For seven straight years the East squad had come up short against the West squad in the annual Kansas Shrine Bowl football game with many Kanzaland area athletes competing for the East squad over those years.

Looking to help snap that streak this year for the East were Kanzaland area senior football stars, Marc Walbridge (McLouth), Curtis Stallbaumer (B&B), Trent Tanking (Holton) and Denzel Chilcoat (Hiawatha) and that they would do in helping the East snap the streak to the tune of a 22-19 win over the West.

The lead changed hands multiple times as the West struck first then the East answered with a 31-yard touchdown run by Hiawatha Redhawk, Denzel Chilcoat making it a 6-6 game going into the half. West and East continued to trade scores in the second half with the West regaining the lead at 13-6 in the third quarter, then McLouth's, Marc Walbridge lead the East down the field and tossed a 19-yard touchdown passes and with two-point conversion successful the East lead 14-13.

West responded again to regain the lead with a touchdown leading the East 19-13, but the East responded with a bit of a trick play to take back the lead at 22-19 with 3:04 remaining. West drove down the field looking for the game winning score but tossed an interception in the endzone giving it back to the East. West got the ball back with 33 seconds left with one last chance but came up short.

All four area guys stood out in some capacity throughout the contest contributing in many ways. Holton Wildcat, Trent Tanking lead the way on defense for the East tallying 16 tackles and a forced fumble all on his way to earn the "Most Outstanding East Player" award, anchoring the linebacker spot for the East.

Hiawatha Redhawk, Denzel Chilcoat put himself on the map in the game early as he busted a 51-yard kick return to set up his own 31-yard touchdown run for the East which tied the game up at that point. Chilcoat finished with 83 yards on seven carries and TD, 68 yards on two kickoff returns and a special team tackle on his new home field at Washburn.

McLouth Bulldog, Marc Walbridge was perfect at quarterback going 7-7 on his passing for 69 yards and a 19-yard touchdown pass. While, B&B Falcon Curtis Stallbaumer only registered 0.5 tackle officially he was in on many plays along the defensive line and look care of the East's long snapping duties.

Both Marc Walbridge and Curtis Stallbuamer talked about breaking the 7-game East losing streak.

"All week long everybody's been talking about the streak. We just tired to tell them it's a whole new team and we knew we could win all week. We just kinda stayed under the radar and came out on top at the end," Walbridge said.

For Stallbaumer not only snapping the streak but a development of new friends and a family atmosphere was great.

"It was a great experience; it feels like I have a new family, right now. It was great to break the streak; it was awesome," said Stallbaumer.

Hiawatha Redhawk, Denzel Chilcoat was excited to start of with a win on his new home field at Washburn, "always great to get a W on my home turf, I'm coming here next year; It's always great to start off with a win."

For the East MOP, Trent Tanking when what it meant to him to play in the Shrine Bowl he talked about the honor to represent the community of Holton yet again in his high school career.

"It's an unbelievable feeling just because I get to represent the amazing community of Holton. The Holton community has given me so much over the last four year’s, the least I can do is give back by playing in the Shrine Bowl. Anything that I can do to give back to Holton, I'd do in a heartbeat because I just love the community so much and just people around," said Tanking.

While, all four guys represented the towns, the Kanzaland area and themselves with great sportsmanship, display of competitiveness and drive throughout their careers they will look to take that to the next level, too as they will all play college football next year.

For, McLouth Bulldog he's taking his talents to Fort Scott Community College next year after a great athletic career at McLouth that finished with a 9-2 record his senior year and a 42-8 playoff win over Jackson Heights. Walbridge posted 6-10 156 yards and TD in that playoff win for the Bulldogs, who also won the Delaware Valley League South title.

The Bulldog quarterback, Walbridge said it was nice to win his last game and go out on top and helping turn the program around is a big memory of his.

"It was nice to win your last game, not everybody gets to but at least somebody on the team did. I wouldn't be if it wasn't for all those players and coaches. The turnaround we made probably; the first two years weren't very good and the last two we hopefully turned the program around for a while. That's probably thing I will take away from McLouth," said Walbridge.

B&B Falcon, Curtis Stallbaumer will be competing on the junior college level next year also playing at Hutchinson Community College after an illustrious career at B&B that included two state titles, including a 13-0 state title season this past year. Curtis anchored a Falcon offense and defense line during this time with the Falcons.

Stallbaumer when asked about looking forward to in college said "just to play some more football and hopefully get better." When asked about his time as a Falcon Stallbaumer stated he would trade it for anything "great place to grow up and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Soon to be Washburn Ichabod, Denzel Chilcoat got accumulated to his new home turf well in the Shrine Bowl game. The Hiawatha Redhawk finished his high school career helping the Redhawks return to the playoffs and win a playoff game for the first time since 2001 and finish 8-3 on the season.

Chilcoat is excited about moving on to Washburn to play and looking forward to playing with his new teammates, "playing with my teammates, I love them all, their like brothers to me. And a lot of them were here to support me."

For Holton Wildcat, Trent Tanking one Wildcat career comes to an end and another begins as he is an invited walk-on for the Kansas State University football program. Tanking helped Holton to a 14-0 record his senior year on their way to winning the Class 4A state title, all while leading the way on defense with over 150 tackles on the season.

Tanking says it’s a privilege to done the purple when asked about playing for Kansas State.

"It's a dream come true to be honest with you, just to be able to put that purple jersey on and run out on to the field. I'm there to try and work into a spot eventually coming down the road two or three years, so I will work my butt off and get whatever comes to me," said Tanking.

Their high school careers come to a close but lives just begin for the four Kanzaland football stars as they represented the area quite well at the Shrine Bowl and will look to continue their athletic careers next season at the college level.

Interview with McLouth Bulldog, Marc Walbridge

Interview with B&B Falcon, Curtis Stallbaumer

Interview with Hiawatha Redhawk, Denzel Chilcoat

Interivew with Holton Wildcat, Trent Tanking