Week 1: Pick Six West Recaps

Jaren Kanak, Hays High defense dazzles against Wichita East
By Rick Peterson Jr.
HAYS -- Back in 2018, Jaren Kanak was midway through his freshman season when he delivered his first big highlight for Hays High.
Hays coach Tony Crough remembers the play well.
The Indians were protecting a two-touchdown lead but were backed up deep in their own territory. Then-Hays High receiver Willie Sennett got open deep but dropped the pass and ended up suffering a season-ending injury on the play.
Kanak was inserted into the game, and the Indians ran the very same play. He hauled in a pass from Palmer Hutchison and raced 97 yards for a touchdown, setting a school record for the longest touchdown reception.
Flash forward to Friday’s season opener.
The Indians were backed up at their own 2 in the third quarter against Wichita East when Kanak, now playing quarterback, offered a suggestion to Crough.
“He goes, ‘Let’s throw it to Jordan (Dale). Let’s let him break my school record.’”
Crough was blown away.
“What a cool thing for a kid to say,” Crough said.
Kanak followed through, lofting a pretty pass on a post route to Dale, who made the grab and took it to the house for a 98-yard score, breaking the record Kanak set as a freshman.
“I was super excited,” Kanak said. “I couldn’t be more happy for Jordan. I’m not exactly a quarterback, so putting that ball right there was really exciting for both me and Jordan.”
The Clemson commit may not be a true quarterback, but he certainly looked the part on Friday, running for 240 yards and three touchdowns while throwing for 169 including the 98-yarder to Dale in the Indians’ 35-6 win over the Blue Aces at Lewis Field Stadium.
Kanak didn’t start preparing to play quarterback until the start of fall practice. Dylan Dreiling was expected to be Hays High’s quarterback but Dreiling, a star baseball player who is committed to the University of Tennessee, ultimately decided not to go out for football.
Kanak, who is expected to play linebacker at Clemson, said he had no hesitation about assuming quarterback duties.
“I’m always going to do what’s best for the team,” Kanak said. “I’m still in high school. Obviously I’m going to play linebacker at the next level, but I’m not at the next level yet. I’m right here in high school and I’m going to do what’s best for the high school team and put us in the best position for success.”
Kanak dazzled in just his second career game at QB, running for touchdowns of 58, 17 and 54 yards.
“He’s a pro,” Crough said. “The kid handles everything like a professional. When you get a professional linebacker and you put him at quarterback, that’s what they look like,” Crough said.
The Indians’ defense was just as impressive, blanking the Aces until late in the third quarter and keeping Wichita East playmakers DaeOnte Mitchell and Caquoy Patterson in check for most of the night.
Crough credited defensive coordinator Layton Hickel for the defensive game plan.
“[Hickel] always has a great plan,” Crough said. “You know we’ve lost [Gaven] Haselhorst and [Trey] Adams and [Tucker] Veach. Those are three generational type kids. You don’t get kids that play like they do very often in high school, especially those freakish abilities of those two D-ends.
“And I think our defense has a chance to be as good or better. Just because, collectively, we’re older, have size in the secondary now and then have all those guys that have been good for us the last couple years.”
Linebacker Gavin Meyers, another Division I recruit, led the Indians with 14 tackles.
Other players who shined on defense included linebacker Dalton Dale, defensive back Remy Stull and the Indians’ entire defense line, including Grayson Walburn, Gavin Nutting, Carson Spray and Iden Baalman.
Hays High’s offense found life in the third quarter, starting with a 12-yard touchdown run from sophomore Malik Bah. Kanak then delivered a pair of touchdowns run before hitting Dale with the long touchdown pass.
Bah finished with 60 yards rushing on 13 carries.
“Getting Malik going was big, and that helps Jaren get loose,” Crough said.
Several starters, including Kanak, had been battling sickness last week and missed practice time. Running back Roy Moroni was sick Friday and did not play.
The Indians, coming off a 5-3 season, are looking to take another step forward and contend in 5A. Kanak said Hays High’s dominant second half on Friday was a good sign.
