EMPORIA — As both teams reached Emporia for this year’s Kansas Shrine Bowl festivities held at Emporia State University, the East players started to hear a lot about the six-year stretch since their squad had come away with a victory in this annual showcase of the top football talent from across the state.

According to the East players, they heard about the streak mostly from the West players in the form of friendly trash talk heading into the game.

“When we came here, the West guys were talking trash,” Olathe West’s Elijah Hakim said. Hakim also said the East players responded a bit, but they really wanted to wait and show everybody what they could do on the field.

After a record-breaking performance from Blue Valley Southwest quarterback and Brigham Young University signee Dylan Dunn, the East team fired out to an early lead and never let go in a 36-25 win at June 29 at Welch Stadium to end the streak. 

Except for a 10-10 tie in 2022, the West team had won each Shrine Bowl game since 2019. East’s losing streak was the second longest such stretch in the history of the event. The longest win streak was when West won seven straight from 2006-2012.

Dunn finished the game with 307 passing yards and four passing touchdowns, both records for the Shrine Bowl.

“The key was just to get the ball out to my playmakers, go let them make plays,” Dunn said. “Go let them do their thing because they're here for a reason and I think they showed it tonight.”
 

Dunn also credits his time spent with some of those receivers, including Hakim and Eudora’s Adrion Seals, during the Kansas vs. Missouri All-Star game held a few weeks prior as helping the team show instant chemistry in this one.

Dunn said he enjoyed having the chance to play multiple games with those guys, as well as play in the Shrine Bowl with the many talented players, including the offensive line and the players across the defense, from teams that he’s spent the last four years battling against each and every week.

“To finally play with them, it was awesome,” Dunn said.

Before the East squad took over the game, it was actually the West team that got on the board first. West drove for 36 yards on six plays during its first possesion to set up a 42-yard field goal attempt for Blaise Hoover, which he drilled to give his team the 3-0 lead.

But the East team responded by scoring 20 unanswered points.

First, East got on the board with a 13-play, 80-yard drive capped off with Dunn putting air under the ball to find Seals in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown pass.

Seals found himself wide open, but at first he ended up getting turned all around.

“I cut for the fade, but you know, I had to turn my hips and I got lucky,” Seals said.

Seals found the ball in time to get his hand on it, tipping the ball up to himself as he started to fall toward the back of the endzone. He might have needed a little luck to keep the play alive, but Seals made sure that there was no doubt about the catch. As he went to ground, Seals got both hands on the ball and kept it elevated off the turf.
 

Dunn followed up by connecting with Hakim to convert the 2-point conversion and go up 8-3.

After the defense made a quick stop, East’s offense quickly moved down the field again, going 54 yards on five plays. Lyndon’s Tanner Heckel punched the ball in for a 1-yard rushing score, putting East up 14-3 after Olathe South’s Bryce Noernberg got stuffed on the extra point try.

But Noernberg quickly made up for that play when East was on offense again early in the second quarter. Dunn found Noernberg over the middle with three defenders in pursuit. Noernberg showed his speed and elusiveness as he darted in front, around and through all three defenders on the way to a 25-yard touchdown reception.

After Louisburg’s Declan Battle got tackled outside end zone on the 2-point try, East took a 20-3 lead in halftime.

West made a few adjustments and got started much faster in the second half. After forcing a quick three-and-out for East’s offense on their first possession of the third quarter, West’s Teegan Haines ended up calling his own shot. Before the fourth-and-long play, Haines checked with his teammate, Clay Center’s Brody Hayes to see if it was OK to do what he wanted to do.

“Do we have a block play?” Haines remembers asking Hayes. “Because I don’t remember putting one in.”

Hayes’ response: “No, we don’t have block play … but we don’t got nothing to lose, so send it.”

With his teammates blessing, Haines proceeded to give everything had in an attempt to reach the punter. He went up to the line and got on all fours before perfectly timing his jump on the snap. He shot right through the C-gap, ran the curve and laid out for the block attempt. Haines said he felt contact with the tip of his middle finger and ring finger on his one outstretched hand.

When Haines looked up, he saw the ball fluttering in the air and Hayes running right underneath it. Hayes, who full faith that Haines would make the play, also seemed to know just where the ball would go on the deflection, hauling it in and taking off for the punt return touchdown.
 

