Osawatomie High, a Kansas school located just south of metropolitan Kansas City, Missouri, has made the difficult decision to forfeit its entire 2024 varsity football season, the school announced via a message on Facebook late last week.

The school determined it did not have enough players to field both a varsity and junior varsity team and since it lacked upperclassmen, it decided it was best to forfeit the varsity season. After ongoing consultation with district officials, the school decided it would play only a JV/C schedule. The Trojans were scheduled to play their first varsity game this coming Friday a Prairie View.

“Our players’ and students’ safety is our priority over everything else. Due to our numbers, we had to forfeit a Varsity or JV schedule. We could not do both,” wrote Osawatomie Superintendent Greg Clark in the post.

Clark said the school will look at alternative ways to continue long-standing traditions, such as homecoming, without putting young players at risk by forcing them to play against athletes who are older, bigger and stronger.

“We received multiple emails and phone calls from parents sharing the same concern, which helped lead us to this decision,” added Clark. “We will take this opportunity to build these young players’ skills and focus on strength and physical safety.”

According to Clark, the Trojans currently have five JV games scheduled.

“We know that this is not a popular decision,” he concluded. “Please know that this decision was not made lightly and that hours of discussion went into it. If we had seen a greater turnout in upperclassmen, we likely would not be in this situation. However, we respect our students, and their decisions are their own.”

Osawatomie went 0-9 in each of the last two seasons and has not won a varsity football game since a 30-14 win over Baldwin on Oct. 22, 2021, a span of 19 straight games. The Trojans went 7-3 in 2015, but have gone just 8-65 since with three winless seasons.

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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — For the first time since Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, Yuli Gurriel will stand in the batter’s box inside Houston’s Minute Maid Park on Sunday. It just won’t be with the Astros.

On Saturday, the Kansas City Royals completed a trade with the Atlanta Braves to acquire the 40-year-old Cuban infielder, who has been playing on a minor-league deal. Despite the trade deadline having come and gone, the Royals were able to obtain Gurriel since he had yet to come up to the major league level in 2024.

The video above was produced in 2017.

And in a twist of fate, the Royals are starting Gurriel as the designated hitter when Kansas City and Houston face off Sunday in their series finale.

SEE PREVIOUS STORY: Former Astros teammates Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman reunite in heartwarming spring training photo

So, how did a sudden Gurriel homecoming unfold, and what was the first baseman doing since his exit after Houston’s latest world championship?

Gurriel’s final game with Houston was painful. In Game 5 of the 2022 World Series, he suffered a right knee injury that kept him out of the clinching game in Houston.

The Astros decided to attempt an upgrade at the first base position in the 2023 offseason by signing free agent Jose Abreu on a three-year, $58.5 million. The signing effectively put Gurriel, also a free agent, on the outs.

Gurriel signed a one-year deal with the Miami Marlins for 2023, where he played in 108 games and appeared as a pinch hitter in one postseason matchup.

The 40-year-old was back on the market for the 2024 season and signed with the Braves organization two weeks into the regular season. The Braves, who are in a dogfight with the Phillies for the National League East crown, were seemingly gearing up for a Gurriel call-up after he took reps as a second and third baseman in Triple A.

But after Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino broke his thumb during their series in Houston, Gurriel became appealing to postseason-contending Kansas City. He was reportedly traded for cash considerations.

Gurriel’s arrival on Sunday also coincides with major league rosters expanding from 26 to 28 players in time for the last month of the season.

The Houston Astros, who have found instant success with waiver-wire claim Ben Gamel and free agent Jason Heyward, both outfielders filling in the void left by Kyle Tucker’s injury, picked up Sugar Land Space Cowboys members Cesar Salazar, a catcher, and Forrest Whitley, a pitcher.

Salazar made his major league debut in 2023 and last played with the Astros on July 11 this year. Whitley, a San Antonio native, debuted on April 16, 2024, after eight seasons in the Astros minor-league system, but had yet to play again since.

Entering Sunday’s game, Houston holds a five-game lead over the Seattle Mariners for the American League West. The Astros head to Cincinnati on Monday for a series opener, take their first off day in 18 days on Tuesday, and resume the series with the Reds on Wednesday.

Houston can also add a wild-card bye into the postseason conversation. The ‘Stros sit three games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the AL’s second seed. The two teams face off for the last series of the season at the end of this month.

Kansas State offensive MVP: DJ Giddens

It was another nice and easy day at the office for Kansas State running back DJ Giddens.

The Junction City running back went over 100 yards for the fifth consecutive game. His five game streak of going over the century mark is tied for fourth in K-State school history. Giddens finished the game with 124 rushing yards and added six receiving yards.

Dylan Edwards provided a nice spark for the Wildcat offense in his first game after transferring from Colorado. Edwards scored multiple times in the contest Saturday night with one on the ground and a receiving touchdown.

In the first home start for Avery Johnson, there were some ups and downs.

However, Johnson still finished with two touchdowns through the air and added some nice runs as well. Jayce Brown was a major bright spot receiving as well with 71 receiving yards. The true sophomore led Kansas State in receiving and had the most receptions with five.

Defensive MVP: Tobi Osunsanmi

For defense there was a few different options for MVP. I really wrestled back and forth between two.

Ultimately, I decided on Tobi Osunsanmi. The Wichita native was a man possessed in his snaps. He showed his elite burst and was able to get to the quarterback at a very high clip. Osunsanmi finished the game with 1.5 sacks (2.5 if he completes one instead of letting the quarterback escape).

He also added another quarterback hit to go along with the sacks.

Desmond Purnell was also flying around the field Saturday evening. He led K-State in tackles with seven and was tied for first in tackles for a loss with 1.5.

K-State special teams MVP: Ty Bowman

Anytime you can create a touchdown on special teams, it is an easy choice for special teams MVP. Ty Bowman blocked his second career punt in the season opener versus UT-Martin. The beneficiary of Bowman blocking the punt was Colby McCalister who returned the ball one yard for a touchdown.

Chris Tennant was also perfect on all of his kicks. Tennant knocked in a 45 and 43-yard field goal and was perfect on all of his extra points.