James Puff Passes Away

     Maple Hill—James M. “Jim” Puff, 68, passed away Saturday, September 14, 2019 at the Midland Hospice House.

     He was born October 26, 1950 at Topeka, the son of Charles Richard and Iryllis Dee Gronquist Puff.  Jim grew up in the Oakland community and graduated from Highland Park High School in 1968.  He served in the National Guard.

     Jim was a meat cutter by trade working in many Topeka grocery stores.  In 1986 he and his wife Patti moved to Maple Hill when they bought Barrett’s Grocery Store.  They added Puffy’s Steak and Ice House in 1994 selling the business in 2017.  Jim was a member of the catholic faith.  He had belonged to the Local Meat Cutters Union in Topeka.

     He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother David Puff, two brothers-in-law, Dennis Schimmel and Doug Menke.

     On January 22, 1972 Jim and Patricia M. Menke were united in marriage at Topeka.  She survives of the home.

     Other survivors include a son, Chad James (Lyndsay) Puff, Fisher, IN; three daughters, Brandi Marie (Myron) Hurla, Paxico, Shannon Joyce (Brandon) Kent, and Kelli Suzanne Parnell all of Maple Hill: four brothers Richard (Penny) Puff, Topeka, Jon (Debbie) Puff, Springfield, MO. Bobby (Vickie) Puff, Hernando, MS. and Skip (Pam) Puff, Maple Hill; his sister, Alice Schimmel, Maple Hill; sister-in-law, Ruth Ann Puff, Topeka; 10 grandchildren, Desiree (Todd) Worrel, Mason (Taylor) & Triston (Taylor) Hurla, Wyatt & Isabella Puff, Fischer & Maize Kent, Kennedy, Karlie & Kallie Parnell three great-grandchildren, Tripp & Trakk Worrel and Talon Hurla.

     A rosary will be recited at 1:30 P.M. Sunday September 22, 2019 followed by a visitation until 4:00 P.M. at Piper Funeral Home in St. Marys. Inurnment will be at 11:00 A.M. Monday, September 23, 2019 in the Maple Hill Cemetery, Maple Hill.  Memorial contributions may be made to Midland Hospice and sent in care of Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple Street, St. Marys, Kansas 66536.  To leave online condolences go to www.piperfuneralhome.com.

There is a video of Jim at the Puffy's in Maple Hill that can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dLYehUqgBg&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0TNAQTcEDbjiodZqn1ch9W9AV-6nzeelqv71bUuneoyEqznua-TLAJubI

2A Football Rankings (updated)

Capital-Journal Rankings for 2A football as of Sept. 15, 2019

1. Hoisington (3) ... 2-0
2. Humboldt (4) ... 2-0
3. Garden Plain (NR) ... 2-0
4. Silver Lake (NR) ... 2-0
5. Phillipsburg (1) ... 1-1

Others — Belle Plaine 2-0, Cimarron 2-0, Conway Springs 1-1, Ellsworth 2-0, Hutchinson Trinity 2-0, Lakin 2-0, Maur Hill 2-0, Riley County 1-1, Rossville 1-1, Southeast-Saline 2-0.

CatchitKansas had the following ranking this week.

CLASS 2A
1. Hoisington (2-0)
2. Silver Lake (2-0)
3. Phillipsburg (1-1)
4. Garden Plain (2-0)
5. Rossville (1-1)
6. Humboldt (2-0)
7. Southeast of Saline (2-0)
8. Lakin (2-0)
9. Maur Hill (2-0)
10. Conway Springs (1-1)

MEL Football Standings

MID-EAST LEAGUE STANDINGS WEEK TWO

                 League ... Overall
Silver Lake              2-0 ... 2-0
Riley County           1-0 ... 1-1
Rossville                  0-1  ... 1-1
Rock Creek              1-1 ... 1-1
St. Marys               0-2  ... 0-2
Wabaunsee              0-0 .. 0-2

Results from Sept 13.

Silver Lake 14        Rossville    13
Rock Creek  44      St. Marys      6
Mission Valley 42  Wabaunsee  28
Centrailia  54          Riley Co.    32

James Puff Passes Away

James Puff has passed away Sat, Sept 14.  Services are pending.
https://www.piperfuneralhome.com/notices/JamesJim-Puff

Silver Lake Wins "War On 24" By 1 Pt

From the Capital-Journal Sept 15. 2019

SILVER LAKE — With a one-point differential in the final score in Silver Lake’s 14-13 War on 24 victory over Rossville on Friday night, the natural assumption is that the game boiled down to a missed extra-point kick.

Technically, that’s correct. A bobbled snap on a fourth-quarter Rossville touchdown led to a missed kick that ultimately proved to be the difference.

But the argument could be made that the game was really decided on a pair of fourth-down plays in the third quarter, both looming large for Silver Lake. As Rossville coach Derick Hammes succinctly put it, “they made the fourth-down play defensively and they made the fourth-down play offensively.”

First, the defensive play. Tied 7-7 at halftime, Rossville took its opening possession of the second half and moved it quickly into Silver Lake territory, a 24-yard pass from Torrey Horak to Bo Reeves setting the Bulldawgs up with a first down at the Eagle 4.

