Top Performers from Free State vs. Washburn Rural

Made the trip out to Topeka for the regional round to see Lawrence Free State take on Washburn Rural. The Fire Birds came into the matchup at 7-2 looking to continue their incredible turnaround season, and the Jr. Blues were riding high with an 8-1 record, motivated to make their first sectional round appearance since 2016. On paper this matchup was one of the more highly anticipated games from the regional round in Class 6A, so the final score was a bit surprising. The first half was low scoring, but momentum switched with a special teams touchdown from Free State in the second quarter, putting them up 21-7. The Fire Birds carried that momentum into the second half, as they advance to the sectional round, defeating the Jr. Blues 42-10. Here’s a recap of the players that stood out from this regional round matchup <strong>(Unofficial Stats).</strong> <em>Offense: </em> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="35595" first="Jet" last="Dineen"]</strong> – Free State, QB, <em>Class of ’22</em> Dineen continues to make his case for <em>6A Offensive Player of the Year</em> after his performance in this one. He’s been the difference maker for the Fire Birds all season long. Whenever they need to come up with a big conversion, Dineen steps up to make the play. He earns <em>Player of the Game</em> after accounting for 232 yards of total offense with three touchdowns on the ground. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="113642" first="Robby" last="Bolin"]</strong> – Washburn Rural, WR, <em>Class of ’22</em> With Rural’s offense struggling, the Jr. Blues needed a spark from someone. Bolin was able to provide that for them on special teams. The senior scored their lone touchdown on an impressive 95-yard kick return in the first quarter. He would go on to rack up 122 all-purpose yards for the game. <strong>Dash Cleveland</strong> – Free State, RB, <em>Class of ‘22</em> The Fire Birds dominated the trenches throughout the game; giving Cleveland and Dineen a lot of room to run. Cleveland finished the game second behind Dineen in rushing for Free State. The senior ran for 101 yards on 19 carriers with one touchdown that he punched in during the first quarter. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145519" first="Branton" last="DeWeese"]</strong> – Washburn Rural, QB, <em>Class of ’24</em> Deweese had been solid during his first full season as QB1, but he had a tough outing in this game. Free State’s defensive front was consistently getting pressure on Deweese all night. This made it difficult for Rural to get anything going offensively. He finished his first regional round appearance with 119 yards of total offense. The sophomore may have struggled, but he and the Jr. Blues have a bright future with a surplus of young talent developing. <em>Defense: </em> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="35664" first="Ty" last="Weber"]</strong> – Washburn Rural, LB, <em>Class of ’23</em> Weber showed last night why he’s on the radar of a few Division I programs. The junior led Rural in total tackles with 12, and he came up with three tackles in the backfield. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="35563" first="Tai" last="Newhouse"]</strong> – Free State, DL, <em>Class of ’22</em> The <em>Tulsa </em>commit dominated upfront for the Fire Birds. He helped stuff Rural’s run game and was one of the main defensive linemen getting pressure on Deweese. Newhouse went on to rack up seven total tackles for the game. <strong>Connor Conklin &amp; Wyatt Conklin</strong> – WR, <em>Class of ’22 &amp; ’23</em> The Jr. Blues are known for their linebackers, and they were a busy unit during this matchup. The Conklin brothers followed behind Weber in tackles, with Wyatt tallying 11 total and Connor ending the game with 9 total.