Louisburg senior Mason Koechner (53) and Nick Hull bring down a Spring Hill player during Friday’s contest in Spring Hill. Koechner led Louisburg with 11 tackles in the Wildcats’ 28-27 loss.

SPRING HILL – As the clock hit zero, and the Spring Hill players ran onto the field to celebrate, the feeling of disgust and disappointment started to invade members of the Louisburg High School football team.

The Wildcats entered Friday’s contest in Spring Hill with a perfect record and a No. 4 ranking in the state. Both of those things are gone now.

Louisburg fell in a heartbreaking 28-27 defeat to the Broncos despite a dramatic ending that had everyone in the stadium on their feet.

“It was definitely a tough loss,” Louisburg co-head coach Jeff Lohse said. “We knew coming in that Spring Hill was a good team and they were going to be ready for the challenge. The guys took this one very hard.  There are a lot of things we need to get better at going into district play.”

The Wildcats (5-1) trailed by seven points with three minutes left in the contest after Spring Hill broke the tie with a touchdown. Louisburg drove down the field, made a couple big plays and quarterback Grant Harding hit Korbin Hankinson on a screen pass and Hankinson dove for the pylon for the score with one second remaining.

Korbin Hankinson dives for the pylon for a touchdown Friday in Spring Hill. Hankinson scored on the play to cut the Spring Hill lead to one.

Instead of trying to send the game to overtime with an extra point, the Wildcats decided to go for two points and the win. Harding hit Hankinson on a quick pass, but he was unable to get past the line of scrimmage as the Spring Hill defense made the stop.

“The decision to go for two at the end was a no-brainer at that point,” Lohse said. “We had the momentum and the guys all wanted to go for the win on the road.”

Mistakes haunted Louisburg through much of the game as penalties and a turnover took away some big plays. Some of those plays included a punt return for a touchdown and a fake punt for a first down that were called back due to penalties in the first half.

Louisburg also fumbled in the redzone in the fourth quarter, in which Spring Hill recovered and went on to score the go-ahead touchdown.

“We just couldn’t seem to get out of our own way at times,” Lohse said. “There were definitely some very big penalties that halted drives or touchdowns. Those little things come back to haunt you at the end of close ballgames.”

Still, despite those mistakes, the Wildcats came up with big plays when they needed them. Hankinson took a punt return to the Spring Hill 13-yard line and the Wildcats were able to score on an Austin Moore 3-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. The 2-point conversion failed and Louisburg still trailed by a point.

It didn’t stay that way for long as two possessions later, Harding hit Hankinson in stride for a 50-yard touchdown pass. Thomas San Agustin ran in the 2-point conversion to give Louisburg a 14-7 lead with a minute to go in the first half.

Instead of going into the locker room with a lead, Louisburg allowed two big pass plays from Spring Hill, including a 37-yard screen pass with 24 seconds left in the first half to tie the game.

Dustyn Rizzo brings down Spring Hill running back Ty Straw on Friday in Spring Hill.

Spring Hill quarterback Jacob Letellier, who had three touchdowns in the game, broke open a tie game with a 20-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to put Spring Hill up 21-14.

Louisburg answered right back when Harding found San Agustin for one of his three touchdown passes on the night. Harding hit San Agustin for a 36-yard score and a Nick Hull extra point tied the game.

Still, the Wildcats had a hard time holding the Spring Hill offense. After Louisburg turned the ball over in the redzone late in the fourth quarter, Spring Hill responded with a touchdown drive that ended on a 1-yard score with 3:08 left in the game.

Spring Hill amassed 355 yards of total offense and did damage on the ground and through the air.

“Spring Hill did a good job of converting on third down,” Lohse said. “We just couldn’t seem to get them off the field and get the ball back to our offense.”

Despite being down seven points, the Wildcat offense got in gear and drove 65 yards for a score themselves. San Agustin recorded a 16-yard run on the drive and Harding connected with Desmond Doles and Christian Tosterud on two big passes.

With six seconds remaining, Harding hit Hankinson for the 7-yard score to cut the Spring Hill lead to one.

“I thought we showed a ton of character driving down and scoring with under two seconds to play,” Lohse said. “Our guys are hurting and are ready to get back on the field as soon as possible. We have some great leadership on this team and I believe those seniors will push everyone a little bit harder this week knowing that there is a lot at stake these next three games.”

The next three games will determine whether the Wildcats make the playoffs as they enter what is a difficult district play. Louisburg will host Fort Scott (3-3) this Friday and will also face off with Ottawa (4-2) and rival Paola (3-3).

“We are in a very tough district,” Lohse said. “We have got to take things game by game and be more prepared and more focused than we have been up to this point. This loss will help bring things back into perspective for us. There are many uncharacteristic things that we keep doing, on both sides of the ball, that we will get fixed this week.”

LOU                 0          14        7          6 – 27

SH                   7          7          7          7 – 28

First quarter

S: Jacob Letellier 2 run (kick good)

Second quarter

L: Austin Moore 3 run (run failed)

L: Korbin Hankinson 50 pass from Grant Harding (Thomas San Agustin run)

S: Ty Straw 37 pass from Letellier (kick good)

Third quarter

S: Letellier 20 run (kick good)

L: San Agustin 36 pass from Harding (Nick Hull kick)

Fourth quarter

S: Straw 1 run (kick good)

L: Hankinson 7 pass from Harding (pass failed)

STATISTICS

OFFENSE

RUSHING – Grant Harding 11-63; Thomas San Agustin 8-46; Austin Moore 4-18; Jake Hill 4-13; Korbin Hankinson 12-minus 2

PASSING – Grant Harding 9-16-153

RECEIVING – Korbin Hankinson 4-79; Thomas San Agustin 2-46; Christian Tosterud 1-14; Desmond Doles 1-12, Jake Hill 1-2.

