Friday, November 12, 2010

It's a long way to Holton, Kansas

     I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating again, the road to the Kansas Class 4A State Championship runs through Holton, Kansas. In the past few years, it's been the Paola Panthers, or the Louisburg Wildcats hitting that road, and taking on the Wildcats on what could best be described as a "quirky" field on the north side of Holton High School. (Any one who's stood on the visitors side of that field will know exactly what I'm talking about!)
     Now, lets get this out in the open, I have nothing against Holton, or Holton High School, quite the contrary, I really like Holton, my mother's side of the family all came from that area, and I still have relatives living in Holton, and heck, what's not to like about a team that's coached by a good K-State Wildcat like Brooks Barta.
     No, I like Holton a lot, just not this time of year. Now we on the "Eastern" half of the state (I'm no geography expert, but I'd sure like to know where East turns into West in the eyes of the KHSHAA), have had the good fortune to get to take that trek up 75 highway to Holton, which sets just 36 miles from the Missouri Border (which by the way is closer than Baldwin is to Missouri), and vice versa to tangle with the Wildcats on many occasions.
     But not this year, nope, that honor goes to the Ulysses Tigers, out of good old Ulysses, Kansas, location, 38 miles from the Colorado border. Yep, the Tigers get to make a six and a half hour, 375 mile trek from the southwest corner of the state to play at Holton in the northeast corner of the state. Evidently, the Tigers ran out of teams to play out there, because they're certainly getting the money's worth out of this trip!
     The good news is the folks from Ulysses will get an extra day to make the trip, since their game will be played tomorrow night, instead of tonight, and more good news, they might just miss the rain, but there could be a hit of snow in the air up there in Holton. Heck, even Buhler has a long trip ahead of them as they get to travel to Topeka to take on the Hayden Wildcats.
     It makes the 30 to 40 mile trips that DeSoto and Baldwin have to make look easy (and they are)! But, I guess it just goes to show where the population base of the state lies -- there's just not much out there after you get past Salina.
     A couple of more interesting tidbits about the sectional games. If Holton, Hayden, Paola and Louisburg all win their games (and I think there's a good chance they will) then all four of the Class 4A Sub-State teams will have come from two districts, district 5 with Louisburg and Paola and district 9 with Hayden and Holton.
     I find this interesting because a the reason the winner and runner-up in each district advances to the playoffs is because of the Hayden/Holton district alignment in the past. Those two school have battled for years in the same district, and many times one would get left out of the playoffs because of the head-to-head district match up. Several years ago they lobbied the KSHSAA and got the the system changed, two teams out of each district qualify and voila, there was the "bi-district" level of playoffs.
    Not that this change has hurt the Panthers and Wildcats here in Miami County, because they're running into the same dilemma. Hayden and Holton were moved out of the same district for a few years recently, but are back battling it out again this year. Paola and Louisburg are going to be in the same situation, unless and until one school moves up a class. It could happen, Paola is still right on the border line of the 4A-5A split, and the Louisburg community is growing, but I don't foresee these two escaping their district battles any time soon.
     Finally, and I'm no expert, or historian, but I certainly can't remember when one league has filled four of the eight spots in the sectionals like the Frontier League has done this year. With Louisburg (11-0), Baldwin (10-1), Paola (9-3) and DeSoto (8-4) all holding down spots in the eastern sectional games, the Frontier League is guaranteed a spot in the state championship game in two weeks in Salina. Pretty good stuff, and proof that it's not just lip service when coaches in the league say "The Frontier League is a tough league to play in."
     The next two weeks will be fun to watch. I'm still predicting a Paola and Louisburg rematch next Friday night, this time it will be for all (or nearly all) the marbles. The other games I have no clue on, I have no idea what Ulysses brings to the table, and I know Buhler is undefeated, but judging from their schedule, weren't really tested prior to defeating Abilene last Saturday night. So, I'm going with history here and saying I think Holton and Hayden will again duke it out next week also.
     Heck, all Hayden's done this year is go 10-1, and that loss was a 7-6 loss, on the road to 6A Manhattan (which by the way is undefeated and cruising to a 6A title game berth), and includes a 27-13 district title game win at Holton. Now Holton's been no slouch either, losing just to Hayden, and on the road at 6A Topeka High School in the first week of the season.
     So, there you go, it's a long way to Holton, but if you want to get to the state championship football game in Class 4A, you better be prepared to make that trip somewhere down the road.

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