High school season culminates with title games Silver Lake hitting

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Nov 28, 2003 by Brent Maycock Capital-Journal

Please see CLASS 3A, Page 5C

Continued from Page 1C

Class 3A: Eagles get rematch for title

MATT STAMEY/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Silver Lake quarterback Kyle Kruger (8) leads the Eagles into Saturday's Class 3A championship game against Conway Springs.

By Brent Maycock

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

EMPORIA --- In many ways, the 2003 season has been one big jigsaw puzzle at Silver Lake.

The Eagles came into the season with a pretty good idea of what the final picture should turn out to be. Returning a record-setting All-State quarterback, a Division I-bound lineman, one of the program's best tailbacks and a hard-nosed linebacker from last year's Class 3A runner-up team, Silver Lake had the look of contender again.

The Eagles also knew that the pieces needed to complete the puzzle were there. It was just a matter of getting them to fit, and how long that would take.

"As a coach, sometimes you're impatient and wish it was sooner than later," Silver Lake coach C.J. Hamilton said. "With this group here, it just took a little time."

Just in time, everything's fallen into place. And at 1 p.m. Saturday at Emporia State's Welch Stadium, the Eagles get a chance at redemption.

Silver Lake (12-1) will get a rematch with Conway Springs (13-0), which denied the Eagles a sixth state title last year with a 28-19 come-from-behind win.

"We've gone through our growing pains during the season," Hamilton said. "To the kids' credit, they've handled things well most nights. Hopefully, we'll be able to do that again Saturday."

The Eagles' task at hand is every bit as formidable as it was a year ago. Conway will be trying to win its third straight 3A title and enters the game on a 40-game winning streak.

Like Silver Lake, the Cardinals endured some heavy losses from last year's title team --- namely four players now at Division I programs. But also like the Eagles, Conway had some key personnel back to make another run not only possible, but expected.

"We thought we'd make another competitive year of it, whether that meant nine wins, 10 wins or winning state," said Conway coach Mark Bliss, who is 80-4 during his stint as Cardinal coach. "We've been blessed. We're going through a good run of kids."

How good is this run? Well, the Cardinals lost future Kansas State lineman Caleb Handy to a knee injury in the third game of the season and haven't missed a beat. A strong junior class, led by tailback Darrin Seiwert and quarterback Matt Wykes, and the addition of linebacker Travis Cook (committed to Wyoming) have Conway on the verge of becoming just the fifth team in state history to post three straight undefeated seasons.

History was being threatened in last week's semifinal game with Hesston. The game was tied 17-17 at halftime before Conway pulled away for a 52-24 win.

"Our kids didn't play well in the first half," Bliss said. "At halftime, we made a couple of adjustments and challenged them a bit and they came out and played like they were supposed to. I just told them, 'Guys, we haven't lost a game in three years. If you guys decide you want to lose tonight, you'll have to live with that the rest of your life.' "

Silver Lake also found itself in a tussle at halftime of its semifinal game with Rossville, leading just 7-6. But a huge second half by the Eagles turned into a 41-14 victory and the program's ninth title-game appearance.

The win, which avenged Silver Lake's only loss this season, served as proof of the development process that the Eagles' offense has endured this season. Particularly in the playoffs, the new corps of receivers finally clicked with Kyle Kruger, much in the same way that last year's senior-laden group did game after game.

While Kruger has thrown for 2,892 yards this year --- second in state history only to the 3,345 he put up last year --- Workman has added 1,480 yards and 30 touchdowns on the ground, making the Eagles far less predictable than perhaps they've been in past years.

"Last year, they were predominantly pass," Bliss said. "What makes them scary this year is they can run and throw. What we did last year in terms of game preparation, we've had to throw in wrinkles to cover all the bases."

On the flip side, Conway also looks a bit different.

Oh the Cardinals can still run the ball. Seiwert has run for 2,352 yards and 38 touchdowns and Conway has racked up 4,614 on the ground total, but Wykes has also thrown for 1,319 yards, completing nearly 50 percent of his passes.

"That's the neatest thing," Bliss said. "In the last couple of years, we've been kind of one-dimensional. But this year, if you're going to crowd the box, we're going to throw on you; if you play an honest defense, we'll do a little bit of both."

Brent Maycock can be reached at

(785) 295-5662 or brent.maycock@cjonline.com.