Highland Park and Liberal Games Headline: 5A Regional Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In Class 5A, it's the eastern side of the state that has a couple of awesome match-ups to follow.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a close-up look at four prospects hoping to shine in the regional round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Spring Hill &nbsp;(7-2) @ Mill Valley (7-2) – </strong>This has the potential of being one of the most entertaining games of the week in all classifications in Kansas. Both teams have only two losses and they each came against a quality playoff opponent. The winner of this regional game will play the winner of the De Soto (8-1) and Seaman (5-4) match-up in the sectional round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tyson Beashore</strong>, QB, 6'1”, 180, Spring Hill, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Spring Hill Broncos have been a consistent team all season. Their offense is led by junior signal caller Tyson Beashore. He has thrown for 1,020 yards through nine games and has eight touchdown passes. He has nice footwork and can throw a deep ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Shawnee Heights (7-2) at Highland Park (7-2) </strong> This six-seed/three-seed matchup will be played at Hummer Sports Park on Thursday. The Scotties won their first playoff game last week since the 1991 football season. Can they make it two in a row? The winner of this game in the sectional round will face either Blue Valley Southwest (8-1) or Lansing (5-4).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tucker Busenitz</strong>, DB,&nbsp; 5'9”, 195, Shawnee Heights, ‘24</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Busenitz is a defensive playmaker who has a nice combination of speed and toughness. He is second on the Thunderbirds' roster with 48 total tackles. Seven of those tackles accounted for a loss of yardage. He can play strong safety or free safety and has two interceptions in nine games played.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Great Bend &nbsp;(6-3) @ Kapaun Mt. Carmel (8-1)</strong> – The No. 1 seed out west will face the No. 9-seed Great Bend Panthers and what could be a high-scoring game. The winner of this contest will face the winner of a battle of two 7-2 teams Maize South and Hutchinson in the sectional round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1113368' first='Daxton' last='Minton'], </strong>&nbsp;QB, 5'10”, 160, Great Bend, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Panthers have a young quarterback that college coaches need to remember for future recruiting. Minton, just a sophomore has thrown for 1,191 yards and 15 touchdowns, while rushing for 533 yards and six more scores. He will only get better with experience and will need a solid game if Great Bend is able to pull off an upset.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Maize (4-5) at Liberal (8-1) – </strong>Liberal has been one of my favorites to win Class 5A all season long. They have a formidable opponent this week in Maize. The winner of this game will meet either Eisenhower (8-1) or Hays (7-2). Liberal's one loss on the season came to Hays.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1103757' first='Ayden' last='Flores'],</strong> LB, 6'1”, 186, Maize, ‘24</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Flores has been gobbling up ball carriers like Pac-Man gobbled up ghosts. The senior linebacker leads the Eagles with 104 total tackles through nine games. He can put pressure on the quarterback as he has three sacks and six tackles-for-loss for Maize.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->