 30 assists on the night.

Defensively, junior Rylee Telken had three blocks to lead the Wildcats and senior Katie McKain had two. Senior libero Aspen Coulter had 18 digs to lead the Louisburg back row, while seniors Ally Brown and Jaden Bentz had eight and seven, respectively. 

PAOLA — The football rivalry between Louisburg and Paola has been one-sided as of late, and it has been controlled by the Wildcats.

Nothing changed following Friday’s contest at Paola High School.

Louisburg dominated from the start as it scored 27 unanswered points to start the game and never looked back in a 34-13 victory over the Panthers. It marks the third consecutive season the Wildcats have come out on top in the rivalry battle.

It was a much more comfortable victory for the Wildcats following their week one overtime victory against Tonganoxie.

“We got a little better from last week,” Louisburg coach Drew Harding said. “We are still far away from a finished product at this point, but we took a step forward and now we just need to keep taking steps each and every day.”

Louisburg took control of the line of scrimmage and provided lots of room for running back Darby Van Eaton. The Wildcat senior tallied 134 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns and had 40 yard receiving.

The Wildcat offensive line of Brayden Yoder, Nate Capuro, Miles Meek, Xander Lucas and Johnny Hendrickson, along with tight ends Conlee Hovey and Erik Lien, opened running lanes for Van Eaton.

“Darby ran the football hard,” Harding said. “He was able to break tackles and he was finishing plays and always falling forward. That is what we want out of our backs and he did a good job.”

Van Eaton scored his two touchdowns in the second quarter as he opened with a 2-yard run to give Louisburg a 7-0 lead. On the Wildcats’ next possession, he then broke free for a 36-yard run to the end zone to put his team up two scores.

Louisburg added to its lead at halftime as it got its passing game going.

Quarterback Alex Saad found senior Josh Holtzen in the corner of the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown pass with less than a second remaining in the first half. A Blaise Vohs extra point gave the Wildcats a 21-point lead at halftime.

“We definitely didn’t feel like we were playing our best offensive football in the first half, so to be able connect there right before halftime, and put a bright spot on the first half was pretty nice,” Harding said.

Saad continued the scoring to start the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run. Then after a Paola touchdown, the Wildcats answered right back when Saad found Hovey for a 28-yard score and Louisburg led 34-6.

The Louisburg quarterback finished the game with 177 yards and two touchdowns on 12 of 19 passing. Senior Myles Vohs and Hovey each led the team with 53 yards receiving.

Defensively, the Wildcats stymied the Paola offense in a first half shutout. Louisburg limited the big plays as it held the Panthers scoreless till midway through the third quarter when the game was already in-hand.

Lien led Louisburg with 11 tackles on the night, while Rickey Giles and Yoder each finished with five. Yoder also had 1.5 tackles for a loss and Giles had a sack.

Louisburg senior Logan Henry had a first half interception that led to a Wildcat score, while Hovey, Holtzen, Swartz, Lien, Russell Wiseman and Ashton Moore also had tackles for a loss.

“I thought the defense played great,” Harding said. “I still think we are playing better defensive football than offensive football right now. We did a really good job of being assignment sound and getting lined up and making Paola work for what they got.”

The Wildcats also got a chance to put in its reserves in the second half, which doesn’t happen often in a Louisburg-Paola matchup.

“It is really fun to get those guys in because they get beat up on scout team so much,” Harding said. “They put in just as much work as everyone else, so for them to get in on a Friday night is a lot of fun.”

Louisburg will try for its third straight win to start the season this Friday as it hosts an out-of-league opponent in Clay Center — a team the Wildcats aren’t very familiar with. Still, it presents a new type of challenge.

“It is fun to play someone new,” Harding said. “You don’t really know what they do well, so we will obviously watch some film on them, but they have some really good athletes and it will be a challenge for us for sure. We are excited to play someone a little different.”

LOU 0 21 13 0 — 34

PAO 0 0 6 7 — 13

SCORING SUMMARY

Second Quarter

L: Darby Van Eaton 2 run (Blaise Vohs kick)

L: Van Eaton 36 run (Vohs kick)

L: Josh Holtzen 30 pass from Alex Saad (Vohs kick)

Third Quarter

L: Saad 1 run (kick failed)

P: JD Troutman 1 run (kick blocked)

L: Conlee Hovey 28 pass from Saad (Vohs kick)

Fourth Quarter

P: Troutman 30 run (kick good)

STATISTICS

RUSHING — Darby Van Eaton 24-134; Freddy Moreau 3-13; Cole Heinrich 2-7; Bryce Thompson 1-4; Alex Saad 1-1

PASSING — Alex Saad 12-19-177

RECEIVING — Myles Vohs 4-53, Conlee Hovey 3-53, Darby Van Eaton 3-40, Josh Holtzen 1-30, Erik Lien 1-1.