DEFENSE

TACKLES – Mason Koechner 11, Austin Moore 7, Dustyn Rizzo 7, T.J. Dover 7, Lyndon Smith 6, Connor Green 5, Grant Harding 4, Korbin Hankinson 3, Nick Hull 3, Thomas San Agustin 2, Dalton Ribordy 2, Christian Tosterud 1, Jake Hill 1, Will Ridley 1, Garrett Lowry 1.

Louisburg running back Thomas San Agustin forces his way across the goal line for one of his two touchdowns Friday at Wildcat Stadium. San Agustin had 148 yards on the ground in the Wildcats’ 36-8 win over Baldwin.

As Korbin Hankinson took the opening kickoff, the Louisburg senior raced down the sideline untouched for a touchdown.

It would be a sign of things to come for the Wildcat football team Friday against Baldwin. Louisburg found the endzone four more times and rolled to a 36-8 victory over the Bulldogs in the Wildcats’ annual homecoming contest.

Despite the 28-point win, Louisburg left Wildcat Stadium knowing the game didn’t go exactly as it wanted. Penalties, empty trips in the redzone and offensive mistakes had the Wildcats lamenting not being able to play a complete game.

“We are still focusing on playing well for four quarters and we have yet to do that,” Louisburg co-head coach Gary Griffin said. “Normally it is the second half where we haven’t played well, but this time it was the first half. The last few years we haven’t played very well on homecoming, so it is nice to get this one out of the way.”

Louisburg senior lineman T.J. Dover brings down a Baldwin player Friday.

Even with all the homecoming distractions, the Wildcats (5-0) were still able to play well at times and it started on the opening kickoff as Hankinson had a wall of blockers that escorted him to the endzone and the Wildcats were rolling early.

Quarterback Grant Harding broke free for a 55-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to put Louisburg up 14-0. Then following a Baldwin score, the Wildcats marched down the field in less than two minutes to score on a 3-yard touchdown from sophomore Austin Moore.

Louisburg running back Thomas San Agustin had a 37-yard run on the drive and Dalton Ribordy caught a 15-yard pass from Harding that set up Moore’s score to put the Wildcats up 21-8 at halftime.

Still, the first half left the Wildcats frustrated as they came up empty on three trips in the redzone. The Louisburg defense set up one of those opportunities.

Linebacker Nick Hull and lineman Dustyn Rizzo pressured Baldwin’s quarterback late in the first quarter and forced an interception by Moore, but the Wildcats were unable to convert.

“It is very frustrating,” Griffin said of the empty redzone opportunities. “There are a lot of reasons why that happened. I didn’t call a very good game in the first half and that is on me. We didn’t execute very well either. Baldwin just played harder than we did for a while.”

At the end of the first half, and into the third quarter, the Wildcats were able to move the ball better and resulted on a San Agustin 4-yard touchdown run in the third. A bad snap on the extra point turned into two points for Louisburg as Harding gathered the ball, rolled out and found Moore for the 2-point conversion.

San Agustin scored his second touchdown of the night in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run to seal the win for the Wildcats. The Louisburg senior had a big night on the ground with 148 yards on 12 carries to go along with the two touchdowns.

The Wildcat offensive line of Garrett Lowry, Dalton Frazier, T.J. Dover, Mason Koechner and Rizzo did a good job opening holes for the Louisburg backs as they tallied 357 yards on the ground.

“Baldwin has a history of having tough kids and they came out in the first half and I thought they played really well and tough football,” Griffin said. “Offensively I don’t think we executed very well. I think they won the line of scrimmage the first two-thirds of the first half. Then that last third and all of the third quarter I thought we got back to doing what we do. We have some inconsistencies that we have to overcome.”

Louisburg wide receiver Christian Tosterud stretches out for a pass in the endzone Friday.

Other than allowing the one touchdown in the second quarter, the Louisburg defense came through again with another stout performance. Louisburg limited Baldwin to just 94 yards of total offense and held the Bulldogs to just 30 yards rushing on 29 carries.

Koechner led the Wildcat defense with five tackles and a sack, while Harding and Moore each recorded an interception. Senior Lyndon Smith also had a team-high five tackles.

The Louisburg defense has been strong all season as the Wildcats have held their opponents to a combined 31 points, which has been a big reason to their perfect start to the year and their No. 4 ranking in Class 4A-Division I.

“Defensively I thought we played real well outside of the one drive they scored on,” Griffin said. “In this league and the competition that we have to go up against, I am happy with 5-0. I am not satisfied and I don’t think the kids are either. That is the good part is they aren’t happy with the way they played and they know they can do better.”

Louisburg will go for its sixth consecutive win Friday when it travels to Spring Hill for its final game before district play. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

LOU               7          14        8          7 – 36

BAL                0          8          0          0 – 8

First quarter

L: Korbin Hankinson 80 kickoff return (Nick Hull kick)

Second quarter

L: Grant Harding 55 run (Hull kick)

B: Justin Howard 2 run (pass good)

L: Austin Moore 3 run (Hull kick)

Third quarter

L: Thomas San Agustin 4 run (Harding pass to Moore)

Fourth quarter

L: San Agustin 5 run (Hull kick)

STATISTICS

OFFENSIVE

RUSHING – Thomas San Agustin 12-148; Grant Harding 8-92; Korbin Hankinson 6-49; Austin Moore 11-47; Jake Hill 5-20; Will Ridley 1-2.