“I think the past few years we’ve kind of been a team that piddle-paddled around and kind of actually sometimes got lucky," Kanak said. “We came out that second half and we showed that we’re a team that can compete. We can shove the ball down the throat. We can make these close games not close.”
The Indians will play host to rival Great Bend on Friday at Lewis Field Stadium.
TMP-Marian 31, Oakley 13
At Oakley, TMP surrendered a first-quarter touchdown but then reeled off 31 straight points to avenge last year’s loss to the Plainsmen.
Monarch quarterback Kade Harris threw two touchdowns and ran for another, while Mark Rack intercepted two passes, returning the second pick for a 35-yard touchdown to help TMP seal it.
Andrew Schwartz and Griffin Schumacher each caught a touchdown pass from Harris, and Jace Wentling made a 30-yard field goal.
TMP’s Bryce Seib had 74 yards on the ground.
The Monarchs will travel to Russell next week, while Oakley, last year’s Class 1A runner-up, will play at Plainville next week. Russell beat Ellis 17-6 on Friday, while Plainville rolled to a 34-7 win over Phillipsburg.
Hill City 28, Osborne 6
At Hill City, the Ringnecks locked down the Bulldogs, holding Osborne to one fourth-quarter touchdown.
Kaleb Atkins, Aiden Amein and Jaden Nuss each ran for a touchdown and helped Hill City amass 227 yards on the ground. Amrein, a sophomore quarterback, also threw a touchdown pass to Derek Keith.
Atkins finished with 96 yards on six carries, while Nuss ran for 67 yards on just three carries and Aimrein finished with 60 yards on 16 attempts.
Connor Schurr scored the Bulldogs’ only touchdown. He rushed for 67 yards on 16 carries.
Atkins notched a game-high 15 tackles.
Hill City will play at Ness City on Friday in a matchup of 1-0 teams. Osborne will host Beloit-St. John’s Tipton.
Smith Center 26, Norton 7
At Smith Center, the Redmen outgained the Bluejays by a staggering 344-93 margin.
Luke Franklin ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, while Nathan Jaeger rushed for 84 yards and Jake Kirchhoff 63.
Franklin scored a pair of 2-yard touchdowns in the first quarter. Jaeger put the Redmen up 20-0 with a 1-yard plunge in the third quarter, and Bentley Montgomery had a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth.
Norton broke up the shutout with Sean Anderson’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Todd Martin in the fourth.
Anderson and Rylan Wildeman each had nine tackles for Norton.
Smith Center will travel to Phillipsburg on Friday, while Norton will look to bounce back at home against Ellis.
Victoria 54, La Crosse 26
At La Crosse, a balanced rushing attack and dominant third quarter helped the Knights break away.
Victoria led 22-20 at halftime before outscoring La Crosse 24-0 in the third quarter.
The Knights had four players flirt with 100-yard rushing games. Carson Werth ran for 95 yards and quarterback Grant Schoenrock finished with 91 yards while Lane Schmidtberger and Nate Windholz each had 88 yards on the ground. Schoenrock, Schmidtberger and Windholz each had two rushing touchdowns. Schoenrock also threw a touchdown pass to Seth Schwien.
La Crosse standout Colby Stull finished with 147 yards on 25 carries with one touchdown. Stull also caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Caden Morgan.
The Knights outgained the Leopards 416-313.
Victoria will play at Chase on Friday. La Crosse will travel to Hoxie.
Meade 40, South Central 20
At Meade, Korben Clawson ran for 254 yards and four touchdowns to lift the Buffaloes to victory in Bryan Luetters’ debut as Meade head coach.
South Central was within six heading into the fourth quarter but Clawson helped the Buffaloes gain separation with touchdown runs of 5 and 18 yards.
South Central’s Tucker Uhl had a rushing touchdown and caught a touchdown from Colby Snyder. Snyder also ran for a score.
Meade will play host to Ingalls on Friday, while South Central will be home against Hodgeman County.