After a 3-yard run by Tyree Sowers got it to the one, Silver Lake’s defense stiffened. Two plays netted no yards, and on fourth down from the 1, the Eagles stuffed Sowers for no gain, not once, but twice after an offsides penalty gave Rossville a second crack on fourth down.

“That goal-line stand when they have it first and five or whatever it was,” C.J. Hamilton said. “That was huge. It tested our character for sure.”

It also gave the Eagles a lift as they went 99 yards for a go-ahead score. A 43-yard pass from Cody Hay to Nate Boyden set the Eagles up at the Rossville 23, but after three plays they were facing a fourth-and-9 situation from the 22.

Hay was pressured, but lofted a pass to the end zone that Trey Koelzer snagged with a nice grab for a 22-yard touchdown, the PAT kick by Logan Matzke making it 14-7.

Rossville had an immediate answer, though. Passes of 20 yards to Kaleb Badura and 28 yards to Kaiden Brown set up a 3-yard scoring pass from Horak to Randy Morelli with 8:48 left in the game.

But on the PAT try, the snap was bobbled and Reeves’ timing and kick was well off, leaving the Bulldawgs down one.

Rossville got the ball back at their own 17 with 4:08 left and passes of 16 and 14 yards got the Bulldawgs to the Silver Lake 43. But a sack and holding penalty on first down put Rossville in a tough spot and on fourth down, Horak was picked off by Matzke to seal the Silver Lake win.

“There were some schematic things that we weren’t as good on as we needed to be and I’ll take the brunt of that,” Hammes said. “The kids played hard and their kids played hard. They made the two plays they had to make and we didn’t.”

The turnover was the third of the game for Rossville, but not nearly as costly as the first. With Rossville leading 7-0 on the strength of an 8-yard touchdown pass from Horak to Reeves in the first quarter, the Bulldawgs came up with their second interception of Hay.

But on the next play, Silver Lake defensive lineman Caden Cromer ripped the ball from Horak’s hands on a rush up the middle and rambled 18 yards for a game-tying touchdown.

An expected strength coming into the season, Silver Lake’s defense came up big.

“I like the way we’re playing,” Hamilton said of his defense. “We’re playing aggressively.”

Hay finished with 182 yards passing for Silver Lake, while Horak threw for 155 yards for Rossville.

SILVER LAKE 14, ROSSVILLE 13

Rossville (1-1, 0-1);7;0;0;6;—;13

Silver Lake (2-0, 2-0);0;7;7;0;—;14

Rossville — Reeves 8 pass from Horak (Reeves kick)

Silver Lake — Cad. Cromer 18 fumble return (Matzke kick)

Silver Lake — Koelzer 22 pass from Hay (Matzke kick)

Rossville — Morelli 3 pass from Horak (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Rossville: Brown 2-0, Reeves 6-24, Horak 8-12, Sowers 12-9, Rezac 7-40. Silver Lake: G. Reamer 17-76, Hay 17-7, Redmond 1-6, Kaniper 1-minus 3.

Passing — Rossville: Horak 13-28-3, 155 yards. Silver Lake: Hay 14-25-2, 182 yards.

Receiving — Reeves 3-35, Morelli 6-65, Klesath 1-7, Badura 2-12, Brown 1-28. Silver Lake: Matzke 5-62, Kaniper 5-54, Reamer 2-1, Boyden 1-43, Koelzer 1-22.

Girls Golf at Wamego Inv.

    Jenna Rodehorst led the Rossville girls at the Wamego Invitational Golf Tournament on Sept 10 as the girls finished 6th out of 7 teams.

1.  Wamego
2.  Concordia
3.  Tonganoxie
4.  Council Grove
5.  Ottawa
6.  Rossville
7.  Clay Center

Jenna Rodehorst was 23rd with a 58.

War on 24 Videos

The War On 24 lived up to its pre-game hype this year as the Dawgs and Eagles battled to a 14-13 Silver Lake win.

A nice video at KSNT covering the War On 24 can be viewed at:
https://www.ksnt.com/football-frenzy/football-frenzy-09-13-19/

WIBW special coverage of the game is at:  https://www.wibw.com/video?vid=560300572

KSNT Pre-Game Hype

    Here is a good KSNT video about the War On 24 hype leading up to the game.  This will be the Game of the Week on KSNT.
https://www.ksnt.com/news/top-stories/silver-lake-vs-rossville-game-of-the-week-hype-video/

Pre=Game Expections At Silver Lake

From the Capital-Journal:

SILVER LAKE — Perhaps as much as any time in C.J. Hamilton’s legendary 44-year coaching career, Silver Lake began the 2019 with a whole lot of uncertainties.

Particularly at the skill positions, where the Eagles graduated 2,000-yard passer Mason Griffin, 1,500-yard rusher Christian Stoner and their top-four leading receivers.

Needless to say, Hamilton wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to get from the new faces in last Friday’s opener against St. Marys. And it’s safe to say, he was pleasantly surprised with how they performed in leading Silver Lake to a 38-12 victory.