PASSING – Grant Harding 3-7-22

RECEIVING – Dalton Ribordy 1-15; Austin Moore 1-7

DEFENSIVE

TACKLES – Lyndon Smith 5, Mason Koechner 5, Jake Hill 4, Korbin Hankinson 4, Connor Green 3, Will Ridley 3, Nick Hull 3, Christian Tosterud 2, Austin Moore 2, Garrett Lowry 2, Grant Harding 1, Blue Caplinger 1, Kiefer Tucker 1, Dustyn Rizzo 1, T.J. Dover 1, Dalton Ribordy 1

SACKS – Mason Koechner 1

INTERCEPTIONS – Grant Harding 1, Austin Moore 1

Homecoming week at Louisburg High School kicked off Monday and events are in full swing. With something going on every day this week, it will be a busy time for students. All of it is of course centered around the crowning of the 2016 fall king and queen. Eight students were selected as nominees and here are their names and profiles.

The crowning will take place on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium before kickoff of Louisburg’s game with Baldwin.

Lauren Becker and T.J. Dover

T.J. Dover

T.J. is the son of Steven and Jenny Dover. T.J. has participated in football for four years, basketball for four years, track for two years, golf for one year and debate for one year. T.J. plans to either play college football or attend Kansas State University and major in marketing.

Lauren Becker

Lauren is the daughter of Brian and Andrea Becker. Lauren has participated in band for four years, cheerleading for four years, choir and select choir for four years, LEO’s club for four years, student council for four years, musical for four years, FCA for three years, track for three years, Letterman’s Club for three years, Spanish Club for two years, SADD for two years and National Honor Society for two years. Lauren plans to attend the University of Kansas and major in nursing.

Rio Sierra and Grant Harding

Grant Harding

Grant is the son of Ken and Dotty Harding. Grant has participated in football for four years, baseball for four years, basketball for four years, Letterman’s Club for three years and choir for two. Grant is currently undecided on a school, but plans to play college basketball.

Rio Sierra

Rio is the daughter of Fidel Sierra and Veneita Taulbee. Rio has participated in forensics for four years, musical for four years, select choir for three years, cheerleading for two years, Spanish Club for two years and debate for one year. Rio plans to participate in a worship internship through Life Mission Academy Ministry at King’s University where she will enroll to study Theology and music. She will concurrently enroll in Johnson County Community College and then will pursue a music degree at the University of Kansas.

Hanna Becker and Carson Tappan

Carson Tappan

Carson is the son of Dave and Jackie Tappan. Carson has participated in debate for four years, forensics for four years, LEO’s Club for four years, student council for three years, scholar’s bowl for three years and National Honor Society for two years. Carson plans to attend school out-of-state to study film production and television writing.

Hanna Becker

Hanna is the daughter of Brian and Andrea Becker. Hanna has participated in cheerleading for four years, band for four years, choir for four years, Leo’s Club for four years, musical for four years, student council for four years, FCA for three years, track for three years, SADD for two years, NHS for two years, Spanish Club for two years and Letterman’s Club for one year. Hanna plans to attend the University of Kansas and major in nursing.

Paige Buffington and Jake Hill

Jake Hill

Jake is the son of Andy and Megan Hill. Jake has participate in student council for four years, football for four years, Letterman’s Club for four years, LEO’s Club for four years, basketball for three  years, golf for two years and National Honor Society for two years. Jake plans to attend Kansas State University to dual major in business administration and finances and minor in Spanish.

Paige Buffington

Paige is the daughter of David and Amy Buffington. Paige has participated in FFA for four years, basketball for three years, track for three years, Letterman’s Club for three years, volleyball for two years, select choir for two years and National Honor Society for one year. Paige plans to attend either the University of Kansas or Missouri State to major in nursing.

The 2016 LHS fall homecoming candidates are (front row, from left) Lauren Becker, Rio Sierra, Hanna Becker, Paige Buffington; (back) T.J. Dover, Grant Harding, Carson Tappan and Jake Hill.

Louisburg senior Korbin Hankinson has his eyes on the endzone as he tries out outrun a Eudora defender Friday at Wildcat Stadium. Hankinson scored a pair of touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 33-0 win over Eudora.

There was a lot to be excited about following Louisburg’s 33-0 victory over Eudora on Friday at Wildcat Stadium.

The defense recorded its second shutout of the season and the Wildcats improved their record to 4-0 on the year. Despite all that, the second half curbed Louisburg’s enthusiasm on what appeared was going to be a perfect night.

“We will take the shutout, but we really didn’t play very well in the second half,” Louisburg co-head coach Jeff Lohse said. “We had a couple turnovers and a lot of penalties — and penalties killed us all game. They are just mental mistakes, so we will learn from those and get them fixed.”

Louisburg fumbled twice in the second half and penalties stalled several drives after the Wildcats scored 25 unanswered points in the first half. Even the players realized it wasn’t the way they wanted to finish the game.

Junior Dalton Ribordy pushes a Eudora runner back Friday in Louisburg.

“It feels pretty good to win,” senior lineman Mason Koechner said. “We came out good in the first half, but man we had a lot of mistakes in the second half. The score shows that we did well, and our defense held up, but we could have done a lot better.”

The Wildcats looked sharp early as they opened the game with a long drive that eventually led to a touchdown. Louisburg used a 13-play, 68-yard drive to go up 7-0 after a 1-yard touchdown run from senior Korbin Hankinson.

Eudora was then forced to punt on its next drive, but the Cardinal punter mishandled the snap and Louisburg senior Ben Hupp was able to recover the fumble and give the Wildcats a short field. Louisburg was able to take advantage as sophomore Austin Moore scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to go up 13-0.

Right before the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs and Wildcat senior Jake Hill gave Louisburg good field position to start the second quarter following a 36-yard run. The next play, quarterback Grant Harding found fellow senior Thomas San Agustin who hauled in a 40-yard over-the-shoulder catch for a touchdown and 19-0 lead.

