Feb. 1, 2004
*This article was written because there are some very important issues being raised in the community pertaining to the football program. First, of course everyone knows by now that Bishop Ward is back in the same district with Piper for the first time in four years. This has already sparked some trash talking and discussion among students, fans, and parents. It's great to see that the rivalry is still a big deal to the majority of Wyandotte County. You can bet that the game will receive a lot of attention, and if I'm not mistaken its scheduled for the last game of the season (not sure though). Secondly, this bickering over the weights has got to stop. Parents, you give your kids the power of decision making. You either let ! them decide if they're going to lift or you decide for them. ; It's that simple. Would every player benefit from working out steadily with weights? Of course they would. Let's put a positive spin on things with this example. The past few years Piper teams haven't always been the biggest, strongest, or fastest players on the field, but those teams continued to win. The physical part of this game at the high school level is about 60%. Hustling, playing with heart, knowing your assignments, and being team players make up the other 40%. Over the past couple of years Piper teams have had all 40% of the intangibles and on average about 40% of the physical, I don't think its a coincidence that Piper won roughly 80% of their games last year. So, to wrap this issue up once and for all....does weightlifting matter? Definitely. Do we need as many guys to be dedicated to weights as we possibly can have? Absolutely. What we need to ! look at here is...Can anybody else do the work for the players? The answer to that is NO! You get what you put in. These young men know this....they will figure it out themselves. When they are ready to mature and see their potential everyone will start to see their dedication. This is their choice. Now, maybe we can let this issue go and move on to more positive thinking as the real off-season push comes in a few months. This article is going to end wishing all of the Piper football players good luck in their winter sports and activities. You all are winners on the football field and in life.
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* Check out the final Kaw Valley League Standings and the updated 4A Statistical Leaders.
* Piper wrapped up its first Kaw Valley League Championship in nearly a decade with a commanding 28-7 win over Basehor-Linwood. The win completed a sweep of District 7 for Piper who will now host Royal Valley on Tuesday night. Shawnn Lampson burned the Bobacts(2-7) for over 200 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Scott Lipovac continued his consistency with 11 completions for 118 yards and a touchdown.
* Next up for Piper is Royal Valley at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night. Last season Piper matched up against Hiawatha who stole a playoff bid from favorite Jefferson West to get in with a 3-6 record. However, Piper is not playing a 3-6 team this time around, Royal Valley was picked by numerous media sources as one of the two teams to advance out of District 8.
2003 Kaw Valley League Standings
Week Nine (10/30/03)
Team League Overall District PF PA Last Game
Piper Pirates 8-1 8-1 3-0 273 149 Win v.s. Basehor 28-7
Tonganoxie Chieftains 7-1 8-1 2-1 277 103 Win @ Lansing 41-0
Desoto Wildcats 4-2 5-4 0-3 211 240 Loss v.s. Ward 14-53
Mill Valley Jaguars 4-3 4-5 1-2 237 153 Loss v.s. Eudora 20-13
Lansing Lions 4-4 5-4 1-2 174 205 Loss v.s. Tongie 0-41
Bonner Springs Braves 2-3 4-5 2-1 174 183 Win v.s. Schlagle 9-6