TACKLES — Erik Lien 11, Rickey Giles 5, Brayden Yoder 5, Logan Henry 4, Josh Holtzen 4, Lucas Swartz 4, Gage Feldkamp 4, Russell Wiseman 3, Conlee Hovey 3, Ashton Moore 3, Myles Vohs 2, Bryce Thompson 2, Aidan Meyer 2, Johnny Hendrickson 2, Michael Foote 2, Daniel Aponte 1, Wyatt Crooks 1, Kael McGuire 1, Jimmy DeVary 1, Aiden Kennedy 1

BONNER SPRINGS — The last time Louisburg and Bonner Springs faced off on the pitch in 2023, Bonner Springs stole a victory away from the Wildcats in overtime.

Louisburg wasn’t going to let that happen this time around.

The Wildcats scored two second half goals and earned a 2-1 victory over the Braves in their Frontier League opener at Bonner Springs High School.

“Kicking off our league play with a win is a pretty nice feeling, especially since we’ve been struggling the last few years,” Louisburg coach Bobby Bovaird said. “Frontier League soccer is pretty tough though. We took Bonner into overtime last year and ended up losing on an own goal, so this was a game that the guys really wanted to win.”

It also marked the fourth consecutive victory for the Wildcats to start the season as they have already equaled last year’s win total.

Louisburg has already shown they are an improved team after a rough 2023 season and it’s is something they hope to continue moving forward.

“There’s always the danger in getting overconfident, but we’re playing with a confidence that was missing last year,” Bovaird said. “It was a tough season, and definitely an anomaly for Louisburg soccer. There were a handful of games that we lost by one goal last season — games that I felt we could have won. 

“This year, we’re in the position to come out on top with those close games, which the guys have shown in our first four games. It’s a confidence that comes from experience, maturity, and a desire to prove themselves to the rest of the state.”

It was an evenly-played match throughout and Bonner Springs outshot the Wildcats 13-10, but it remained scoreless after one half of action. 

That changed midway through the second half as senior Colton Blue gave the Wildcats the lead with a goal on an assist from Emmett White. Blue finished the night with three shots on target.

Louisburg added on another goal a few minutes later as junior Owen Marsh scored on an assist from Caleb Feldkamp to put the Wildcats up, 2-0. Feldkamp, Grant Cannon and White also had a shot on target.

Bonner Springs added a goal in the final few minutes, but the Wildcats were able to hang on and stay perfect on the season.

“Coach (Nick) White and I gave a pretty sincere talk to them at halftime,” Bovaird said. “Basically, we stressed that they looked like they were flat on their feet, playing tense, and out of their comfort zones. We reminded them of back in the day when we played soccer and had fun with it. That was the challenge we gave them — get back in that mindset and play for the fun of it, play relaxed, and play smart. 

“I gave them a challenge before the game — have our time of possession above 30 minutes, get at least 8 strings of six or more passes, post a defensive shut-out, and have the majority of our attacks from from what we’ve been drilling all last week. First half, it wasn’t looking too likely that we’d hit those goals. With the second half, though, we came pretty close. We got the pass strings and nearly had the time of possession. Although we gave up a goal, we did very well with our attacks.”

The Wildcat defense held firm for much of the match as junior goalie Evan Moreland had four saves on the night and almost had the clean sheet.

Louisburg will try and make it five straight this Tuesday when it hosts Lansing. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m.

PITTSBURG — Louisburg was less than 30 seconds away from not only leaving Pittsburg with a tie, but watching a two-goal lead disappear.

It wouldn’t have been a loss, but the Wildcat players would have lamented about this game slipping through their fingers.

Luckily, they didn’t have to do any of that.

With 28 seconds remaining, senior Colton Blue sent a corner into the box and senior Jacob Brown scored the golden goal to give the Wildcats a 3-2 overtime win — their second overtime victory in three games to start the season.

Not only that, but it was Louisburg’s third consecutive win to start the year after winning just four games in 2023.

