LINN — Linn’s eighth-grade football team capped a solid day of play with a 33-13 win over Washington under the lights Saturday night to finish the year as Washington Junior Football League (WJFL) champions at 5-3.

“We had our sights set on the championship since day one,” said Head Coach Andy Warren, who was assisted by Sam Niederhelm, Mitch Swann, Tony Rachatellelle, Dustin Higginbotham, Josh Haslag, Ed Davis, Ian Tuggle, and Alfred Brandt. “We thought we could compete at this level and win a championship with this team.”

Linn won the first four games of the season, then lost three straight, but still held a first-round bye as the top seed. The extra week helped the Wildcats prepare.

“We watched a lot of film, and did a very good job of scouting,” said Warren. “We kind of knew what they were going to do. We beat them in a tight game earlier in the season.”

During that first meeting, Linn won 8-0 after a safety and a touchdown. “We knew going into the game that we had a good shot of beating them, because we prepared the team for this game, and having a bye gave us a little bit of an edge, too. We thought we could exploit some of their weaknesses, and we did. We ran to the right most of the night because we were getting big chunks of yards with it, and we knew that the right side, or their left side of their D-line, was the weaker spot. I thought we had probably the best warm-up in the four years that I’ve coached this team. The way you warm up kind of dictates how the game is going to go.”

Offensively, Linn posted 209 total yards and scored five touchdowns with three extra points.

Michael Ramey-Pennington, Jr. (MJ), led the team with 187 rushing yards, as Ben Swann added 20, and Chandler Yutzy posted two. MJ scored four touchdowns, and Swann had the other. MJ, Swann, and Jaxon Davis accounted for an extra point each.

Linn completed two passes in the game, one for a touchdown.

Defensively, the Wildcats were led by Swann and Wyatt Warren, each with eight tackles, as Will Kuschel posted five, Davis, MJ, and Hollis Higginbotham posted four apiece, Yutzy, Albert (AJ) Haslag had three each, Colton Rachatellelle and Reagan Yutzy posted two apiece, and Jonah Franken and Nick Swann finished with one each.

Higginbotham and Kuschel each recovered a fumble, and Haslag had a sack.

Despite the wet conditions, fans showed their support all day. “Kudos to a good home crowd,” said Warren. “It was a rainy night, but we had a big crowd, which was very surprising given the weather conditions. It always helps, and we appreciate it. This community is slowly but surely getting behind the football program at Linn. We started slow. The first few years, we’d have a few people, but it’s really building, and I love it; I’m just eating it up. It’s bringing a great culture to this community and the county. We’ve got kids from other towns in Osage County, but we are still pulling from the whole county, and there are other people from other towns coming to games.”

Other team members are Karson Strope, Colin Haslag, Keaton Niederhelm, Aceson Baker, Mark Mitchem, Sam Brandt, Trenton Vogler, Beau Rogers, and Hunter Backes.

The fifth-grade team improved to 7-0 after a 44-0 win over Festus.

“I keep telling the kids we’ve got two more games to play,” said Head Coach Brian Blauvelt, who is assisted by Will Bradford, Garett McCan, and Chris MacNeil. “We’re taking it one game at a time, but if we win that one, then we go to the championship.”

Last year, the Wildcats finished at .500, but all their wins came in the latter part of the season and continued this season. “We went into the playoffs and knocked off the number one seed on the west side last year,” said Blauvelt. “So, I had a real good feeling that we were progressing, and the kids were really figuring it out, and we’ve just kind of picked up where we left off.”

The team used a good mix of rushing and passing to dominate Festus, though stats were not kept.

From the team’s first win of the season, Linn focused on progress. “They fed off of that,” said Blauvelt. “They get excited after a win, and then they’re even more excited to go try to do it again. It’s just been going on all year; they feed off themselves. You can’t really coach the will to win into these kids. They’re naturally competitive. We can coach them and tell them what to do on the field, but they’ve got the competitiveness naturally, which is really cool. They want it really bad.”

Blauvelt said he believes the team will face Hillsboro at Linn on Saturday at 6 p.m. “I think this will be the first time this age of kids have ever played under the lights,” said Blauvelt. “That’ll be exciting for them.”

