Oilers seek magical sequel

BY JIM MISUNAS

jmisunas@gbtribune.com

CLAFLIN — Central Plains' third trip to a state football championship game wasn't a charm, but it sure was magical.

The Oilers earned a carpet ride to the Eight-Man Division 1 title game with a shocking run of one-score wins — 40-38 over Sylvan-Lucas in overtime, 58-52 over Chase County, 38-32 against Little River and 28-25 against Clifton-Clyde.

J.D. Johnson's memorable 10-3 first season finished with a 46-0 setback to EIght-Man I powerhouse Hoxie. Assistants are Jacob Ryan, Dustin Robison and Fred Smith.

"We hope we can build from the strong year and success we had in 2024," Johnson said. "We have good returning upperclassmen stepping into leadership positions. Our 2025 success will really rely on their ability to lead our younger athletes." 

Returning starters are are QB Brodie Crites, OL/DL Landon Daniels, WR/DB Peyton Dody, OL/DL Peyton Kempke and DB Rylan Siemsen. Crites has thrown for 2,278 yards and 37 touchdowns in two years.

"Quarterback Brody Crites has a great wealth of knowledge, and soaks up every bit of knowledge he can," Johnson said. "He's one of the most overlooked quarterbacks around the state.

"Landon Daniels is one of the top 8-man offensive linemen in the state," Johnson said. "Daniels and Kempke provide protection for Brody Crites and open running lanes for our backs. Peyton Dody (97 tackles) was our second-leading tackler. He'll be a large part of our offense as a receiver.

Richard Stroude rushed for 229 yards and Peyton Dody had 69 yards receiving Dody and Rylan Siemsen each had two interceptions.

Johnson lists the following players as impact players — RB Richard Stroud; OL/DL Armando Vasquez; RB Broc Klima; WR Camden Stiles; RB/S Keeton Robison; TE/DE Teagan Schepmann; OL/DL Cameron Zink; and WR/DB Isaac Heredia.

An inexperienced group must replace several graduated linemen. 

"We return several of our OL/DL and a key contributors on both sides of the ball," Johnson said. "Our speed and athleticism will be strengths that we will have to capitalize on. We've got a batch of underclassmen who are hungry with a great work ethic." 

OILER ROSTER

RETURNING STARTERS—QB Brodie Crites; OL/DL Landon Daniels; WR/DB Peyton Dody; OL/DL Peyton Kempke; DB Rylan Siemsen

SENIORS—0—Richard Stroud, RB/MLB, 5-8, 165; 11—Armando Vasquez, OL/DL, 5-9, 210; 3—Isaac Heredia, WR/DB, 5-5, 155; 12—Peyton Dody, WR/DB, 6-1, 165; 13—Rylan Siemsen, DB, 6-1, 175; 95—Landon Daniels, G/DE, 6-0, 232

JUNIORS—10—Brodie Crites, QB/CB, 6-2, 180; 1—Broc Klima, RB/MLB, 5-8, 165; 5—Camden Stiles, WR/CB, 6-1, 165; 8—Kaydon Looney, NG/G, 9—Levi Galliart; 91—Cameron Zink, C/NG, 5-8, 200; 45—Ben Pflughoeft, G/DE

SOPHOMORES—56—Peyton Kempke, G/MLB, 6-0, 185; 2—Keeton Robison, RB/FS, 5-9, 160; 6—Jimmy Soeken, TE/CB, 5-9, 140; 21—Teagan Schepmann, TE/DE, 5-10, 170; 7—Scott Lamatsch, TE/FS; 14—Richard Hayes, QB/DE; 50—Levi Bloodworth, G/NG 

NINTH-GRADERS—4—Huxtyn Rogers; 15—Layton Hoffman; 23—Matthew Rice; 24—Prycen Dody; 35—Colt Buehler; 55—Jake Schessiger 

OILER FOOTBALL 

DISTRICT 3—Ell-Saline (8-2, 5-0); Central Plains (10-3, 4-1); Little River (8-3, 3-2), Solomon (4-5, 1-4); Canton-Galva (3-6, 1-4); Goessel (2-7, 2-3)

9-5—at Macksville (48-0)

9-12—Victoria (12-62)

9-19—at La Crosse (56-0)

9-26—*Solomon (52-6)

10-3—*Goessel (50-0)

10-10—*at Canton-Galva (46-0)

10-17—*Little River (68-44)

10-24—*at Ell-Saline (12-58)

Experience keys Oiler volleyball 

CLAFLIN — Central Plains coach Lisa Crites (231-123) led the Oilers to state volleyball championships in 2015, 2019 and 2020, a runner-up trophy in 2016 and third-place finishes in 2014 and 2021.