“Pittsburg came back with a frenzy,” Louisburg coach Bobby Bovaird said. “Having a 2-0 lead in soccer is the worst type of lead to have. You think you’re good, but all it takes is one goal to get the other team back in it. The Pittsburg players had been cramping, arguing with each other, and breaking down as a team, but once they got their first goal, it was a flurry of attacks. 

“They got closer and closer until they finally put in the tying goal. This win was absolutely gutsy. I told the Pittsburg coach after the game how impressed I was with his team’s rally — the energy, the intensity, and the team unity that all the sudden came together. I’m pretty proud of the gutsy performance we showed.”

Louisburg took the lead in the first half as sophomore Brody Bovaird scored his first goal of the season. Wildcat goalie Evan Moreland punted the ball over the top of the Pittsburg defense and Bovaird was able to chase the ball down to put the Wildcats up 1-0.

The Wildcats (3-0) doubled their lead in the second half as Emmett White scored on an assist from Will Showalter.

“We are getting more and more scoring opportunities,” coach Bovaird said. “The score of our first three games doesn’t really represent our growth offensively and the threats we’ve been giving our opponents. I felt pretty good to see us get the lead in the first half and then to have a second goal give us a little bit of a buffer.”

However, Pittsburg would mount a comeback of its own. The Purple Dragons cut the Louisburg lead in half, and then with 24 seconds left in regulation, the Wildcats were called for a handball in the box and Pittsburg was awarded a penalty kick. 

Moreland made the initial save on the penalty, but Pittsburg scored off a rebound to force overtime.

After a scoreless first extra period, Brown gave the Wildcats the victory with time running out in the match.

“Before the game, I told the guys that we need to keep our mindsets focused — believe, compete, and do one more, or ‘Wildcat Style’ as I like to call it,” coach Bovaird said. “I told them that we needed to get out there and fight the good fight the entire game, that we needed to finish the game the right way by giving our best efforts and intensity. 

“Finally, I told them that they needed to keep the faith and believe in the process. A win like what we had over Pittsburg is a huge character-statement for these guys, and I sure hope they realize how far they’ve come.”

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It has been a difficult schedule so far for the Louisburg volleyball team and it continued Tuesday at Piper.

The Wildcats squared off with Piper, a Class 5A program, and Wichita-Trinity Academy, which is the No. 3 ranked team in Class 3A. Although they left with a pair of losses, Louisburg more than held its own.

Louisburg fell to Trinity 25-23 and 25-21, and then ended the night with 25-23 and 25-23 loss to Piper. The Wildcats had leads in both matches, but some rough stretches were too much to overcome.

“Overall, I was really proud of how our team played in the triangular,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “Both Trinity and Piper are really solid teams with wins over good teams thus far, so we knew we were in for some good matches. Losing sets by 2, then 4, then 2 and 2 points again is so frustrating because it feels like we are right there. We can taste that victory but we just couldn’t quite overcome the runs that we let each team go on in the end.”

Against Trinity, the Knights jumped out to a 22-14 lead in the first set, but the Wildcats made a run to make it interesting. Louisburg junior McKenna Lohse served seven straight points, had two aces, and the Wildcats got kills from Caileigh Kilgore, Addison Mallett and Rylee Telken to tie it up a 22-all.

Trinity would end up taking the set, but it gave the Wildcats some momentum for the second. Louisburg took a 14-10 lead behind kills from Mallett and Katie McKain.

The Knights would tie it at 14-all, but the Wildcats responded to take a 19-16 lead on kills from Adelyn Moore and Kilgore. Trinity responded with a run of their own to take a 21-19 lead and held on for the win.

Mallett led the Wildcats at the net with seven kills, while Kilgore finished with six. Defensively, Telken had two blocks, while Moore ran the offense with 22 assists.

Louisburg also had four aces in the match, including two from Lohse, who also had four kills. Senior Ally Brown led the Wildcat back row with 10 digs and an ace, while senior libero Aspen Coulter and Moore had eight and seven digs, respectively.

In its match with Piper, Louisburg found itself down 23-15 in the first set, only to make another comeback. Moore served four straight points, and got a kill from Kilgore and block from Telken to make it 23-19.

Louisburg cut it to 24-23 as Brown served three straight points including an ace, but could get no closer.

Piper took another big 15-8 lead in the second set, but the Wildcats put together another run. Brown served four straight points including an ace, and after a block from Telken and a kill from Mallett, the Wildcats cut it to 15-13.

The Pirates widened their lead to 20-14 and were able to hold off Louisburg late.

