Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it better for Brady Dinkel
The Eight-Man II Championship game ended with a Hollywood finish. Brady Dinkel played the starring role. Dinkel quarterbacked Victoria High School to the state title last season. He was in line to lead them to repeat his senior season after his first team all-state junior season.
It started good enough with an opening night win over Central Plains, 16-12. But a few hours after that game he was hospitalized then life-watched to Wichita with internal organ problems. Remarkably he was back to play in final week of the regular season. But he played mostly defense and some spot running back.
Joe Dortland had taken over QB and was doing nicely. But on the second snap of the sub-state game, Dortland broke his collar bone. Dinkel was back under center, leading the Knights to the title game and a rematch with Attica-Argonia.
The title game was in the final seconds. It was tied at 28-all. Victoria faced 4th-and-inches from its own 24-yard line. Dinkel took the snap and ran up the middle in an effort to get a first down. What followed is pure Hollywood. He ran up the middle, saw a crease and sprinted for the right sideline. He outraced the Titans defense and crossed the goal line with just two seconds left for a state title winning 56-yard touchdown.
It was his fourth rushing touchdown to go with one passing. He also scored on a 79-yard run with 46 seconds left in the first half. Dinkel ended with 174 yards on 10 carries and the four rushing TDs.
Prep thoughts
The strength of the western half of the state could be clear by the time Saturday comes to a close. Six state champions will be crowned in football. Two already have been. Those two – Spearville and Victoria – both come from the western half of Kansas.
Five of the final six could be from the west as well (counting Wichita as western half since that is the side of the bracket those teams come from).
In 2-1A Phillipsburg has a great shot at beating Troy for the state title. Class 3A should be a classic with Wichita Collegiate and Rossville.
In Class 4A-II former Great Bend High School assistant coach Kent Teeter will look to get his first state title directing Holcomb against Holton.
The west has no shot at 4A-I. It is the only classification the western half has not chance - pencil in Bishop Miege.
Wichita’s Bishop Carroll will look to repeat in 5A and Derby has a shot in 6A, giving the western half of the state a chance to end up with seven of the eight state titles.
Former Athlete/Coach update
Brian Hancock spent a year as an assistant coach for the Barton men’s basketball team. He now enters his seventh season at the helm of the Kaskaskia College Blue Devils – a junior college in Illinois.
Hancock was part of the 2004 coaching staff that advanced to the Region VI title game, losing to Coffeyville. He went on to be an assistant at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Idaho before taking over Kaskaskia in 2008.
His team is off to a 6-2 start to the season. Brian married Carrie Burkhart, whom he met while at Barton and the two have a 6-year old son Jaxson.
Around Campus
Do you have a literary streak in you? Prairie Ink is a way to showcase it. Prairie Ink is a literary annual publication by Barton Community College. Editors Jamie Oss and Teresa Johnson are currently accepting entries for the seventh edition.
The aim is to provide a venue for local authors to show their creative writing talents. Entries are accepted from all Barton students, alumni and all residents of the seven counties in the service region.
The editors are looking for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, literary criticism and graphic short stories. Submissions are accepted until Feb. 1 of next year. Contact either Oss or Johnson for more information.
And Finally
We have a large cat. A calico in the 18 pound range. She is not tall, nor is she big-boned. Which, leaves, well, a bit overweight. My daughter calls says she is fluffy. It is her cat.
Her name is Kitty. In her defense, she still has cat-like quickness under all that weight. She would make a great nose guard. Much in the Dana Stubblefield mode.
I told about the cat so I can tell you this story.
About a week ago I had fallen asleep on the couch. I awoke to it shaking and what sounded like the wind rattling windows. But I wasn’t by a window. I thought it odd, but closed my eyes again. Then I felt more shaking.
I was dumbfounded as to what it was.
Next to our couch is the matching loveseat. The form a right angle with the arms touching. I looked over to see Kitty sitting up on the loveseat. In my dreary state of mind I thought ‘that’s it.’ The dang cat has been over the itching or something making the couch shake.
I went back to sleep. It wasn’t until I heard all about the earthquake the next morning I realized it wasn’t the cat.
Turns out Kitty, like myself, was awakened by the earthquake and was trying to figure out what was going on just like me.