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Week 5 Cram Session: Tonganoxie (2-2) at Piper (3-1)

By Shawn Linenberger - | Oct 1, 2021

Shawn Linenberger

Tonganoxie High football

Records: Tonganoxie 2-2 overall and 2-1 in Frontier League play; Piper 3-1 and 3-0.

Last week: Tonganoxie rallied in the second half for a second consecutive time this past Friday. THS outlasted Eudora, 28-21, at Eudora. Piper stayed perfect in league play with a 23-15 victory against Louisburg on the road.

Last meeting: Tonganoxie won, 29-0, in 2020. The game was moved to a Saturday due to COVID-19 protocols THS has won the last four meetings.

Series record: The series is tied, 20-20. The teams first played in 1965 when THS won, 7-6. They didn’t play again until 1981, but have played each other every year except 2006 and 2007. Tonganoxie is 4-6 against the Pirates since 2010.


Coaches:
Piper’s Rick Pollard is in his fourth year as Piper head coach. His record at Piper is 17-16. He previously was offensive line coach at Mill Valley where he was part of two state titles. Tonganoxie’s Al Troyer is in his 10th year at Tonganoxie and 14th year overall. He is 61-34 at THS and 63-68 overall. Troyer was at Larned before coming to Tonganoxie. He also served as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator in the Texas high school football ranks.

Trends: Sam Kleidosty and Colton Brusven are emerging as Tonganoxie’s biggest rushing weapons. THS has developed a knack for establishing a big rusher the last several seasons and this season could be no exception. Brusven has surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark twice so far, first against Louisburg and then this past week against Eudora.

Two-minute drill: Tonganoxie and Piper have been longtime rivals. That could continue, but meetings after this year won’t be between league foes for the first time in about 40 years. Piper announced this past year that it will be joining the United Kansas Conference starting in 2022-23. Piper, Topeka West and Seaman will increase the UKC membership to nine teams, as Basehor-Linwood, De Soto, Lansing, Leavenworth, Shawnee Heights and Turner were the founding members in 2018.

— Local high school football historian Jeff Hughes contributed to this story.