This season marked Erhik Hermosillo's debut as a starting quarterback, but the Leoti-Wichita County junior was armed with knowledge as took the reins of the offense.
"I had an all-state quarterback Kayde Rietzke is my mentor," Hermosillo said. "He really helped me. He made me fall in love with the game as a quarterback."
Rietzke was the most prolific offensive player in program history. He helped lead the Indians to an appearance in the Eight-Player Division I state championship game last year, amassing 1,865 yards through the air and 1,464 yards on the ground.
Hermosillo has filled Rietzke's big shoes nicely. A dual threat, Hermosillo has already amassed 1,740 yards of total offense. He's thrown for 883 yards with 11 touchdowns while rushing for 857 and 13 scores.
"He helped me mentally, with the perfect reads, how to read the defense," Hermosillo said. "Every day he just challenged me."
Hermosillo rushed for 202 yards and threw for 128, accounting for four touchdowns in Wichita County's 72-30 win over Ness City on Friday.
"I'm trying to get comfortable and not run as much, to protect myself for the next week," he said.
Hermosillo and the Indians are 4-1. They bounced from a loss to WaKeeney-Trego to take lopsided wins over Hill City, Jetmore-Hodgeman County and Ness.
Wichita County has a test awaiting this week, playing host to undefeated Meade.
"The WaKeeney game is past us already, so we're trying to keep pushing and make it back to the state championship game."
n Korben Clawson rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns to help Meade stay unbeaten with a 44-6 win over South Gray.
n Hays High tied a single-game record for school points with a 64-7 win over Abilene. Malik Bah rushed for a career-high 147 yards and scored two touchdowns. Roy Moroni ran for four touchdowns.
n Holcomb quarterback Kaden Johnson threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns in a 58-0 win over Larned.
n WaKeeney-Trego running back James Kriegh rushed for 307 yards and four touchdowns as the Golden Eagles moved to 5-0 in a 58-28 win over Atwood-Rawlins County.
VOLLEYBALL
Victoria ran their record to 20-0 with a 5-0 showing in the Ellis Invitational on Saturday. The Knights collected wins over Ellis, Sacred Heart, Stockton, Northern Valley and Plainville.
Victoria has dropped only two sets all season. The Knights moved up to No. 2 in the Class 1A Division I Kansas Volleyball Association rankings, following No. 1 Little River.
Kassi Weber leads the Knights with 169 kills, followed by Melany Huser's 159. Huser has a team-high 152 digs and Kaitlyn Windholz leads the Knights with 252 assists.
A big triangular with Central Plains and Ellinwood is looming for the Knights on Tuesday in Claflin. Central Plains (16-6), two-time defending state champions, (16-6), dropped down to Class 1A Division II with the release of the new classifications. The Oilers are now ranked No. 5 in Division II.
Central Plains' Kassidy Nixon recently eclipsed the 1,000-kill mark.
Ellinwood is 21-3 on the season and is ranked No. 6 in Class 2A.
n Holcomb is now 28-1 season after going 6-0 at the Southwestern Heights Invitational. The highlight was a win over state-ranked Goodland. Senior Nicole Ruda went over the 1,000-kill mark in her career on Saturday.
n TMP-Marian went 3-0 in the Phillipsburg quadrangular last Tuesday, including a win over previously unbeaten Smith Center. The Monarchs are ranked No. 9 in Class 3A.
n Addi Heinson has helped lead Kiowa County to a 19-3 record. Heinson is averaging 4.7 kills per set.
Golf
The Hays High golf team won the Hutchinson Invitational on Friday at Carey Park. The Indians compiled a team score of 340, winning by two strokes over Winfield.
Katie Dinkel paced Hays with a 79, taking third place and finishing 10 strokes behind individual winner Kinsley Jones of Maize. Hays High's Jaycee Oakley took seventh with an 86, Evyn Cox was 10th with an 87 and Abbie Norris was 12th with an 88.
n Colby golf continued its dominant season with by winning the Great West Activities Conference meet on Monday at Cimarron. Class 3-2-1A defending state champion won the league meet, followed by Eagles teammates Brinley Sims in second, Mya Betz in third and Logan Nolan in fifth.
n Plainville's Corbyn Marquess won the TMP Invitational on Monday at Smoky Hill County Club. She fired an 84, edging Wamego's Ashten Pierson by three strokes.
Cross Country
Defending Class 2A state champion Chesney Peterson continued her dominant junior season, winning the Syracuse Invitational at Tamarisk Golf Course in 19:58.1.
Southwestern Heights took second as a team before Hooker (Okla.). Ozia Trujillo led Southwestern Heights with a runner-up finish in 21:31.4.
n At the Ness City Invitational, Spearville's Corbin Ricke won the boys race in 17:19.60, and Holcomb's Jenera Ardery took the girls race in 20:48.80.
n At the Oberlin meet, Emma Weiner won the girls race in 21:16.9, and Goodland's Noah Schears won the boys race in 19:59.40.
n At the Wichita Bishop Carroll Invitational on Saturday, the Great Bend girls took the team title with four top-10 finishes and six in the top 13. Emilia Diaz (20:03) and Marissa Boone (20:10) were fourth and fifth, respectively, while Diane Alvarez took eighth (20:39) and Reese King (21:04) was 10th.