Kansas high school football grads had fingerprints all over K-State’s Pop-Tarts Bowl win

Kansas high school football graduates were at the heart of K-State’s 28-19 win over North Carolina State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl played in Orlando on Thursday night.

Most notably, Wichita native and Maize graduate Avery Johnson made his first collegiate start at quarterback to great success, throwing for 178 yards, rushing for 71 yards and scoring three total touchdowns to collect the bowl game MVP.

But the Sunflower state had its fingerprints all over the Wildcats’ success for head coach Chris Klieman.

Cooper Beebe, a Kansas City Piper graduate, is expected to be one of the top offensive linemen selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, but decided to finish out his five-year career at Kansas State with one more victory. He was joined on the offensive line by small-town Kansas natives Hadley Panzer (Lakin) and Hayden Gillum (Plainville).

Junction City native D.J. Giddens shared the spotlight with Johnson, rushing for 151 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also catching a 37-yard touchdown reception on fourth down. Just a sophomore, Giddens figures to pair with Johnson for a dynamic backfield for KSU next season.

On defense, Olathe North graduate Jacob Parrish snagged a fourth-quarter interception and finished with six tackles. He was joined in the starting lineup by fellow Kansas natives Desmond Purnell (Topeka Hayden), Austin Moore (Louisburg), Damian Ilalio (Manhattan) and Beau Palmer (Blue Valley). All five players are slated to return to Manhattan next season.

One of the biggest plays of the game was made by Marysville native Jack Blumer, the punter who darted up the middle for a 30-yard run on a fourth-down fake punt. K-State’s kicking duties were handled by Chris Tennant, a Mill Valley graduate who connected on all four of his extra-point attempts.

In total, nearly half of K-State’s players (28 of 58 were in-state players) on Thursday played Kansas high school football.

Other Kansas natives for the Wildcats included Wesley Fair (Wichita Collegiate), Tobi Osunsanmi (Wichita East), Zach Wittenberg (El Dorado), Cody Stufflebean (McPherson), Joe Hall III (Manhattan), Jet Dineen (Lawrence Free State), Sterling Lockett (Blue Valley), Trey Krause (Olathe West), Jordan Schippers (Colby), Jace Friesen (Basehor-Linwood), La’James White (St. James Academy), Sam Shields (Manhattan), Taylor Poitier (Bishop Miege), Sam Hecht (Mill Valley), Ty Bowman (Chanute) and Erwin Nash (Olathe South).

In-state recruits also played a role for KU in a 49-36 win over UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Tuesday, as Lawrence native and star running back Devin Neal led the way with 71 rushing yards and a touchdown. Tight end Mason Fairchild (Andale), tight end Jared Casey (Plainville) and offensive lineman Calvin Clements (Lawrence Free State) also started for the Jayhawks, while Mason Ellis (Mulvane), Dylan Downing (Bishop Miege) and Mack Moeller (Bishop Miege) also saw playing time in the bowl game.