Game Notes: Piper Elite Defenders

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the first Friday of the Kansas Prep Football season, I traveled a few miles north to scout the United Kansas League opener for the Piper Pirates and Seaman Vikings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at five defensive players who stood out for the Pirates.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='812781' first='Trent' last='Rymer'],</strong> LB, 5'10”, 170, Piper, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rymer is ranked No. 56 overall in the Kansas Class of 2026. &nbsp;He is a fast-flowing linebacker who finishes off tackles. He made the first tackle of the game on special teams and was locked in the rest of the game. He has solid instincts and finishes tackles. He has offers from multiple NAIA programs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1363887' first='Roch' last='Emanuel'],</strong> DL, 6'5”, 260, Piper, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emanuel is ranked No. 81 overall in the Kansas Class of 2026. He has verbally committed to Northwest Missouri in the MIAA. He if a physical interior lineman with a long reach. I saw him beat a double-team at least twice, and he made an impressive tackle for loss early in the contest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1879387' first='Avery' last='Williams'],</strong> LB, 5'11”, 210, Piper, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Williams is currently an unranked linebacker for Piper. He is bigger and more physical than Rymer, but I would give Rymer the edge in speed. The two of them combined with Emanuel, shut down the running game in the middle of the field. Seaman used the pass game and worked the run game outside to avoid the three.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613502' first='Roman' last='Byers'],</strong> DB/RB, 6'2”, 200, Piper, ‘27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Byers is ranked No. 25 overall in the Kansas Class of 2027. He is super quick and played well on both sides of the ball. As a safety, he runs downhill like a dog after a bone. He can make open-field tackles in the run game and can play center field for the defense, like Pete Crow Armstrong runs centerfield for the Chicago Cubs. He is Piper's primary offensive weapon and runs the ball or catches it out of the backfield. He broke a long touchdown run for Piper. He is being recruited by multiple Big 12 Conference programs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kole Schaunaman,</strong> DL, 6'3”, 220, Piper, ‘27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The surprise of the night for me was Piper's explosive junior defensive end, Schaunaman. He has a big reach and can beat blockers with a quick swim move or split a double team with his quickness and length. He recorded one sack in the first half of the season opener. He is currently unranked by Prep Redzone Kansas, but he has at least one advocate to be added the next time the Class of 2027 rankings are updated.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->