“I was pretty well pleased with their effort,” Hamilton said. “There were some technical things, but that’s always to be expected because they’re so green. But they handled it pretty well. We were aggressive and not tentative, whereas I thought the year before we were tentative and worried about making a mistake.”

New starting quarterback Cody Hay was efficient, completing 15 of 27 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Gannon Remer, last year’s second-leading rusher, finished with 112 yards and a touchdown and Logan Matzke, Kyler Kaniper and Nate Boyden each had at least three catches and 40 yards receiving, with Matzke and Kaniper hauling in touchdown grabs.

The Eagles led just 17-12 going into the fourth quarter before delivering a late knockout blow with 21 fourth-quarter points.

As solid as the first outing was, Hamilton knows his team will have to be even sharper this week. It’s War on 24 week, with arch rival Rossville coming to town for a 7 p.m. showdown for an early edge in the race for the Mid-East League title.

“We’re not near where we need to be and I’m sure most teams are in that situation,” Hamilton said. “As long as we’re making progress, and we hope that continues every week.”

Rossville also opened the season with its share of question marks, though perhaps not as many as Silver Lake. The Bulldawgs also debuted a new quarterback with sophomore Torrey Horak taking over the position this year after the graduation of 1,000-yard rusher and passer Garrett Carver.

Horak made the transition a seamless one, completing 6 of 8 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns and adding a team-high 67 rushing yards with another score in leading the Bulldawgs to a 28-8 victory over Class 1A No. 4 Centralia. Bo Reeves caught both touchdown passes, including a 94-yarder, and finished with 150 yards on five catches.

“He had some nice numbers, and what I take away is, he’s got one game of experience now,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “I think he can do better and I think he’ll tell you he can do better. It was a good baseline for him, and moving forward, we’ll see even more progress. And hopefully, that’s the case this week, because we’re going to need good quarterback play in a game like this.”

Hammes said there were plenty of positives to pull out of the Centralia victory. While the Bulldawgs gave up 246 yards on the ground to the Panthers, they didn’t allow a touchdown until Devon Feldkamp broke a 52-yard run in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we were sturdy against the run and I wasn’t sure how that would correlate for us,” Hammes said. “I don’t think they knocked us off the line of scrimmage like they like to do. Usually you’re concerned about first-week tackling, and I think the missed tackles we had were angles and that means hopefully we’re a good tackling team.”

Having a physical test to start the season can only help the Bulldawgs as they prepare for Silver Lake. Even though the Eagles operate out of a spread formation and throw the ball nearly half of the time, Silver Lake has always prided itself on being a physical team, and that’s not lost on Hammes.

“Don’t let Silver Lake fool you, they like to establish the ground game and traditionally they play as good of defense as anyone you’ll see on your schedule,” he said. “There’s some correlation with Centralia in that sense. But on the flip side, you’re also going to see the most balanced high school football team you’ll see.”

Silver Lake won last year’s contest 17-14 and has won three straight in the series. Two of those three wins were decided by eight points or less, and Hamilton expects something similar Friday night.

“It always is,” Hamilton said. “Sometimes it’s a high-scoring battle and sometimes it’s a low-scoring battle. But both teams compete and take a great deal of pride in the game of football, and I would expect it to be strongly competitive and very tight, coming down to how we handle a couple situations or how they handle it. That’s usually the difference in this game.”

The Capital-Journal is predicting an Eagle victory.

MEL Football Standings Week 1

MID-EAST LEAGUE STANDINGS 

                  League ... Overall
Riley County           1-0 ... 1-0
Silver Lake              1-0 ... 1-0
Rossville                  0-0 ... 1-0
Rock Creek              0-1 ... 0-1
St. Marys               0-1 ... 0-1
Wabaunsee              0-0 .. 0-1

Girls Golf At West Franklin

Following are the results of the  West  Franklin Invitational golf tournament on Sept 10

1st 210 Spring Hill
2nd 225 Jeff West
3rd 233 Osage City
4th 248 Santa Fe Trail
5th 257 Council Grove
6th 259 Rossville
7th 300 West Franklin
8th 300 Kansas City Christian

Leah Hudson led the Lady Dawgs with a 57 good for 11th place.

Centrailia Game Night Photos

Photos by Shari Gentry

2A Football Rankings

The following are the 2A rankings by the Capital Journal.

1. Phillipsburg (1) ... 1-0

2. Conway Springs (2) ... 1-0

3. Hoisington (3) ... 1-0

4. Humboldt (4) ... 1-0

5. Riley County (5) ... 1-0

Others — Cimarron 1-0, Garden Plain 1-0, Hutchinson Trinity 1-0, Lakin 1-0, Maur Hill 1-0, Rossville 1-0, Silver Lake 1-0, Southeast-Saline 1-0.

Walker Raises Money For Homeless Vets

Michael Gmur is a Marine vet and former actor raising money for homeless veterans by walking across the United States.  He stopped at Rossville Friday night and resumed his walk Saturday morning.

There is a long article about him at:
https://salinapost.com/2019/09/07/former-actor-marine-vet-now-walking-along-us-24-in-kansas/