Kansas City Star, The (MO)
June 9, 2001
Edition: JOHNSON COUNTY
Section: OLATHE STAR
Page: 16

Sproles showed his star power in all-star game
Author: LARRY GRAHAM

It was supposed to be a Missouri vs. Kansas all-star game Thursday night in Olathe, a showcase for the best talent from both sides of the border.
Instead, the game became the Darren Sproles all-star game.

Sproles, the Olathe North running back who exceeded 2,000 yards in back-to-back seasons for the Eagles, was a force every time he took the field in the 34-7 thrashing at the Olathe District Activity Center. He was Kansas' Allen Iverson, the answer to every problem the offense encountered.

The first play of the game, he only needed to be in the backfield and draw the defenders as Travis Jackson launched a 55-yard bomb to a wide-open Jason Santifer.

"When you run play-action with him in the backfield, everyone crashes on him," Jackson said. "Having him in the game just makes it easier to do things."

Sproles didn't start doing some damage of his own until the next offensive series. On his first touchdown run of the game, from 8 yards out, Sproles appeared to be stopped for a loss. But like so many times, appearances with Sproles can be deceiving.

He side-stepped one defender, outran another for the corner and bulldozed his way through the final defender for his first touchdown.

He capped off his spectacular first half with a jaw-dropping 42-yard run up the middle, breaking three tackles and eluding the safety before scoring the final touchdown of the half.

"He has a knack of making a mediocre play a great play," Kansas coach Aaron Barnett of Eudora. "That's what he did on a couple of those runs."

When Sproles wasn't in (after playing four of seven possessions in the first half, he played only a couple of series in the third quarter and barely played in the fourth quarter), the game turned into any other football game between any two teams. There wasn't much scoring, there wasn't even much offense.

Without Sproles, that mountainous 24-0 halftime lead turns into a 3-0 molehill. And according to Barnett, "it's no coincidence."

The second half was more of the same. Sproles capped off the first series of the team's opening drive with a 64-yard scamper on a draw on third and 9.

Kansas tacked on another field goal in the second half, when Sproles was giving the Missouri side a breather.

Though Sproles was easily the highlight of the game, his performance didn't diminish what Kansas achieved on defense: a shutout for three quarters before Missouri scored in the final four minutes of the game.

Missouri tried every play imaginable from the fake punt to the end-around, and tried to convert almost every fourth down in the second half. Kansas abused the Missouri quarterbacks with a couple of sacks. Shawnee Mission North's R.J. Premis chipped in a pair of pass deflections and Shawnee Mission South linebacker Jack Hunter had the only defensive interception for Kansas.

"We talked all week about playing hard, and coach said he wanted a shutout," Premis said. "Though they scored late I don't think coach minded very much. I think it just shows what type of players Kansas has."

Yeah, the kind that are better than their Missouri counterparts.

Copyright 2001 The Kansas City Star Co.