K-State Recruiting: Prep Update Week 8

It’s nearly the end of October, so that means it’s time for high school playoff action to get rolling. The smaller Kansas schools are wrapping up district play either last ngith or tonight and a potential berth in the state playoffs, while due to a recent format change, the 5A and 6A teams will all kicking off their state championship dreams tonight. Iowa and Illinois also begin this weekend, Missouri actually started last week, Tennessee starts next weekend, and the Georgia and Texas playoffs don’t being until the second weekend of November this year.

We also have another new name to bring to the list, which now numbers 15 young men committed to the Wildcats.

We will do our best to keep these as updated as possible, but not every school or area gets covered the same way. And not every local paper, school, or service even puts stats online (what do they think it is, 1996? Geez)

Ben Adler, OL, Trinity Academy, Wichita, KS -- Adler and the Knights are done with the 2016 season, after losing their last three, all district games, to get eliminated from the 4A-II playoffs.

Harrison Creed, OL, Ulysses, Ulysses, KS -- Ulysses ended a 3-game losing streak last week to Winfield, and will look to earn a 4A-I playoff bid if they can beat win-less Wellington tonight. The Tigers are currently 3-5 on the season, and 1-1 in their district.

Wyatt Hubert, DE, Shawnee Heights, Tecumseh, KS -- Shawnee Heights finished its regular season by winning its last two games, and ended the regular season at 3-5. Hubert recorded one catch for 23 yards, and two tackles, one for-loss, two weeks ago, but did not record any stats in the regular season finale. The Thunderbirds will head into the playoffs as the 9-seed in the east division of the 5A playoffs and will face...

Sammy Wheeler, QB, St. James Academy, Lenexa, KS -- St. James finished the regular season also winning their last two games and will go into the 5A playoffs as the 8-seed in the east division. Wheeler enters in to tonight’s match-up with the T-Birds going 13-35-2 for 161 yards and 4 TDs combined in the Knights last two games. He also added 192 yards and 2 TDs on 26 carries in the two games.

Aidan Mills, OL/DL, Newton, Newton, KS -- Newton will get to continue their season, even after finishing the regular season at 1-7, thanks to the new format. They will, however, be the 14-seed in the west division of the 5A playoffs and will face 3-seed Valley Center, who is 7-1 on the season.

Josh Rivas, OL, Hutchinson, Hutchinson, KS -- The Salthawks finished the regular season at 7-1, the lone loss coming to 6A and All-Classes #1 Derby, and will begin the new playoff format as the 4-seed in the West division of the bracket. The three teams slotted ahead of them in their side of the bracket are all unbeaten, and represent three of the four of the unbeaten teams in 6A. Hutch will face Haysville-Campus in the first round, and the Salthawks will look to repeat their 49-14 victory over the Colts from just two weeks ago.

Joshua Brown, DB, Langston Hughes, Fairburn, GA -- Langston Hughes split their last two games, and Brown did not record any stats in either contest. The Panthers are now 7-2 on the season and have one game left and will take a week off before playoff action begins.

Eli Huggins, DT, West Forsyth, Cumming, GA -- West Forsyth split it’s last two games, and now sits at 6-2 on the season. They have two games left before playoffs begin.

Drew Wiley, DT, Vinton-Shellsburg, Vinton, IA -- While October started well for the Vikings, it finished just as cruelly as September did, as V-S dropped their final two games of the season. Wiley’s squad wrapped up his senior year going 2-7.

Bill Kuduk, OL, Marist, Chicago, IL -- Marist finished their regular season at 8-1, and 7-0 in their conference. They are the 11-seed, of 32 overall, and will be the 3rd-ranked team in their quadrant.

Anthony Payne, DE, Raymore-Peculiar, Peculiar, MO -- Ray-Pec faced a familiar foe in their opening round playoff game, squaring off with a Lees Summit team that had just beaten the Panthers two weeks ago in Peculiar, MO (the game covered by our own Gracey T.). This time, the visiting team won again, except it was the Panthers winning on the road this time, 21-7, and will continue on to face Lee’s Summit West, a team that Ray-Pec beat 42-35 earlier this season.

Dewayne Betts, QB, KIPP Academy, Memphis, TN -- KIPP Academy has been off the last two weeks, but has their final regular season game tonight (we erroneously reported it was two weeks ago). Betts will look to lead his squad to a perfect district record and a sixth-straight win.

Bernard Goodwater, RB, Carter, Dallas, TX -- Goodwater did not record any stats in Carter’s last two games. The Cowboys are 5-4 on the season and have one regular season game remaining.

Chabastin Taylor, WR, Giddings, Giddings, TX -- Chabastian is our newest entry to this list. Standing and impressive 6’4”, 210, he’s been sort of an all-purpose player for Giddings this season. He has 16 receptions for 324 yards and 3 TDs, and 268 yards and 7 TDs on 32 carries. And he’s also gone 10-19-1 for 159 yards and 1 TD throwing. He also recorded one punt for 49 yards. And that’s without any stats from last nights 49-13 victory. The Buffaloes are 7-2 overall, and 4-0 in their district, and have one final regular season game next weekend before the playoffs begin in Texas.

Elijah Walker, DB, Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA -- Cerritos dropped to 3-4 on the season after splitting their last two games coming off a bye week. Walker combined for 10 solo tackles, three assisted tackles, one tackle for-loss, one pass break-up, and one interception that was returned 21 yards for a touchdown in the Falcons last two games. Cerritos has three regular season games remaining on the 2016 schedule.