Basehor Bobcats 2-5 2-7 0-3 89 172 Loss @ Piper 7-28
Santa Fe Trail Chargers 2-5 2-7 1-2 118 275 Loss @ Hayden 6-55
Immaculata Raiders 1-5 2-7 2-1 174 209 Loss v.s. Pl. Rdg. 0-14
Perry-Lecompton Kaws 1-6 1-8 0-3 124 323 Loss @ Baldwin 14-42
4A Statistics Leaders
Passing Yards
1. Clint Ellis, Columbus High School 2,003
2. Brandon Warner, Marysville High School 1,985
3. Scott Lipovac, Piper High School 1,846
4. Paul Eck, Andale High School 1,298
5. Jared McRae, Rose Hill High School 1,108
6. Ben Hawley, Wichita Collegiate High School 1,021
7. Zane Aguilar, Wellington High School 973
8. Tyler Cox, Wamego High School 934
9. Andy Dirks, Haven High School 802
10. Mark Bailey, Clearwater High School 739
Passing Completions
1. Clint Ellis, Columbus High School 132
1. Scott Lipovac, Piper High School 118
3. Brandon Warner, Marysville High School 99
4. Paul Eck, Andale High School 83
5. Jared McRae, Rose Hill High School 77
Passing Attempts (Minimum 100 Attempts)
1. Clint Ellis, Columbus High School 223
2. Scott Lipovac, Piper High School 221
3. Paul Eck, Andale High School 170
4. Andy Dirks, Haven High School 166
5. Jared McRae, Rose Hill High School 155
Completion Percentage (Minimum 100 Attempts)
1. Brandon Warner, Marysville High School 79.8%
2. Zane Aguilar, Wellington High School 60.4%
3. Clint Ellis, Columbus High School 59.2%
4. Scott Lipovac, Piper High School 53.4%
5. Jared McRae, Rose Hill High School 49.7%
Rushing Yards
1. Cooper Phillips, Wichita Collegiate 1,548
2. Blake Ringwall, Rose Hill High School 1,458
3. Shawnn Lampson, Piper High School 1,375
4. David Woods, Mill Valley High School 1,326
5. Antwan Mays, El Dorado High School 1,276
6. Micah Mason, Baldwin High School 1,165
7. Steve Schuster, Topeka Hayden High School 1,156
8. Jurrell Medina, Hugoton High School 1,115
9. Nathan Paschal, Andover Central High School 1,100
10. Derrick Sulivan, Kingman High School 1,082
Rushing Attempts
1. Derrick Sulivan, Kingman High School 178
2. Cooper Phillips, Wichita Collegiate High School 176
3. Blake Ringwall, Rose Hill High School 175
4. Micah Mason, Baldwin High School 165
5. Nathan Paschal, Andover Central High School 158
6. Antwan Mays, El Dorado High School 158
7. Steve Schuster, Topeka Hayden High School 144
8. Shawnn Lampson, Piper High School 140
9. Jurrell Medina, Hugoton High School 138
10. Andy Dirks, Haven High School 124
Receiving Yards
1. Paul Byers, Marysville High School 1,223
2. Zach Hein, Andale High School 796
3. Jeff Hamilton, Piper High School 737
4. Marcus Bowman, Columbus High School 706
5. Chris Lang, Clearwater High School 529
6. Thomas Paxton, Columbus High School 498
7. Shawnn Lampson, Piper High School 399
8. Dirk Wecker, Marysville High School 390
9. Braden Lysen, Andover High School 379
10. James Hensley, Rose Hill High School 348
11. Zach Kimble, Mulvane High School 344
12. Chris Shannon, Piper High School 342
13. Kyle Foster, Rose Hill High School 335
14. Alex Angelotti, Piper High School 294
15. Thomas Galle, Pratt High School 234
Receptions
1. Paul Byers, Marysville High School 45
2. Zach Hein, Andale High School 44
3. Jeff Hamilton, Piper High School 41
4. Chris Lang, Clearwater High School 40
5. Marcus Bowman, Columbus High School 38
6. Shawnn Lampson, Piper High School 27
6. Thomas Paxton, Columbus High School 27
8. Alex Angelotti, Piper High School 24
9. James Hensley, Rose Hill High School 22
10. Kyle Foster, Rose Hill High School 21
11. Chris Shannon, Piper High School 18
11. Braden Lysen, Andover High School 18
13. Dustin Turner, Larned High School 16
14. Dirk Wecker, Marysville High School 15
15. Zach Kimble, Mulvane High School 14
And that's the way I observe things ....
from the desk of Observer Sloan
