PIPER PIRATES FOOTBALL |
2002 Season Articles |
Article from "Kansas City Kansan" Newspaper November 19, 2002 "WyCo teams make names for themselves" Article by Jeremy Banks excerpt from article ...... "The Piper High School Pirates, along with Bonner Springs High School, caught fire in the latter stages of the season. The Pirates, after falling to a 0-4 start reeled off six consecutive wins. They won their district title to propel themselves into postseason play. Their appearance in this year's playoffs was their third in school history. To make things sweeter, the Pirates won their first-ever playoff game in a 20-6 win over Hiawatha High School at home. They then fell to a tough Eudora High school team 20-6 on the road at Eudora. The Piper Pirates showed to many in the area that they may have been one of the better teams in the area during the late part of the season. The Pirates had the services of Scott Lipovac. Lipovac showed the ability to scramble and buy time for his receivers to get open. Once getting open he showed great touch and accuracy when delivering the pass to his receivers. What he lacked in size, he more than made up with heart. Time after time Lipovac, during the Eudora game, took many crushing hits and pounding. Each time, Lipovac would get up and continue to compete. Lipovac, an underclassman, will be back next year and will provide more than all the leadership that the Pirates will need to be successful next year. The Pirates also enjoyed good production from wide receiver Jake Hendricks, a former basketball player. This year was Hendricks first year ever playing football. By just looking at him on the football field, one would never know. Hendricks made big play after big play throughout the year and developed an uncanny knack to get open. Once getting open and making the catch, Hendricks frequently made the first tackler miss, which enabled him to turn short catches into long gains. The running game was also strong for the Pirates. The comb- ination of runningback Shawnn Lampson, an all-Kaw Valley League player, and fullback, Ryan Moore provided a good "Thunder and lightning" attack for the Pirates. Lampson when handling the ball, could cut strong and slash his way to big yardage. While Moore, a tougher runner, could hammer his way into the defense and gain the tough short yards. The Pirates, who return 13 starters next year combined, will definitely be looking to build upon the strong year they showed this year. ......... Could Wyandotte County be home to some of the better football in the area? That remains to be seen, but they sure made a strong case with this year's play. "I think we compete well with anybody", said Piper head coach Dick Tatro on the talent of the Wyandotte County teams he has had a chance to see. "Talent wise we're as good as anybody around." Article by Jeremy Banks of the "Kansas City, Kansan" |
The Kansas City Star Sun, Nov. 10, 2002 Eudora beats Piper despite sluggish effort By DEREK SAMSON EUDORA, Kan. - It's a safe bet that when Piper High School quarterback Scott Lipovac closed his eyes to fall asleep Saturday night, he saw a giant No. 50. That's about all Lipovac could see for two and a half hours Saturday night. Eudora defensive end Joe Born, who wears No. 50, tormented Lipovac for most of his team's 20-6 victory over Piper in their Kansas Class 4A regional playoff game. Born registered six solo tackles, including three sacks, and added 10 assisted tackles. He continually hit Lipovac just as the gutsy 5-foot-7, 118-pound quarterback let the ball fly. Fittingly, the game ended with the 242-pound Born sacking Lipovac. "Their tackles were getting pretty tired," Born said. "With my quickness, I just came off the corner and got pressure on that quarterback." Other than Born, though, the Cardinals were rather unimpressive. "We just were not ready to play," Eudora coach Gregg Webb said. "I don't know if we took them lightly or not. We were not sharp at all." Piper, 6-5, surprised the Cardinal faithful packed into the Laws Sports Complex on its opening possession. Piper went 55 yards on nine plays, as Jake Hendricks made a one-handed catch in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown. The extra point failed, so