Moore recovered Eudora’s second fumble of the game later in the first half and San Agustin later ran it in for a 3-yard touchdown to put the Wildcats up 25-0 at halftime.

San Agustin accounted for 113 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Hankinson had a team-high 81 yards on the ground and two scores, including a 30-yard pass from Harding in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Harding had 159 yards of total offense to go along with his two touchdown throws as he guided the Wildcat attack. He also got good protection from his offensive line of Koechner, T.J. Dover, Dalton Frazier, Garrett Lowry and Dustyn Rizzo.

“I thought our offensive line and running backs did a nice job in the first half and Korbin made a nice catch in the second half,” Lohse said. “Grant threw a couple nice balls for touchdowns, which was good to see because when teams start stacking the box against us we have to be able to throw the ball a little bit and he did a good job of that.”

The Wildcats had trouble getting anything going on offense in the second half thanks to penalties and two turnovers.

Louisburg’s defense did keep the shutout intact as it limited Eudora to 173 yards of total offense and the Cardinals never threatened to score.

Senior Lyndon Smith led Louisburg with 10 tackles, while Moore and Koechner added nine and eight, respectively. Hill also finished with seven stops in the win.

“Yeah we got out to a big lead, but we feel like this team is good enough that we need to learn how to finish now and we are not finishing ball games,” Lohse said. “That is what we are going to work on this week and moving forward.”

Louisburg will go for its fifth straight win Friday when it hosts Baldwin for homecoming. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“We are all pretty excited with what we have done so far,” Koechner said. “We are excited with what is to come and we know we are doing well, but we know we can do even better.”

LOU    13        12        0          8 – 33

EUD    0          0          0          0 – 0

First quarter

L: Korbin Hankinson 1 run (Nick Hull kick)

L: Austin Moore 2 run (kick failed)

Second quarter

L: Thomas San Agustin 40 pass from Grant Harding (run failed)

L: San Agustin 3 run (run failed)

Fourth quarter

L: Hankinson 30 pass from Harding (San Agustin run)

STATISTICS

OFFENSE

RUSHING – Korbin Hankinson 12-81; Thomas San Agustin 10-67; Jake Hill 7-64; Grant Harding 12-61; Will Ridley 1-11; Austin Moore 4-8

PASSING – Grant Harding 6-10-98

RECEIVING – Thomas San Agustin 2-46; Korbin Hankinson 1-30; Christian Tosterud 2-13; Ben Hupp 1-9

DEFENSE

TACKLES – Lyndon Smith 10, Austin Moore 9, Mason Koechner 8, Jake Hill 7, Nick Hull 5, Dustyn Rizzo 5, Garrett Lowry 5, T.J. Dover 4, Dalton Ribordy 4, Connor Green 3, Grant Harding 3, Thomas San Agustin 3, Blue Caplinger 3, Will Ridley 2, Kiefer Tucker 2, Christian Tosterud 1, Tucker Batten 1.

Louisburg quarterback Grant Harding looks for some running room after getting a block from T.J. Dover (70) on Friday in De Soto. The Wildcats scored 17 points in the second quarter and defeated De Soto 31-17.

DE SOTO – Following a scoreless first quarter, both the Louisburg and De Soto football teams were struggling to move the ball and for a while it looked like it was going to be a low-scoring affair.

Then 48 points later – the game was over.

The final three quarters presented several big plays Friday and Louisburg was on the positive side for a majority of them. Louisburg scored 17 points in the second quarter and left De Soto with a 31-17 victory.

“We just stuck to our game plan from the beginning of the week,” Louisburg senior Thomas San Agustin said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We were always encouraging each other out there and I thought the coaches did a great job as well during the game and getting us prepared. We had some big plays.”

San Agustin was responsible for a couple of those big plays as he scored a touchdown as time expired in the first half and later brought a kickoff back inside the 5-yard line in the third quarter to answer a De Soto score.

Mason Koechner brings down a De Soto player for a loss Friday in De Soto.

Louisburg (3-0) got on the board first in the second quarter as sophomore Austin Moore scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes and 52 seconds left in the first half. The Wildcat defense then came through with their second turnover on the night when junior Garrett Lowry recovered a fumble.

“We figured out a few things and put a couple nice drives together,” Louisburg co-head coach Gary Griffin said. “The defense played really good in the first half and got us good field position, along with the special teams. We had a few short fields and were able to take advantage.”

That turnover turned into points for the Wildcats as Nick Hull connected on a 26-yard field goal to put them up 10-0. Along with the field goal, Hull was also 4 for 4 on extra point attempts.

The Wildcats weren’t done scoring in the first half as they marched down to the 38-yard line with one second left. Louisburg was able to trick the De Soto defense as it faked a hail mary attempt, but instead quarterback Grant Harding hit San Agustin on a screen pass, who broke a couple tackles and found the endzone.

“We have some kids that can make plays and Grant and Thomas did that on the last drive of the first half,” Griffin said. “The blocking wasn’t great, but we made plays and it was a great play by Thomas. It was huge and thankful it happened because we ended up needing every point.”

San Agustin had a good feeling he could get through the De Soto defense for the score.

“Right before the play, I just knew they weren’t going to expect this.” San Agustin said. “I knew I was going to score and as I got into the endzone. I just looked back and looked at everyone and saw how excited they were. That was all for them. I just love everyone on this team. We are family.”

Louisburg’s defense played a big role in the 17-0 lead at halftime as it held De Soto to under 100 yards of total offense and forced a pair of turnovers.

Senior Mason Koechner led the Wildcat defense with nine tackles on the night, while Lowry, San Agustin and Hull each had five tackles. Lowry also had two sacks and a fumble recovery.