With its lead trimmed down to 10, East quickly responded. On the second play of the team’s next possession, Dunn scrambled to his right and used his legs to prolong the play along the sidelines as long as possible for launching the ball deep down the field. 

A member of West secondary appeared to be in position for the interception, only for Hakim to intervene. Hakim rose above the defender and snatched the ball away before quickly turning up field to reach the end zone on a 73-yard touchdown reception.

“I just had all the confidence in the world going through this week with Elijah,” Dunn said. “I knew what he was capable of and I think he showed it tonight what he could do.”

Dunn pushed East’s lead to 36-17 late in the third quarter as he connected with Seals again, this time on a 7-yard touchdown pass to complete a 12-play, 59-yard drive. Battle followed up by running in a 2-point conversion. 

While his first score required some acrobatics to complete, Seals had a much easier time on the second touchdown.

“I think it was busted coverage,” Seals said. “They were playing zone in the end zone, which was kind of off, but you know, it was wide open. So it worked out good for us.”

Seals’ two scores tied him for the most touchdown receptions in a Shrine Bowl, matching the mark set by Wichita Southeast’s Reuben Eckles for the West team in 1980.

West looked like it might be able to manufacture a late comeback with a score early in the fourth quarter. West’s quarterback, Liberal’s J. Brooks Kappelmann connected with Haines on a 15-yard touchdown pass, but missed on the 2-point try. Kappelmann also set multiple Shrine Bowl records with both his 29 pass completions and 51 pass attempts.

After another defensive stop, West had a chance to reach a one-score game for the first time since the opening quarter. 

West started moving into East territory, only for Seaman’s Callen Barta to intercept a deep shot into the red zone. Barta had originally been slotted to play receiver at the Shrine Bowl, but he answered the East coaches’ call for him to switch to cornerback.

Finding the team pinned back deep in the waning minutes, East opted to burn as much clock as possible before taking a safety. East held on for the 36-25 victory.

Hayes said he was proud of his team for overcoming the slow start and pushing hard for the comeback all the way to the bitter end.

“It was fun to see the guys fight, you know,” Hayes said. “That's what we're made of. We weren't gonna quit and we gave it our best and it just wasn't enough tonight."
 

EAST 36, WEST 25 

West          3     0     14     8     --     25

East          14     6     16     0     --     36

West -- Hoover 42 FG

East -- Seals 23 pass from Dunn (Hakim pass from Dunn)

East -- Heckel 1 run (pass failed)

East -- Noernberg 25 pass from Dunn (run failed)

West -- Hayes 20 return of blocked punt (Hoover kick)

East -- Hakim 73 pass from Dunn (Noemberg pass from Dunn)

West -- Voth 9 pass from Kappelmann (Hoover kick)

East -- Seals 7 pass from Dunn (Battle run)

West -- Haines 15 pass from Kappelman (pass failed)

West -- Safety

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing -- West: Bah 3-7, Kappelmann 1-6, Dickman 1-2, Mesa 3-0, Fisher 1-(minus)-10. East: Battle 14-59, Heckel 6-17, Huffman 3-4, Noernberg 1-3, Dunshee 1-0, Brusven 7-(minus)-1, Dunn 7-(minus)-14.

Passing -- West: Kappelmann 29-51-2, 235 yards; Voth 1-1-0, 22. East: Dunn 25-33-0, 307; Noernberg 1-1-0, 19; Battle 1-2-0, 3; Heckel 0-2-1, 0. 

Receiving -- West: Collier 7-68, Fisher 6-58, Bah 5-9, Voth 3-34, Davidson 2-28, Hoover 2-15, Haines 1-15, McCarty 1-14, Mowery 1-9, Mesa 1-4, Dickman 1-3. East: Heckel 5-33, Noernberg 4-52, Seals 4-51, Huffman 4-18, Hakim 3-119, Purdy 2-22, Parks 2-19, Brusven 2-3, Hull 1-12.

Punting -- West: Hoover 4-30.0. East: Purdy 3-34.7.

Tackles -- West: Hayes 6-6-12, Haines 2-7-9, Felder 2-5-7. East: Hoskins 4-2-6, Barta 4-1-5, Betts 4-1-5.