EMPORIA \u2014 Manhattan High\u2019s Garrison Vikander has become accustomed to playing at Emporia State\u2019s Welch Stadium.<\/p>\n
In addition to biennially making the trip south to face Centennial League rival Emporia High, Welch Stadium saw Vikander and the Indians reach back-to-back Class 6A state championship games, including a 27-0 shutout of Olathe Northwest this past fall to claim the program\u2019s fourth state title and second under head coach Joe Schartz.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Vikander represented Manhattan High one final time on the gridiron, competing for the West in the 2026 Kansas Shrine Bowl, where the East earned a 14-7 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great. We didn’t execute very well today, but we had fun this whole week,\u201d Vikander said. \u201cI played here all four years, so I’m pretty familiar with this field.\u201d<\/p>\n
A two-way force in the trenches throughout his high school career, Vikander played exclusively on the defensive line Saturday. He made the most of the opportunity, recovering a fumble in the first half before recording a 7-yard tackle for loss on the opening play of the second half. He also recorded a 41-yard punt.<\/p>\n
Manhattan’s storied football history is intertwined with the Shrine Bowl, as the Indians have produced more Shrine Bowl selections than any other school in Kansas. Vikander became the program’s 66th selection in the game’s history.<\/p>\n
As a senior, Vikander earned All-Centennial League honors on both the offensive and defensive lines after totaling 38 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and two sacks while anchoring both fronts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I left a pretty strong legacy,\u201d Vikander said. \u201cI was a pretty good leader for all the younger kids, and I feel like I set a good example for going through the program if you want to succeed and make it to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Football has long been a family affair for the Vikanders. Garrison is the youngest of four brothers to play for the Indians. Cameron graduated as a tight end in 2018, Jaxon represented Manhattan in the 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl in 2023, and Rylan captained the Indians’ state runner-up team in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach Schartz has been coaching a Vikander for over a decade, so it’s definitely going to be a new experience,\u201d Garrison said.<\/p>\n
Garrison will continue his career alongside Rylan at Hutchinson Community College this fall. Jaxon currently plays at Missouri Western State.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m pretty excited,\u201d Garrison said. \u201cI’ll be in a new position at tight end, which is a whole new thing, but it’ll be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rock Creek’s Wade Rottinghaus earned his Shrine Bowl selection after a historic senior season in the trenches, helping lead the Mustangs to the Class 3A state semifinals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt great getting to put on the Rock Creek helmet one more time and represent my team at such a big event,\u201d Rottinghaus said. \u201cI haven’t really played anything like this before, so it felt really good. I love putting on the helmet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rottinghaus set school records with five sacks in a game against Hesston and 14 sacks in a season while totaling 67 tackles and 17 tackles for loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just represent our team this year,\u201d Rottinghaus said. \u201cI represent them. When people think about me, they should think about that team, the best team in Rock Creek history.\u201d<\/p>\n
A two-time first-team All-North Central Kansas League selection on both the offensive and defensive lines, Rottinghaus focused solely on defense in the Shrine Bowl, helping anchor a dominant effort by the East.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of nice not having to go both ways,\u201d Rottinghaus said. \u201cI wasn’t really tired, and I got to use more energy every single play, but I do miss playing some offense. I love playing both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EMPORIA \u2014 Manhattan High\u2019s Garrison Vikander has become accustomed to playing at Emporia State\u2019s Welch Stadium. In addition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[8918,20467,15954,32117,11581,11583,75,84,83,8919,11587,9,24,8920,8917,63,107675,107674],"class_list":["post-280656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-american-football","tag-american-football-bowls","tag-american-football-competitions","tag-college-football-bowls","tag-college-football-conference-seasons","tag-gridiron-football","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-national-football-league","tag-ncaa-division-i-fbs-football-teams","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nfl-seasons","tag-nfl-teams","tag-nyc","tag-rock-creek-potomac-river-tributary","tag-shrine-bowl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}