De Soto didn’t give up, however, as it scored on its first play from scrimmage on a 48-yard run by quarterback Bryce Mohl. Again, Louisburg used a big play to take control of the game.

San Agustin took the ensuing kickoff down to the De Soto 4-yard line and Moore scored on the next play to push the Louisburg lead to 24-7. De Soto did answer with a field goal later, but the Wildcats still led 24-10.

“I think it hurt their momentum a little bit, but then were able to come down and get a field goal,” Griffin said. “Defensively, De Soto was able to find a few holes and took advantage. We were a little undisciplined.”

De Soto drove down and scored another touchdown with under nine minutes left in the contest, but the Wildcats had one last big play left in them.

Louisburg made its way inside the De Soto 20-yard line on its next drive, but two big penalties kept the Wildcats out of the endzone – at least initially. Harding found junior Desmond Doles in the back of the endzone for a 9-yard touchdown, which turned out to be Doles’ first varsity catch.

The score put Louisburg up two touchdowns with three minutes left and the Wildcat defense was able to do the rest.

“We overcame two holding penalties and still scored,” Griffin said. “Desmond made a big catch in the endzone. The kid has some talent. He didn’t play last year, but he is getting better all the time.”

Desmond Doles hauls in the Wildcats’ final touchdown to seal the win Friday in De Soto.

The Wildcats picked up their first win in Frontier League play and third consecutive win to start the season. Louisburg returns home this Friday when the Wildcats host Eudora for a 7 p.m., kickoff. Eudora is currently 2-1 on the season.

“We are going to continue to work hard and we won’t look past any team,” San Agustin said. “We just want to keep improving and do better than what we did (Friday).”

LOU                 0          17        7          7 – 31

DES                 0          0          10        7 – 17

Second quarter

L: Austin Moore 1 run (Nick Hull kick)

L: Nick Hull 26 FG

L: Thomas San Agustin 38 pass from Grant Harding (Hull kick)

Third quarter

D: Bryce Mohl 48 run (Ethan Rodriguez kick)

L: Austin Moore 4 run (Hull kick)

D: Rodriguez 26 FG

Fourth quarter

D: Trevor Watts 2 run (Rodriguez kick)

L: Desmond Doles 9 pass from Harding (Hull kick)

STATISTICS

OFFENSE

RUSHING – Korbin Hankinson 12-72; Thomas San Agustin 13-70; Grant Harding 8-25; Jake Hill 4-19; Austin Moore 4-5.

PASSING – Grant Harding 4-10-56-2

RECEIVING – Thomas San Agustin 1-38; Desmond Doles 1-9; Jake Hill 1-5; Dalton Ribordy 1-5.

DEFENSE

TACKLES – Mason Koechner 9; Thomas San Agustin 5; Nick Hull 5; Garrett Lowry 5; Connor Green 4; Grant Harding 4; Austin Moore 4; Dustyn Rizzo 4; T.J. Dover 4; Lyndon Smith 4; Dalton Ribordy 3; Blue Caplinger 2; Jake Hill 2; Korbin Hankinson 2; Kiefer Tucker 2; Christian Tosterud 1; Ben Hupp 1

SACKS – Lowry 2; Koechner 1; Ribordy 1

Louisburg running back Thomas San Agustin (right) gets a big hole to run through thanks to a block from teammate Jake Hill (24) on Saturday at Wildcat Stadium. Weather forced Louisburg High School officials to suspend Friday’s home opener and move it to Saturday. The Wildcats rolled Piper 39-6.

It took almost an entire day for the Louisburg football team to finish its home opener with Piper – but for the Wildcats – it was well worth the wait.

Rain and lightning postponed the game Friday late in the first half and the contest was finished up Saturday afternoon. All the waiting around didn’t seem to bother Louisburg much as it scored 25 unanswered points Saturday as the Wildcats rolled Piper 39-6 at Wildcat Stadium.

Playing in the bright afternoon sunshine, rather than the Friday night lights, seemed to suit the Wildcats.

“It was a huge win,” Louisburg co-head coach Jeff Lohse said. “Piper is a good football team. It was a tale of two different days, really. (Friday) night both teams were winded, humidity was taking its affect and we had to have kids come out. But (Saturday), with fresh legs, coach (Gary) Griffin challenged the offensive line and they got after it today. That really was the difference in the game.”

The Wildcats (2-0) marched up and down the field on the Piper defense Saturday as they tallied 313 yards of total offense and scored four touchdowns in just more than two quarters of play behind the offensive line of T.J. Dover, Garrett Lowry, Mason Koechner, Dalton Frazier and Dustyn Rizzo.

Before the rain came Friday, the Wildcats got off to a strong start against Piper as quarterback Grant Harding scrambled for a 12-yard touchdown run and then Harding found Korbin Hankinson for a 27-yard touchdown on a screen pass. The Wildcats ran the same play to Hankinson to get the 2-point conversion and held a 14-0 lead into the second quarter.

Late in the second quarter, with its offense stalling, the Pirates pulled out a trick play as they scored on an 80-yard touchdown run on a hook and ladder play to cut Louisburg’s lead to 14-6 with 2 minutes and 54 seconds left before halftime.

Senior Ben Hupp brings down a Piper running back Saturday at Wildcat Stadium.

It was then the lightning showed up and forced the postponement till Saturday. All the momentum Piper had was quickly halted by Mother Nature.

“It was great call by them,” Lohse said. “For the most part on Friday we shut down their rushing attack and for them to have to score on that trick play, you have to tip your hat to them. It was a good play and there wasn’t much we could do about it.”

As the Wildcats sat in the locker room Friday waiting out the delay, they wanted to come out and make a statement and get a good kickoff return. They had to wait to Saturday to do it, but Louisburg got the boost it was looking for.