Louisburg (1-4) wasn’t at full strength as it was without senior middle blocker Evyn Richardson, who was sidelined with an injury. Telken came off the bench and responded as she led the Wildcats with four blocks and also had a pair of kills.

“Rylee stepped up in a huge way, and it was so fun to see her really shine in a position she hasn’t played all year,” Willer said. “She really loves the game and you can tell that she watches a lot of volleyball because of how well she can anticipate the next play. Her speed and agility were a big asset to us as well because she was able to put up a strong block against solid attackers from each team. 

“I love the depth that this group of girls gives me. We have a lot of girls who can be versatile and excel in multiple positions and Tuesday was a great example of that.”

Mallett and McKain each led the Louisburg attack with four kills each and Moore tallied 14 assists. Brown had the team’s lone aces with two, while Moore and Coulter had nine and eight digs, respectively.

Piper did a lot of damage from behind the service line as it tallied 10 aces on the night, compared to just two for Louisburg.

The Wildcats will try and bounce back Thursday when they host Ottawa in a Frontier League dual. Varsity is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

“Other than one, maybe two rough patches each set, we were playing some really great volleyball,” Willer said. “So now, we are really focusing on what we can do as a team to cut teams off from those long runs and get the ball back in our servers’ hands. We are all very much ready to get back on the winning side of the scoreboard.”

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week one of the fall sports season, sponsored by Edward Jones-Craig Holtzen.

MYLES VOHS, SENIOR, FOOTBALL

Louisburg senior Myles Vohs certainly made an impact in the Wildcats’ season opener against Tonganoxie and it took him only two plays to do it. On his first two touches of the game, Vohs scored a pair of touchdowns and helped the Wildcats to a 21-20 victory over Tonganoxie at Wildcat Stadium

On the game, Vohs had three catches and had a team-high 108 yards to go along with the two scores. He scored on a pair of touchdown passes from Alex Saad of 26 and 41 yards.

The athlete of the week award is announced every Wednesday morning during the fall season and the winner is selected by Louisburg Sports Zone with the help of nominations from coaches.

Louisburg’s season opener against Tonganoxie seemed to have it all.

Big plays for touchdowns, mistakes, injuries and everything in between — including overtime. After Louisburg scored on its first possession of overtime to take the lead, Tonganoxie did the same.

However, instead of going for the tie, the Chieftains tried to win the game on the 2-point conversion. 

Enter Lucas Swartz.

The Louisburg senior came around the end to stop the 2-point conversion for a loss and sealed the Wildcats’ 21-20 win Friday, in what was a memorable season opener.

“That was a big time play there by Swartz,” Louisburg coach Drew Harding said. “We talked about how those guys have to work through the tight end and down the line of scrimmage and that is exactly what he did. It was a big time game-clinching play.”

It was one of several big performances on the Wildcat sideline Friday.

Louisburg opened the 2024 season with a couple of highlight plays that both came thanks to senior Myles Vohs. On the game’s opening drive, quarterback Alex Saad shoveled the ball to Vohs, who reversed field, and eventually scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass to put Louisburg up 7-0.

The Saad to Vohs connection came up big again in the second quarter when Saad hit Vohs on a short pass, and Vohs sped past several Chieftain defenders on what was a 41-yard score to put Louisburg up 14-0.

In all, Vohs had three catches on the night for 108 yards and it could have been more, but he had to sit part of the second half and overtime with cramping issues that he, and several other Wildcats, had to fight through.

“We thought before the season that Myles was going to be a big-time playmaker for us,” Harding said. “We said we have to figure out how to get him the ball, and then in his first game he got the ball twice and both times he scored touchdowns. That just shows how explosive he can be. I thought Alex played a good game in his first game as a starter as well and I didn’t think he was fazed at all.”

Tonganoxie eventually cut the Wildcat lead to 14-7 at halftime and then tied the game late in the third quarter. Neither team could find a rhythm offensively, and for Louisburg, injuries hampered drives as several starters had to leave with cramps.

“The first game can sometimes be kind of choppy and sloppy at times and this one was definitely some of that,” Harding said. “With all the cramping issues we had for a while, we weren’t even sure who all was in the huddle at certain times. We had to dig deep and some guys stepped in and made some big plays for us. Hopefully it will just help us in a long run.”

One of those big plays came in the overtime as senior running back Darby Van Eaton broke through a hole to score a 10-yard touchdown, and after a Blaise Vohs extra point, Louisburg had a 21-14 lead.