The Oilers (13-23, 5-4 CPL) competed in the rugged Central Prairie League. The Oilers beat Greeley County 25-10, 25-10 and lost to Osborne 25-21, 25-23 in 1A postseason play.

"The nucleus of the team starts with two seniors and three juniors, all varsity starters," Crites said. "We lose firepower from graduate Marilyn Soeken, but our returning hitters are showing the gains from the past year of committing to weight room workouts." 

Crites is confident the Oilers will be competitive in the Central Prairie League.

"We will take the season one day at a time, one play at a time," she said. "Our mindset is to celebrate every great play and brush off lost points to focus on becoming a team worthy of competitive respect.  The CPL is one of the best small school leagues in Kansas. Ellinwood leads the top for teams to challenge for the league title."

Five quality players return —  DS/Libero Tagen Davis (383 digs, 697 serves received, 266 serves); OH Maggie Strouse (322 serves, 142 winners, 36 blocks); S Taylin Davis (343 assists, 234 serves, 122 digs); OPP/DS Alli Klima (286 serves, 278 serves received, 209 digs, 149 winners, 28 blocks) and OPP Tayln Matlack (40 winners). 

Coach Crites commented on her top returning starters.

"Tagen Davis returns to her role as defensive specialist/Libero," Crites said. "Her love of defense is strong, and she's an effective communicator. Her reads are solid and her footwork gets her to a lot of balls. She has 746 digs in her career and will work to hit the 1,000 mark.

"Alli Klima is playing OPP and DS for us in her six rotations. She has a natural sense of the court and finds the ball in tough situations. Her love of the game is evident through her style of play and high IQ on the court. 

"Maggie Strouse returns to the front row as our lead blocker. She plays long and aggressive and puts up a wall against the opponent’s hitters. 

"Taylin Davis is the No. 1 setter after a season-leading 343 assists as a sophomore. She's smart and very adaptive when it comes to game plans. She makes great decisions for our offensive attack.

"Taylyn Matlack moves to OPP this season. We expect her to be an even bigger threat on both offense and defense than last year. 

Two defensive specialists will add depth to the back row — sophomore Bailee Daniels and freshman Audrey Mostyn.

"Freshman Kambree Nixon brings speed and athleticism," Crites said. "She's learning the demands of the setting position and will develop into a high flyer on the front line."

Crites is optimistic the Oilers have potential to make am impact in the Central Prairie League.  

"We had an positive summer session in skill development and building team chemistry," she said. "They're fun to be around and are surpassing expectations. We're focused on earning the right to win by showing discipline, effort, and respect, every point, every play and being resilient in the face of adversity."

OILER ROSTER

SENIORS—1—Taylyn Matlack, 5-6, OPP; 3—Sierra Marsell, 5-1; 4/41—Tagen Davis, 5-4, L/OH; 12—Teka Kipshidze

JUNIORS—13—Josalynn Zink, 5-8; 15—Maggie Strouse, 5-10, MH; 23—Taylin Davis, 5-6, S; 25—Alli Klima, 5-8, DS/OPP

SOPHOMORES—6—Jaydie Warta, 5-6; 7—Bailee Daniels, 5-3;  10—Lilly Hurley, 5-7; 21—Lynden Hekele, 5-6; 22—Hailey Nash, 5-6

NINTH-GRADERS—2—Victoria Reyna; 5—Kambree Nixon, S; 16—Zoey Bogner; 18—Audrey Mostyn; 24/42—Lucy Beck; 36—Karli Frost

OILER VOLLEYBALL

8-26—Claflin Jamboree

9-9—Claflin home meet

9-13—at Hoisington JV Tournament

9-20—at Russell Tournament

9-23—Claflin home meet

9-27—at Hoisington Tournament

9-29—at Sylvan Grove JV Tournament, 8 a.m.