When the game resumed, Hankinson received the kickoff and returned it 73 yards for a touchdown and put Louisburg up 20-6 and the Wildcats stole the momentum right back.

“It set the tone for us,” Lohse said. “We preached that Friday and we preached that when we brought them in (Saturday) afternoon. If we could run that one back and give us good field position right before halftime that was something we knew could break their back. Coach (Robert) Ebenstein does a great job with special teams and that was definitely a big kickoff return for us.”

Piper had a chance to score before halftime as it drove the ball down the field, but the Wildcat defense held firm and kept the Pirates out of the endzone. Piper had a fourth-and-goal, but Lowry sacked the Piper quarterback to end the threat.

In the third quarter, special teams then came into play again for Louisburg as a host of Wildcats sacked the Piper punter and they took possession at Piper’s 19-yard line. Senior running back Thomas San Agustin, who led the Wildcats in rushing with 104 yards on the ground, scored his first touchdown on a 3-yard run to extend the lead to 26-6.

With 3:28 left in the third, Harding found Hankinson for the second time in the game, this time for a 22-yard touchdown and Louisburg led 32-6 going into the fourth quarter. Harding had a big game for the Wildcats as he passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another after he racked up 101 yards on the ground.

“It was different because it felt like playing a JV game, coming back and playing in the daytime,” Harding said. “It was definitely weird, but it was a huge win for us. We had a good first quarter offensively on Friday, but (Saturday) it seemed like it was almost perfect. It was pretty good.”

San Agustin capped off the Wildcats’ scoring in the fourth quarter when he found a big hole and ran for a 25-yard touchdown.

Louisburg’s defense caused Piper fits as it held the Pirates to 248 yards of total offense, with 80 of it coming on their big scoring play Friday.

Senior linebacker Nick Hull was all over the field as he finished with a team-high 10 tackles, while Koechner and Connor Green each added five. San Agustin, Jake Hill and Lowry each added a sack.

Junior Dalton Ribordy had three tackles for a loss and senior Ben Hupp added two.

“I thought the guys flew around a little bit today,” Lohse said. “They played with a lot more emotion. We did some good things on Friday, but they showed up as the team we thought we had (Saturday). We were running sideline to sideline and playing with a lot more emotion.”

Louisburg will try for its third consecutive win Friday when it travels to De Soto for a 7 p.m. kickoff. De Soto is also 2-0 on the season and the Wildcats are looking forward to the challenge.

“When we see Piper beat a good Paola team the week before, our kids knew what type of challenge we were in for,” Lohse said. “Now we have to focus our attention to a very good 2-0 De Soto team and it doesn’t get any easier. We will learn from this and see what happens.”

To view a photo gallery from the game, make sure to click here.

LOU                14        6          12        7 – 39

PIP                  0          6          0          0 – 6

First quarter

L: Grant Harding 12 run (run failed)

L: Korbin Hankinson 27 pass from Harding (Harding pass)

Second quarter

P: 80 run (kick failed)

L: Hankinson 73 kickoff return (kick failed)

Third quarter

L: Thomas San Agustin 3 run (run failed)

L: Hankinson 22 pass from Harding (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

L: San Agustin 25 run (Nick Hull kick)

STATISTICS

RUSHING – Thomas San Agustin 12-104; Grant Harding 11-101; Austin Moore 5-29; Will Ridley 5-16, Jake Hill 4-13, Korbin Hankinson 3-7.

PASSING – Grant Harding 3-5-56

RECEIVING – Korbin Hankinson 2-49; Jake Hill 1-7

Senior Jake Hill (24) puts a hit on a Wyandotte player and gets some help from teammates Austin Moore (21), Nick Hull (44) and T.J. Dover (70)  during Friday’s season opener at Wyandotte High School. The Wildcats rolled to a 48-0 victory.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Everyone got involved in some form or another for the Louisburg High School football team Friday in its season opener against Wyandotte.

The Wildcats marched up and down the field as five different people found the endzone in Louisburg’s 48-0 victory over the Bulldogs at Wyandotte High School. It was everything the Wildcats could have hoped for to begin the season.

Despite a few hiccups, the Wildcats came up with several big plays and racked up 27 points in the second quarter before they forced a running clock in the second half. Defensively, the Wildcats forced five turnovers.

“It was good,” co-head coach Gary Griffin said of the win. “I thought our kids did a lot of good things, but we were a little sloppy at times. It was pretty typical for a first game. We are leaning hard right now on our offensive line. We rushed for close to 400 yards and that is what we want to do. We are working on our passing game, but I wanted to run the football and we did a good job.”

Louisburg’s offensive line of Mason Koechner, Dustyn Rizzo, Garrett Lowry, Dalton Frazier and T.J. Dover, along with tight ends Ben Hupp and Dalton Ribordy, provided a lot of holes for the Wildcat backs to run through. Overall, Louisburg rushed for 394 yards as a team as it reeled off big play after big play.

Mason Koechner brings down Wyandotte quarterback Marcus Jones on Friday.

Senior running back Thomas San Agustin led Louisburg with 147 yards on the ground, including an 82-yard run for a touchdown to begin the onslaught in the second quarter.

Another senior, Korbin Hankinson, had a big game on both sides of the ball. Hankinson had touchdown runs of 23 and 39 yards in the first quarter to give the Wildcats an early lead and finished with 122 yards for the game.

“It feels good to get this first game under our belt because you are always nervous for that first one,” Hankinson said. “We all had a pretty good game. I really have to give it to my linemen for all the good runs I had. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Defensively, Hankinson was also responsible for three of Wyandotte’s turnovers. Hankinson intercepted three passes from the cornerback spot.