Team members are Grayson Gabelsberger, Jacob Swann, Hank Seifert, Jaxen Bamburg, Lucas Seifert, Rokzen Blauvelt, Carter Flamm, Kaden Fenner, Elliott Stieferman, Paul MacNeil, Carter Peters, Alex Bauer, Layne Hostetler, Ross Bradford, Jaxon Yutzy, and Noah Hatfield.

In the fourth-grade game, Linn lost to Hillsboro, 30-13, to end the year at 5-2, an improvement on last year’s mark of 3-4.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth from last season to this season,” said Head Coach Tyler Rikard. “Last year, they were a little timid with contact and decision-making, but this year, they came out more confident and were ready to go for it.”

Every player attended every practice and worked hard to improve. “Aside from the little bumps and bruises along the way, they all got up determined to keep playing, with smiles on their faces,” said Rikard. “We picked up some new kids this year, and the other players helped engage them in practices.”

Rikard noted that Linn played only teams in the western division of the WJFL until the playoffs. “We had never played this team, and had no video to use for preparation,” he said. “I’m impressed with our boys, who came out and gave it 100% without knowing what to expect.”

Team members are Samuel Hamlett, Waylon Peters, Lenni Samson, Ezden Blauvelt, Burk Chambers, Kash Furgeson, Daxton Nilges, Carter Terry, Oliver Bickell, Jude Miller, Ezra Probst, Quinton Miller, Grantley Kleffner, Cooper Rikard, Oliver Augustine, Jasper Alderson, Colton Frank, Jentry Mosley, Aaron Lutes, Boyd Backes, and Justin Daniels.

Assistant coaches are Justin Mosley, James Nilges, and Troy Frank.

Linn’s third-grade team defeated Festus 27-0 to improve to 6-1 on the year. “We have some really good athletes on the team, and some pretty talented kids for their age,” said Coach James Yutzy, noting the team lost its first game to a very good team, but has been on a solid winning streak. “We’re definitely pretty happy with the way everything’s turning out for us,” said Yutzy. “You always want to have high expectations, but I don’t know if we could have predicted it to go this well.”

In preparation for Saturday’s game, Yutzy and assistant coaches Perry Yutzy, Matt Frank, Jeff Blauvelt, and Michael Sokolowski worked with the center. “We would wet the ball for him and have him practice snapping with a wet ball, just to get used to it,” Yutzy said. “I think it paid off, because I don’t know if we had one bad snap all game that we couldn’t handle. The other team had numerous snaps where they dropped the ball, or it was low, and they had to basically just jump on it. That will cost you a lot of yards quickly, and it’s a good way to end drives. All of our kids have been doing amazing.”

Team members are Lucas Sneller, Vance Kemp, Harrison Blauvelt, Hawkins Blauvelt, Calvin Orscheln, Easton Thomeczek, Jack Corey, Caden Sokolowski, Knox Frank, Raylon Wolfe, Vasen Brandt, Damian Yutzy, Morgan Miller, Dante Yutzy, Owen Voss, Gus Kuschel, Jaxon Hostetler, Layken Hostetler, and Justin Neihart.

Yutzy said he believes Linn will play Union in the next round on Saturday.

Overall, Linn Wildcats Football Boosters board member Mitch Swann was pleased with the teams’ play and community support.

“It was a great day,” he said. “It’s incredible to see how much our program has grown in just four years. We now have 80 youth football athletes and 40 youth cheerleaders.”

Linn youth cheerleaders were on the sideline all day under the direction of Cassie Sneller.

“Our seventh and eighth-graders have come so far since that first season when we were losing by four or five touchdowns a game,” said Swann. “Every player from third through eighth grade has completely bought into the program, and it shows.”

Other board members are Andy Warren, Brian Blauvelt, Megan Reichart, Sarah Brandt, Steve Samson, Travis Greer, Tiffany Bish, Tasha Haslag, and Ed Davis.

“Building the high school program has taken time, but the foundation is strong, and the success is coming,” Swann said. “Our facilities are among the best in Class 1, and our football program is on track to become one of the top in the state. I have no doubt that we’ll be competing for a state title within the next four years!”

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