9-30—at Otis-Bison

10-4—at Sylvan Grove JV

10-7—at La Crosse

10-9—at Lindsborg

10-11—Central Prairie League at Hoisington

10-16—Hoisington/Ellsworth/Pratt

10-20/21—at 1A regional

10-25—at 1A substate

11-1—at 1A state

Oilers return top two runners

CLAFLIN — Central Plains 3-year cross country veteran Cale Thompson placed 60th at regionals last year after barely missing qualifying for state with an 11th-place regional finish.

"Last year, Cale was running well and was slowed by an injury near the end of the season," said Oiler cross country coach Pat Stiles. "Cale narrowly missed qualifying for state his sophomore year. Cale will make another run at making it to the state meet."

Alden Metro finished 64th at regionals last year. Thompson and Metro are 3-sport athletes who compete in basketball and tennis.

"Alden Metro has been running well in practice and will improve his times," Stiles said.

Taylin Davis will compete in volleyball and cross country after placing seventh in the 1A state 3,200 meters last spring. She finished second in the 3,200-meters and third in the 1,600 at the Central Prairie track meet. 

"Taylin Davis has put in a lot of miles this summer," Stiles said. "We're looking forward to seeing her run this fall."

Kaymi Zink, Kahne Fisher, Kaden Willenberg will also compete.

"We're glad to see our number of runners grow to six out," he said.

OILER ROSTER 

SENIOR—Cale Thompson (R 11TH, 27TH, 60TH, CPL 3RD, 13TH, 15TH) 

JUNIORS—Alden Metro (R 53RD, 64TH; CPL-JV 3RD), Taylin Davis, Kade Willenberg 

NINTH-GRADERS—Kaymi Zink, Kahne Fisher, 

OILER SCHEDULE

9-4—at Lake Barton

9-11—at Hesston

9-18—at Stafford

9-25—at Larned

10-2—at Ness City

10-9—at Sterling

10-16—Central Prairie at Ness City

10-25—at 1A regional

11-1—at 1A state, Wamego

Cougars feature four tennis veterans

CLAFLIN — The Central Plains Oilers feature a doubles tandem and the top two singles players for the 2025 girls tennis season. 

Boston Robison and Eliza Jeffrey finished 15-13 in doubles. Whitney Armstrong (6-19) and Charlee Schlessiger (8-22) played singles last year.

At 3-1A regionals, Robison/Jeffrey downed Norton's Lilli Puga/Hallie Ley 8-2 and lost to Ellsworth's state qualifiers Inarie Rippert/Reygan Coonrod, 6-0, 6-0. Hoisington's Claire Crutcher beat Armstrong 6-0, 6-1. Schlessiger bet Ellinwood's Gracyn Dombroski 8-4 and lost to Larned's state qualifier Lauren Sleder 6-2, 6-4.

"We are working on building everyone's skills and improving their knowledge of tennis," said Oiler tennis coach Amy Metro. "They've been a great group of girls to work with, and I'm proud of their hard work. The girls enjoy spending time together. They've been putting in extra time, willing to stay late and get more practice in. We see what they can do when competition starts."

OILER ROSTER

SENIOR—Boston Robison (S 0-2; D 15-13)

JUNIORS—Charlee Schlessiger (S 8-20 D 0-2), Emma Wasson

SOPHOMORES—Whitney Armstrong (S 6-19, D 0-2), Eliza Jeffrey (S 1-1; D 15-13), Aevyn Siemsen, Emery Siemsen

NINTH-GRADER—Ashton Robl

OILER TENNIS

9-2—at Ellsworth

9-4—at Lindsborg JV

9-9—at Hoisington

9-11—at Lindsborg

9-13—at Hesston

9-18—at Hesston

9-22—at Hoisington JV

9-23—Claflin; at Sterling JV

9-27—at WaKeeney

10-1—at Great Bend

10-10/11—at 3-1A regional

10/17/18—3-1A state, Topeka