“Korbin is a heck of an athlete,” Griffin said. “He really hasn’t played a ton of defensive back for us, but when the ball is in the air he goes and gets it and that is really nice to see.”

After San Agustin’s touchdown in the second quarter, quarterback Grant Harding got a couple good blocks and broke free for a 29-yard touchdown run.

Senior Jake Hill also reeled off a pair of big runs in the second quarter as he scored on runs of 26 and 27 yards, respectively, to put Louisburg up 41-0 at halftime.

Sophomore Austin Moore added a 3-yard touchdown in the third quarter to force the running clock and sealed the win for the Wildcats.

“We have some stuff to fix, but overall I think we played pretty well,” Hankinson said. “We had about four or five plays where we had touchdowns called back and had a bigger lead, but I think we did really well overall.”

Defensively, the Wildcats had to deal with Wyandotte quarterback Marcus Jones, who was a threat to run or throw on every snap. Still, Louisburg limited Wyandotte to 122 yards of offense.

“He is an athletic kid,” Griffin said of Wyandotte’s quarterback. “They ran some different stuff than what we were expecting, but I though Coach (Jeff) Lohse did a good job with adjustments and the kids responded well. We just have to keep plugging away. We have a lot of room for improvement but that is probably a good thing.”

Seniors Nick Hull and Koechner led the Wildcats with seven tackles each, while Rizzo added five tackles and two sacks. Moore finished with six tackles, while Hill and Dover tallied five tackles.

The Wildcats also got a good performance from the second team defense as sophomore Kohl Vogel intercepted two passes in the second half to keep the shutout intact.

Louisburg gets an opportunity to play in front of its home crowd Friday as it hosts Piper in its home opener. Piper defeated Paola 23-13 in week one and the Wildcats know it will be challenge to get that second straight win.

“Our schedule outside of (Wyandotte) is pretty brutal,” Griffin said. “We just have to convince the kids that hard-nosed football is what wins games. Piper is going to be a tough, physical game. They have a lot of athletes and returning players. They beat us two years ago and we beat them last year, so this is going to be a rubber game. It will be a good test for us and we need that.”

To view a photo gallery from the game, please click here.

LOU    14        27        7          0 – 48

WYAN            0          0          0          0 – 0

First quarter

L: Korbin Hankinson 23 run (kick failed)

L: Hankinson 39 run (Ben Hupp pass from Grant Harding)

Second quarter

L: Thomas San Agustin 82 run (Harding run)

L: Harding 29 run (run failed)

L: Jake Hill 26 run (Hill kick)

L: Hill 27 run (kick failed)

Third quarter

L: Austin Moore 3 run (Hill kick)

STATISTICS

RUSHING – Thomas San Agustin 9-147; Korbin Hankinson 8-122; Jake Hill 3-52; Grant Harding 5-29; Austin Moore 7-27; Nick Hull 1-9, Brian Houck 4-4, Blue Caplinger 1-0. Totals: 40-394.

PASSING – Grant Harding 1-1-3

RECEIVING – Ben Hupp 1-3

Four Louisburg High School graduates will find themselves on the sidelines as they take part in the highest level collegiate football has to offer. Mesa Ribordy, Kade Larson, Luke Hupp and Konnor Cook are all on Division I rosters as they compete for time on the field for their respective schools.

Below are small bios and the school they will play for this season.

Mesa Ribordy, redshirt freshman, University of Kansas

Mesa Ribordy could see a lot of playing time this season for the Kansas Jayhawks after redshirting last season. Ribordy is listed as a backup guard and center on the most recent depth chart and has bulked up since moving to Lawrence. He now stands at 6 feet, 4 inches and weighs 290 pounds.

Ribordy, who wears No. 69, could see the field as early as this Saturday when the Jayhawks host Rhode Island at 6 p.m. Ribordy is a 2015 graduate of Louisburg High School and spent of his time at the tight end spot at high school before finding a home on the offensive line with the Jayhawks.

Kade Larson, sophomore, University of Tennessee-Martin

Kade Larson had to battle a little adversity before joining the Tennessee-Martin football team, but Larson seems to be finding a nice home with the Skyhawks. Larson, who stands at 6-3 and weighs 275 pounds, plays on the offensive line and saw some playing time as a freshman.

In 2014, Larson started out with the Skyhawks, but suffered an arm-injury during fall workous and had to redshirt. In 2015, Larson played in five games and later earned a spot on the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Larson, who wears No. 98, is a 2013 Louisburg High School graduate and started out his collegiate career playing baseball for Coffeyville Community College before deciding on football. While in high school, Larson was an all-Frontier League player on both the offensive and defensive lines and was all-state defensive lineman as a senior. Larson and the Skyhawks opened their season with a 28-7 loss to Cincinnati on Thursday.

Luke Hupp, sophomore, Oklahoma State University

Luke Hupp worked his way up the to Division I ranks last year when he earned a walk-on spot with the Oklahoma State football team. Hupp redshirted last season after spending a little time at Fort Scott Community College in 2014.

Hupp, who is listed at 5-10 and 255 pounds, plays the Cowboy Back position for Oklahoma State and could also see some time on special teams. Hupp wears No. 40 for the Cowboys.

Hupp is 2014 Louisburg High School graduate and played fullback and linebacker for a majority of his time with the Wildcats. Hupp and the Cowboys opener their season at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana.

Konnor Cook, junior, Kansas State University

Konnor Cook is in his first year with the Kansas State football program after taking a break from football. Cook earned a walk-on spot with the Wildcats this past spring and will play fullback.

Cook, who measures at 6-0 and 241 pounds, will wear No. 48 for the Wildcats this season. He played six games for Coffeyville Community College in 2013 as a freshman.

