'A vision of their own': Washburn Rural football completes perfect regular season
TOPEKA — Washburn Rural wasted no time dispatching Topeka West on Thursday night.
The Junior Blues outpaced the Chargers 55-8 as they secured an undefeated regular season. This is the first time since 1993 that Washburn Rural has a record of 8-0, so head coach Steve Buhler shared how proud he was of his team’s efforts to achieve this mark.
“This senior group has played a lot of varsity minutes. They have had a pretty good run over the past two years,” Buhler said. “For them to accomplish what we talked about in August is exciting. They have worked really hard for it.”
The Chargers (8-0) started with the ball first and threw an interception on the first possession. This set the Junior Blues inside the Chargers' territory early. Sophomore Austin Ditch found the end zone for the first touchdown as he rushed through the middle of the line from three yards out to give Washburn Rural an early lead.
After a Topeka West 3-and out, Washburn Rural marched down the field once again. The drive ended with a great read option from duel-threat quarterback Branton Deweese, who stuck his right foot into the ground and cut left diving for the end zone for the second score. Ditch finished with two touchdowns while Blake Recinos and Lafayette Thompson scored rushing touchdowns. Deweese shared that the plentiful options in running ball have been a huge benefit to the offense’s success.
“The main thing is that the defense has to play the running back and me,” Deweese explained. “It adds another dimension to our offense and gives us another rushing threat.”
Not only did the running game succeed, but the passing game also worked well against Topeka West (1-7). The best pass by far came in the first quarter as Deweese dropped back to pass and floated a perfectly weighted ball to Titan Osburn down the middle of the field. Osburn was in behind the Chargers’ secondary for the touchdown.
Topeka West’s best highlight came in the second quarter as quarterback Kenton Tisdale found Trey Barr on a slant route. Barr cut upfield and broke a couple of tackles as he sprinted into the end zone for the 54-yard touchdown. Senior Kyrece Robinson showed his strength a few times for the Chargers as well, peeling off a 34-yard run in the second quarter as he barreled through multiple defenders.
Following Topeka West’s lone touchdown, the momentum swung back into the hands of Washburn Rural. Thompson brought the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to the house for the final score of the game. He went untouched as he meandered his way through blockers and up the near sideline for the score.
Neither team scored in the second half as the running clock was put into effect. Following the win, Buhler explained that every team has an identity and his undefeated roster has evolved as the season has developed.
“They are one of the most physical bunch, one of the most unselfish bunch of guys with great senior leadership and they have a vision of their own,” the coach said. “They are making sure everyone stays on that path.”
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Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. You can reach him at Lkeating@gannett.com.