Football
Derek Moeller-Smith is an award-winning journalist, writer, and editor with a deep background in both print and digital media. Over the years, he has reported on everything from high school sports to local politics, education, and community issues.
His bylines have appeared in SB Nation, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports, the Emporia (Kan.) Gazette, the Junction City (Kan.) Daily Union, and the DeKalb County (Ga.) Champion. His work has earned multiple honors from the Kansas Press Association, including awards for Feature Writing, Sports Column Writing, and Front Page Design.
He currently lives in Sevierville, Tenn., where he enjoys mountain life with his wife and two young children.
Football
Blue Jays claim Silver Trophy with a clutch OT field goal
It was never really in doubt. The Junction City Blue Jays racked up 28 points in the first quarter on their way to a 56-14 drubbing of the Highland Park Scots Friday night at Al Simpler Stadium.
Alex Barnes fire doesn't burn hot enough to carry K-State through four quarters in Waco.
The defense let it go, Hubener isn't the answer but Delton must not be either
Basketball
Ricardo Erans scored 17 points and Tanner Lueker followed with 15 to lead the Junction City Blue Jays to a 63-54 victory over the Topeka West Chargers
Lady Jays overcome struggles, beat Topeka West 58-53
Wildcats top the Jayhawks for only the fifth time in the last 54 meetings
The K-State women enjoyed the largest crowd for a women's game anywhere this season. That should happen more.
Baseball
A split wasn’t exactly what they had in mind, but they’ll take it and move forward.
When freshman Blue Jay pitcher Thane McDaniel made it through his fifth inning, allowing just one run to a team which had lost only two games this season, it looked as though maybe, just maybe, after three Regional titles in a row, Junction City had finally found a way to make it past the first round of the State tournament. But, one inning later, the hopes of the Blue Jay faithful faded as the Tigers scored four runs and advanced past Junction City with a 5-1 victory.
Ruiz homers, Brigade capture 2016 Cowdin Cup Championship
The Junction City Brigade had three goals coming into the 2016 season. When the final out was recorded in an 11-5 victory over the Sabetha Lobos Thursday night, the first goal was complete.
Features
Like many of us, Bob Bramlage finds peace in meditation. But, unlike many of us, he meditates in excess of 150 miles per hour, gripping three quarters of a ton of metal, propelled by explosions in cylinders.
In a backyard in the East Lake neighborhood of Atlanta about 20 years ago, an infant Nick Heath opened his tiny hand and clutched a baseball. As if guided by instinct, he bent his arm back and threw it. He wasn’t coached or pushed. It was natural. As he grew, the instinct never faded.
The West Virginia Mountaineers and Kansas State Wildcats have met annually since 2012, but the connection of the two football programs began with a century-old legend surrounding a colonel's prayer.
For 118 years, bad blood, bad football and broken rules have dominated the rivalry between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats. Most of the history is forgotten - maybe for good reason. But I wrote about it anyway.
The media had already proclaimed the Oklahoma Sooners the Greatest Team in the History of College Football. Then on a chilly December night in Kansas City, the Sooners got ambushed by the Kansas State Wildcats.
Commentary
There are no words in the English language to describe the horror of rape. The idea that a person would feel so entitled that they could claim possession of another person’s body without consent is... there just isn’t a word for it.
Tyreek Hill punched and choked his pregnant girlfriend in 2014. He also happens to play football for the Chiefs. But I lead off with that other thing, because whether he understands it or not, Hill made a decision when he laid a violent hand on his girlfriend — the woman carrying his child — that he would be defined by that action for the rest of his life.
Mistakes like these will happen for a true freshman quarterback, but the determination in this kid is unmistakable. So is his potential.
Bill Snyder has built a mountain of well-deserved good will in Kansas and across the country, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be asked hard questions.
News
Political town halls across the United States have been filled with fits of rage through the last decade or so.
After nearly a half-century of service to metro Atlanta area Boys and Girls Clubs, Patricia Jackson was honored at a
Leocadia (Lee) I. Zak said the world needs more female leaders. As the new president-elect of Agnes Scott College, she's
Many parents of Chamblee Charter High School (CCHS) students were dissatisfied with the outcome of a gathering at the school's