This is the fourth installment of a six-part series of columns that will look ahead to the upcoming high school sports year for our six area schools.
– June 21 — SCC Titans
– June 24 — Yates Center Wildcats
– June 27 — Crest Lancers
– Today — Humboldt Cubs
A changing of the guard for the Humboldt Cubs is going to occur in 2017-18 with the graduations of stars Rayce Hoepker, Daylon Splane and Joe Kline.
That trio certainly left its mark on the school with Kline winning a state 1600-meter title this past spring, Hoepker being a First Team All-State selection in basketball this season and Splane nearly leading the Cub baseball team to the state tournament while being a Second Team All-State selection.
With their departures, that leaves openings for new stars of teams to emerge and lead the Cubs. One of those faces is Dagen Goodner, who starred in three sports for the Cubs this past year in football, wrestling and baseball. The junior is one of several Cubs, who are ready to step into the limelight in 2017-18 for the Cubs.
FOOTBALL
After losing all but 22 yards of total offense from 2015 heading into 2016, Humboldt coach Logan Wyrick finds himself is the exact opposite position in 2017 with nearly 100 percent of his total offensive yards slated to be back with the team.
The headliner of those returning skill players is senior running back Jacob Barker who ran for 1,120 yards last season and 11 touchdowns. Barker averaged six yards per carry last year and ran for over 100 yards in over half of the team’s games.
Barker won’t be alone as a dynamic running option for the Cubs though.
Sophomore Conor Haviland burst onto the scene as a freshman and made an immediate impact by running for 278 yards on just 41 carries for a 6.7 yards-per-carry average. It is safe to predict that his workload will increase during his sophomore campaign.
Goodner was also a weapon in the Cubs’ backfield as both a fullback and lining up under center. Goodner ran for 259 yards and five touchdowns.
The biggest question for the Cubs going into the season is if they are going to be able to generate enough of a passing offense to take some pressure off of their talented group of running backs.
Senior Chad Classen and junior Kyler Allen shared a majority of the quarterback reps last season and will enter the fall as the two most obvious candidates to step into that role.
Classen started the season with the job, but struggled out of the gate with the young team around him. He completed 17 of his 42 passes for 174 yards, but had five interceptions with no touchdowns.
Allen finished the season as the starter and gave the Cubs more of a big-play element.
Allen finished the year 27-of-57 passing for 409 yards and three touchdowns, but also had seven interceptions.
Cutting down on the mistakes will be the biggest key for whoever is the quarterback, because the Cubs should be able to win a lot of games based on their defense.
Goodner returns to lead the unit after notching 112 tackles last season.
Lance Daniels joins Goodner in the talented linebacker corps after recording 62 tackles as a junior.
The person that makes it possible for Goodner and Daniels to make all the plays that they do is Noah Johnson. The undersized senior defensive tackle is a disrupter for the Cubs and had 13 tackles for loss and 53 total tackles last year to give an undersized defense overall their toughness.
Like the skill positions on offense, the Cub defensive backfield is full of returners.
With all this experience back throughout the team, Wyrick and the Cubs should be makings major strides this season.
BASKETBALL
The Cub basketball team had a lot less returning experience last year than they do this year and they were able to rise all the way to the No. 1 ranking in the state.
The only thing is that the one varsity returner they had was Rayce Hoepker and the Allen Community College signee proved last season that he was capable of leading the team as they grew around him.
Hoepker averaged 27.5 points per game to lead the Cubs while the next highest point-getter was junior Bo Bigelow at 8.8 points per game, so there is sure to be some adjustment as the Cubs replace, not only Hoepker, but Splane and Kline in the starting lineup.
Bigelow will likely step into Hoepker’s role as the team’s primary scorer, but the smooth-shooting wing will need help in the scoring department as he can’t expected to put up the gaudy numbers Hoepker did.
Daniels will lead the frontcourt as the team’s only returning starter at forward. He averaged 4.4 points and four rebounds per game last year, but both those numbers should rise this season.
Junior Tucker Hurst will likely join Daniels in the starting lineup in Kline’s place. He averaged 3.1 points per game last season.
The point guard competition should be interesting to replace Splane. Junior Teryn Johnson is the leading candidate to step in after earning spot minutes their last season.
Senior Hesston Murrow will likely complete the starting lineup after playing much of last season with a injured hand.
Replacing Hoepker will not be easy, but with coach David Taylor at the helm, the Cubs will not be an easy team for anyone to face.
WRESTLING
Goodner, Noah Johnson and Gunner Elder all return to the wrestling team after making it to state last season.
Goodner is the most accomplished of those and now comes back as an upperclassman with eyes on the state podium.
Johnson is the team’s top upper-weight and seems poised for a big season year.
Elder made his run to state as a freshman and now with that experience, the light-weight grappler will aim for the podium as well.
Speed Hoepker, Sam Wehlage, Brady Slocum and Cheyenne Harris add to the team’s depth.
GOLF
Ryan Sellman is the area’s top golfer after qualifying for state as both and freshman and sophomore the past two years.
The junior is poised to go three-for-three this season.
Drake Hottenstein, Reid Smith and Roni Bulk lead the depth on the team which should continue to develop this season.
BASEBALL
The losses of Hoepker and Splane hurt the basketball team, but they may have an even greater impact on the baseball team as they represented the team’s top two pitchers and while one pitched, the other played shortstop.
Seniors Wyatt Seufert and Josh Vanatta seem like the most likely candidates to step into the top two spots of the rotation.
At shortstop, the top replacement candidate is sophomore Jackson Aikens, who has spent the summer playing that position for the Neosho County American Legion team.
Daniels will be the headliner in the lineup as he returns to first base.
Goodner proved to be a capable center fielder a year ago and along with Daniels will make up the 3-4 combination in the Cubs’ lineup.
Behind them, Haviland holds down an outfield spot and provides some power to the batting order.
The Cubs must also replace catcher Griffin Voorheis and Elder appears to be the primary option to take over for him.
If the Cubs can remedy the top of their rotation, the rest of the team seems ready to attempt a defense of their Tri-Valley League title.
CROSS COUNTRY/
TRACK & FIELD
Replacing Joe Kline will be difficult for Cubs as they begin their transition to competing without him and without state medalist high jumper Colin Gillespie.
Humboldt’s throwers will be the strength of their team with Hurst and senior Zach Korte leading that group after each qualified for state last season.
Noah Johnson also had a very good year as a thrower and will be looking for a trip to state as a senior.
Hurst also had a strong season in the triple jump while Caleb Coronado and Luke Yokum are set to try and replace some of Kline’s production in the long-distance races.