Piper settled for a 6-0 lead. Eudora, 10-1, finally made a dent in Piper's defense during a second-quarter drive. Tyler Jackson's 24-yard run tied the game at 6-6 midway through the second period. The clock ticked late into the third quarter, and Eudora still was ignoring the fact that passing is legal. The Cardinals completed just one of four passes through nearly three quarters. Perfect time to air it out. The Cardinals fooled Piper with back-to-back completions of 29 and 37 yards. Eudora's air attack set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Andrew Pyle, putting the Cardinals on top 13-6 heading into the fourth quarter. "We need to throw it better than what we did," Webb said. "We did not pass protect well enough. We did not run the ball well enough. Their D-linemen read us, and we didn't get a good push up the field." Pyle added a 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, sealing Eudora's first-ever 10-win season. Pyle rushed for 127 yards on 30 carries. Lipovac completed 16 of 31 passes for 175 yards in the loss. |
Eudora Advances By Chuck Woodling, Journal-World Sports Editor Sunday, November 10, 2002 No football team in Eudora High history ever had won as many as 10 games in a season. Until Saturday night. Andrew Pyle ran for two second-half touchdowns and the Cardinals evaded upstart Kansas City Piper, 20-6, in a second-round Class 4A playoff game at Laws Field. "I know it's a big deal to win 10 games," Eudora coach Gregg Webb said, "but we fully expected to win and I know the kids and I are disappointed how we played." Eudora (10-1) was favored over the Pirates, who had won six straight after opening the season with four defeats " two of them lopsided " and the underdog nipped at the Cardinals' heels all night, especially early. "We came out flat," Eudora senior guard-linebacker Joe Born said afterward. Piper stunned the Cards by scoring on its first possession. Following a 14-yard punt by Eudora's Joey Donahue, the Pirates drove 55 yards in nine plays with quarterback Scott Lipovac hitting wide receiver Jake Hendricks just inside the right goal-line pylon on a 24-yard pass play. Eudora football players show the regional plaque to fans at Laws Field. The Cardinals downed KC Piper, 20-6, on Saturday in Eudora. Matt Mosier's extra-point attempt was wide right and the Pirates led 6-0 with 5:48 left in the first quarter. Eudora didn't retaliate until midway through the second quarter when fullback Tyler Jackson exploded up the middle for a 24-yard TD run. But Kaleb Niedens' extra-point kick was blocked and the score remained knotted at 6 until halftime. Piper, like most Eudora foes, was keying on tailback Pyle, and the strategy was working because Pyle couldn't break a big play. Then the big play happened " a screen pass from quarterback Tyler Cleveland to Pyle, a 5-foot-10, 178-pound senior, and he lugged it 29 yards. On the next play, Cleveland unloaded again, this time deep down the middle to wide receiver Niedens, who was hauled down at the Piper 18 after a 37-yard gain for Eudora's biggest play of the night. Three plays later, Pyle burst over from nine yards out, Niedens converted the kick, and Eudora led 13-6 with 1:11 remaining in the third quarter. Eudora High's Andrew Pyle barrels past Kansas City Piper's Brandon Jaixen. Pyle scrambled for two touchdowns during the Cardinals' 20-6 Class 4A state tournament victory Saturday at Eudora. Eudora nursed that touchdown advantage until midway through the fourth quarter when Mosier, back to punt, took off around right end with Piper facing fourth and 11. "We were screaming, 'Fake,'" Webb said, "but I looked and didn't see anybody there and I thought, 'Holy smokers.'" Ah, but someone was there. Sophomore linebacker Chris Durkin closed on Mosier and the Piper punter suddenly changed his mind and tried to kick the ball away. "He must have been five yards from me," Durkin said, "and his kick hit me right in the stomach. I was surprised, but I realized it was a fumble and I knew I had to get it." After smacking Durkin's stomach, the ball caromed from the Pirates' 39 all the way back to their 23, where Durkin covered it. Two plays later, Pyle bolted 19 yards into the end zone with 5:03 remaining for the clincher. Pyle finished with 130 yards in 30 body-punishing carries. Several times Pyle, who has rushed for about 1,900 yards this season, arose slowly. Late in the game, he took a shot from the Pirates' Nick Jobe and had to be assisted off the field and checked for a possible concussion. "We didn't block very well for him," Webb said. "There were times we didn't touch their down linemen. He was taking shots he never should be taking." Eudora will continue its playoffs run next Friday at Paola, a team the Cardinals waxed, 44-0, in the second week of the regular season. |