He graduated from Louisburg High School in 2013 and earned all-state honors as a defensive tackle. Cook and Kansas State opens their season at 8 p.m. tonight against Stanford.

Louisburg senior running back Jake Hill (left) tries to get away from fellow senior Owen Staver during the Wildcats’ scrimmage last Friday at Wildcat Stadium. The Wildcats open their season Friday when they travel to Wyandotte.

The sting of last season’s first round playoff loss continues to hang around the Louisburg High School football team.

The Wildcats players felt it over the summer and all the way through the first couple weeks of practice. They welcome it, however, as they are using it as motivation for what the Wildcats hope is a special season.

It won’t be easy as Louisburg faces a tough schedule, including a rough gauntlet through the Frontier League. Still, they aren’t backing down from the challenge.

“We have very high expectations for this season,” co-head coach Jeff Lohse said. “As always, the Frontier League will be an extremely tough, physical league. We are going to continue to work hard every day and take it game by game.”

Louisburg has the experience to handle what its nine-game schedule holds as it returns seven starters on offense and eight on defense from a team that finished 7-2 in the regular season last year.

Offensively, senior Grant Harding takes over the quarterback spot after serving as the backup last season and did see time as a starter his sophomore campaign.

Senior Thomas San Agustin, a second-team all-Frontier League player a season ago, is also one of the team’s starting running backs. Fellow seniors Korbin Hankinson, Jake Hill, Nick Hull, along with junior Will Ridley and sophomore Austin Moore will also see a fair share of snaps in the backfield at times this year.

Wide receivers Desmond Doles, Christian Tosterud, Connor Green and Jackson Ewalt will give Harding options to throw to, while Ben Hupp and Dalton Ribordy will help on the offensive line at the tight end position.

The Wildcat offense will be led by co-head coach Gary Griffin.

“I think our experience should be the strength of the team,” Griffin said. “Grant has played quite a bit of quarterback, especially as a sophomore, but he has played a lot for three years at other positions. We have five running backs with starting experience and probably the only positions with inexperience is at wide receiver and tight end, but we have some talented kids there as well.”

The Louisburg football team huddles together before last week’s scrimmage

The most talented part of the offense could be the Wildcat offensive line as they return three all-league players from a year ago. Senior Dustyn Rizzo earned second-team honors, while fellow senior T.J. Dover and Mason Koechner were honorable mentions.

Junior Garrett Lowry returns after starting last season, while Dalton Frazier, Matthew Rison and Kiefer Tucker are all battling to take the center spot.

“We have four starters back on the offensive line and they have a great understanding of what we are trying to do,” Griffin said. “We are going to rely on them. They are a big, strong and tough group that is pretty athletic, so there is a lot of stuff we ought to be able to do.”

Rizzo will also help anchor the Wildcat defense as he is a returning first-team all-league player on the defensive line. He led the Wildcat defensive line with 49 tackles, including eight for a loss. He also had five sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Koechner and Dover, who were honorable mentions all-league on defense as well last season, will join Rizzo on the line.

Moore, San Agustin and Hull are the team’s starting linebackers, while Harding, Hankinson and Hill will man the secondary. A spot on the defensive line and at cornerback are still up for grabs heading into this week’s opener.

“Our defense has the potential to be really good this year,” Lohse said, who will run the defense. “We return eight starters from last season and many other guys who have gotten a lot of reps. Our team speed and experience are going to be huge factors for us this year. We have the luxury of having a lot of quality backups at many positions to help with our depth.”

Experience will be key for the Wildcats as they return 16 seniors this year and it has already shown their leadership on and off the field.

“Practices have been going extremely well,” Lohse said. “The seniors have been doing a great job of leading and this was evident from day one in the weight room this summer.”

The Wildcats will hit the field for the first time this season when they travel to Wyandotte High School at 7 p.m. Friday. Louisburg will host Piper for its home opener on Sept. 9.

Louisburg High School’s Kyle Littrell stepped down as head football coach Thursday and his letter of resignation was accepted by the USD 416 Board of Education during a special meeting later that night.

A week before the start of the 2016 season, Louisburg High School head football coach Kyle Littrell has resigned from his post.

During a special meeting of the USD 416 Board of Education on Thursday evening, Littrell turned in his resignation to the board and it was accepted by a 6-1 vote. He also resigned from his assistant track and field position. The board met in executive session for nearly an hour before taking a vote.

Board members Jerry Flanagan, Bruce Caldwell, John Payton, Jacob Vickrey, Lanny Smith and Dr. Sally Lundblad all voted to accept his resignation, while Rob Vohs cast the “no” vote.

During the roll call vote, Dr. Lundblad stated she wished (Littrell) was not submitting a letter of resignation as head football coach, according to the board minutes.

In a related action, the board voted to appoint LHS assistants Gary Griffin and Jeff Lohse as co-head coaches for the remainder of the year. LHS physical education teacher Zac Livingston was also named as an assistant coach for the rest of the season. The motion was passed 7-0.

Earlier in the week, reports surfaced that Littrell was arrested in July on a domestic battery charge. He posted bond and appeared in Miami County District Court on Thursday afternoon where he accepted a diversionary agreement and the case was closed.

Littrell was entering his fourth season as the Wildcat head coach. He led Louisburg to a 7-3 record a season ago and earned a spot in the state playoffs.

He was at the fall sports community pep rally Thursday evening before the board meeting and introduced his team before the crowd and talked about how excited he was for the season. A couple hours later, he resigned.

USD 416 superintendent Dr. Brian Biermann declined to comment on the situation. Littrell could not be reached for comment at this time.

The team will have its fall scrimmage at 6 p.m. tonight. The Wildcats open their season next Friday at Wyandotte and will have their home opener on Sept. 9 against Piper.