Van Eaton finished with 59 yards rushing as he started in place of Ashton Moore, who was limited to the defensive side of the ball.

“I thought Darby did a phenomenal job all night,” Harding said. “He is someone that might not have as many carries as others because we have Ashton, as they are in the same grade. He has always been ready to go and he got some tough yards out there. Then to see him burst through that hole and have that run in overtime was awesome.”

The Wildcat defense did a good job limiting big plays and buckled down in the second half with several big stops.

Moore led the way from his linebacker spot with 13 tackles, including two for a loss. Senior Erik Lien had 10 stops and two pass break-ups. 

Another senior Logan Henry, had eight tackles to go along with an interception, while Swartz had seven stops, including 2.5 tackles for loss.

Louisburg will try and make it two straight wins to start the season this Friday when the Wildcats travel to Paola for a 7 p.m. start.

“I don’t think we played perfect by any means, and I am sure that we have a lot that we can improve on,” Harding said. “I know that it is definitely a lot more fun to do after a win than it is a loss. 

“We know Paola will give us everything they got and it is a great rivalry. They are going to protect their home turf and there is no easy game for us on the schedule. It is going to be a grinder and that is just life in the Frontier League.”

LOU 7 7 0 0 7 — 21

TON 0 7 7 0 6 — 20

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

L: Myles Vohs 26 pass from Alex Saad (Blaise Vohs kick)

Second Quarter

L: Vohs 41 pass from Saad (Vohs kick)

T: Tanner Hand 41 run (kick good)

Third quarter

T: Hand 1 run (kick good)

Overtime

L: Darby Van Eaton 10 run (Vohs kick)

T: Todd Brown 9 pass from Talon Langford (run failed)

STATISTICS

RUSHING — Darby Van Eaton 21-59

PASSING — Alex Saad 9-19-162

RECEIVING — Myles Vohs 3-108, Martin Alicia Soto 1-15, Rickey Giles 1-13, Conlee Hovey 2-11, Darby Van Eaton 1-11

TACKLES — Ashton Moore 13, Erik Lien 10, Logan Henry 8, Lucas Swartz 7, Conlee Hovey 5, Brayden Yoder 5, Russell Wiseman 4, Myles Vohs 3, Aidan Meyer 3, Gage Feldkamp 3, Rickey Giles 1, Bryce Thompson 1, Kael McGuire 1, Johnny Hendrickson 1, Jimmy DeVary 1.

Fresh off their first win of the season, the Louisburg volleyball team had a chance to play in front of its home crowd Thursday.

However, the Wildcats’ opponents proved to be no easy task as they faced off with De Soto, a Class 5A school, and Olathe West, which is ranked No. 4 in Class 6A.

It was definitely a step up in competition for Louisburg as they dropped a pair of matches in a 2-1 loss to De Soto, and a 2-0 setback to Olathe West.

“For the most part, our team competed well against De Soto and Olathe West,” Willer said. “At the start of each match, we seemed a little shell shocked at the speed and pace of the game, but we started to figure them out and climb our way back into the game each time. 

“Once we started with playing with confidence, I think we proved to ourselves that we can compete with these teams and make big plays. Unfortunately, we let each opponent go on a couple of big runs and we couldn’t quite come back to get a win.”

The Wildcats (1-2) opened the night against De Soto and got off to a rough start as they dropped the first set, 25-11. Louisburg responded nicely, however, with a 25-19 victory in the second to force a deciding third set.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, De Soto went on a 9-1 run to open the third set and eventually won 25-16.

At the net, junior McKenna Lohse and Addison Mallett led the way with five kills each, while sophomore Adelyn Moore and junior Caileigh Kilgore each had three.

Senior Evyn Richardson led the Wildcat defense at the net with three blocks, while Moore ran the offense with 15 assists.

Defensively, senior libero Aspen Coulter led the way with seven digs, while senior Jaden Bentz and junior Delaney Nelsen each had four.

The Wildcats had seven aces in the match, including three from Lohse and two from Coulter.

Against Olathe West, the Wildcats had a tough time getting going against one of the best teams in Class 6A as they fell 25-11 and 25-17.

Lohse, Richardson and Kilgore each had three kills in the match, while Lohse and Moore both had two blocks. Moore also finished with 10 assists. Both players also led the team with four digs.

Louisburg will try and bounce back Tuesday when it travels to Piper for a triangular with Wichita-Trinity.