Pirates Enter Record Books Piper Records set in 2002 season: Shawnn Lampson: 2nd Most carries in a Season (211) 3rd Most Yards Rushing in a Season (1,131 yards) 8th Most yards Rushing in a Game (184 yards) Scott Lipovac: 1st - Most Yards Passing in a Season (1444) 1st - Most Yards Passing in a Game (274) 1st - Most Completions in a Season (120) 2nd Most Touchdowns Passing in a Season (9) 2nd Most Completions in a Game (17 - TWICE) 2nd Most Touchdowns Passing in a Game (3) 3rd Most Completions in a game (16) 3rd Most Touchdown Passes in a Career (9) 4th Most Yards Passing in a Career (1444) 4th Most Yards Passing in a Game (203 - TWICE) 6th Most Completions in a Game (12) Jake Hendricks: 1st - Most receiving yards in a season (563 Yards) 1st - Most Touchdown Receptions in a Season (7) 1st - Most Touchdown Receptions in a Career (7) 1st (tied)- Most Touchdown Receptions in a Game (2) 2nd- Most receiving yards in a career (563 yards) 2nd - Most Yards Receiving in a Game (131 Yards) 4th - Most receiving yards in a game (126 Yards) Nick Jobe: 1st - Most Tackles in a Season (158 tackles) Matt Mosier: 1st Punting Average 52 punts/ 2170 yards/ 41.7 avg. |
2002 State Leaders in Class 4A Passing Yards (Season) 1. Jarod Goedert, Concordia High School 1807 2. Brandon Warner, Marysville High School 1732 3. Matt Ubben, Rose Hill High School 1668 4. Scott Lipovac, KC-Piper High School 1444 5. Shane Miles, Santa Fe Trail High School 1206 Pass Completions (Season) 1. Jarod Goedert, Concordia High School 142 2. Scott Lipovac, KC-Piper High School 120 3. Matt Ubben, Rose Hill High School 113 4. Brandon Warner, Marysville High School 99 5. Gabe Sheffield, Ottawa High School 77 Rushing Yards (Season) 1. Andrew Pyle, Eudora High School 1,582 2. Jurrell Medina, Hugoton High School 1,546 3. Noah Rees, Perry-Lecompton High School 1,406 4. Steve Schuester, Topeka-Hayden High School 1,385 5. Tim Lira, Wellington High School 1,342 6. Cooper Phillips, Wichita Collegiate High School 1,323 7. Jarod Tetuan, Topeka-Hayden High School 1,265 8. Jake Richter, Clay Center High School 1,258 9. Donnie Hampton, Fort Scott High School 1,218 10. Zach Decker, Rose Hill High School 1,217 11. Scott Allaire, Andale High School 1,161 12. Shawnn Lampson, KC-Piper High School 1,131 13. Zac Sheets, Chapman High School 1,112 Rushing Attempts (Season) 1. Andrew Pyle, Eudora High School 254 2. Dusty Sorensen, Mulvane High School 230 3. Zach Decker, Rose Hill High School 229 4. Tim Lira, Wellington High School 224 5. Noah Rees, Perry-Lecompton High School 223 6. Jurrell Medina, Hugoton High School 222 7. Shawnn Lampson, KC-Piper High School 211 8. Scott Allaire, Andale High School 199 9. Tony Cinelli, Chaparral High School 196 10. Steve Schuester, Topeka-Hayden High School 185 Receiving Yards (Season) 1. Paul Byers, Marysville High School 892 2. Michael McFadden, Andale High School 718 3. Nic Yoxall, Concordia High School 716 4. Brad Hoaglund, Rose Hill High School 699 5. Zach Troilo, Wichita Collegiate High School 658 6. Zach Kimble, Mulvane High School 622 7. Lee Baldwin, Ottawa High School 599 8. Jake Hendricks, KC-Piper High School 563 9. Chris Nease, Concordia High School 543 10. Ben Wimer, Kingman High School 534 Receptions (Season) 1. Nic Yoxall, Concordia High School 53 2. Chris Nease, Concordia High School 47 3. Lee Baldwin, Ottawa High School 45 4. Michael McFadden, Andale High School 42 5. Brad Hoaglund, Rose Hill High School 41 6. Paul Byers, Marysville High School 35 7. Jake Hendricks, KC-Piper High School 31 8. Zach Kimble, Mulvane High School 26 9. Seth Newton, Girard High School 26 10. Zach Troilo, Wichita Collegiate High School 23 |
