“It’s in the game.”
That’s the slogan of Electronic Arts (EA) Sports, the leading maker of sports video games.
Also “in the game” is Kansas State inside linebacker Austin Romaine, the pride of Hillsboro High School, who stars on EA Sports College Football 26. That’s right, you can deploy the electronic Romaine, the Wildcats’ No. 45, on your video screen even as you watch him on the field this fall.
The 6-2, 245-pound junior graduated early from Hillsboro and got a running start for the Wildcats as a true freshman in 2023, playing in 12 games with five starts and recording 22 tackles. Last year, he started in all 12 of KSU’s games and made 96 tackles, ninth-most in the Big 12 Conference, including 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and three forced fumbles, earning him second team all-conference honors.
Now he’s ranked 45th among the top 50 players in the country (NCAA Division I) by Pro Football Focus (pff.com). His PFF grade of 92 is second-best among Division I linebackers, trailing only University of Texas junior Anthony Hill Jr. (95).
It’s a major step to stardom – you know you’ve “arrived” – when countless thousands (maybe millions?) of fans control your electronic image in feeding their hunger for collegiate football.
Last season KSU was 9-4 overall and 5-4 in the Big 12. Romaine was one of two KSU players voted to the 2025 Big 12 preseason team by the media, joining senior running back Will Swanson.
In a PFF video, Romaine is described as “the heart and soul of the Kansas State defense. They want to run and stop the run, and he’s at the center of that. Romaine diagnoses what’s happening up front and reacts to it and finds the ball from there.”
A junior-to-be at Hillsboro, Grant Sucharski recently finished working out in the school’s weight room and excitedly headed home to download College Football 26 on its first day of public release. Sucharski is the son of Hawk head coach Bill Sucharski. Grant immediately started playing with KSU.
“I got home and said, ‘You’re not playing yet?’” Bill said. “And he said it hadn’t released yet. About an hour later he started his Kansas State dynasty team.
“We knew early on Austin was a special kid and I felt when he committed to K-State, they were getting a kid who could play early. Austin could (also) be a D-I punter. For him to have the success he’s had early on, that’s why as a junior his name has come to the forefront.”
Sucharski’s squad holds its summer camp the last two weeks of July. Practice for all prep fall sports begins Aug. 11. Hillsboro kicks off its season at Moberly on Aug. 29.
Kansas State opens its season Aug. 23 under a special spotlight, traveling to Dublin, Ireland to play Iowa State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, the 110th meeting between the two schools. Romaine had 12 tackles in a 29-21 loss to the Cyclones last year.
Romaine is one of three players from the 2023 state final team at Hillsboro who will play at the Division I level this fall. Payton Brown (2024 graduate) captured the nation’s attention on opening night last year, running for 97 yards and three touchdowns to help Southeast Missouri State defeat North Alabama in SEMO’s first-ever nationally televised game. As a true freshman, Brown was the Redhawks’ leading rusher with 310 yards and five touchdowns on 63 carries. He also caught 15 passes for 152 yards and a TD.
Brown’s younger brother, Preston, was Hillsboro’s starting quarterback for three years and had a career record of 27-10. He won the Class 4 state javelin championship this spring and is headed to Fargo to play for North Dakota State University.
Here’s where it gets good. On Sept. 13, SEMO travels to Fargo to play the Bison, and the Brown brothers will be on opposite sides of the field. Preston could compete to replace the graduated quarterback Cam Miller, a sixth-round pick by the Las Vegas Raiders in this spring’s NFL draft, although true freshmen quarterbacks rarely start at this level. Payton had the advantage of joining the Redhawks for their spring season prior to playing, while Preston wanted that javelin gold medal and got it. He has all the tools to succeed.
There could be four other players from the county in the SEMO-NDSU matchup, including Zach Hudson, Cole Ruble and Anthony Westervelt, all teammates on Seckman’s 2022 team that beat St. Louis University High for its first district win in school history. Ruble (5-10, 195) was an all-state pick at quarterback that season after rushing for an eye-popping 2,524 yards and 46 touchdowns. He started at running back for SEMO in three games last year, gaining 219 yards with two touchdowns.
“When you take the next step up, it’s about putting on the size and he’s put on good weight to be a Division I running back,” Seckman head coach Nick Baer said. “Now it’s about waiting for that opportunity. He’s been two-three on the depth chart.”
After redshirting as a walk-on at SEMO in 2023, Hudson (6-5, 315), a junior, played in 13 games in 2024, mostly on the special teams.
“Not a lot of walk-ons hang in there,” Baer said. “To earn the trust of the coaches, you’ve got to impress them in practice, the weight room and as a good teammate.”
Also a Redhawk junior, Westervelt (6-2, 202), got in 13 games last fall, mainly as a special teamer, and caught a pass for nine yards against Tennessee Tech.
“I watched (the three former Jaguars) play at Lindenwood (University in St. Charles) last year,” Baer said. “It was fun to see our guys on the sideline and participating in that level of football.
“We (had) never had a D-I player (before), so for there to be three in one class, it was a special group.”
Redshirt freshman Jeremiah Cunningham of Festus is also on the SEMO roster at punter. He transferred from Missouri State. Also from Festus, Arhmad Branch (6-0, 185) is a sophomore at Purdue University. As a redshirt freshman last year, Branch appeared in five games and scored his first career TD against the University of Illinois.
Seckman will unveil its new digital scoreboard when it opens the season at home against Parkway West on Aug. 29. The Jaguars shredded the Longhorns with 434 rushing yards in a 40-14 victory in the 2024 opener.
Parkway West is led by senior quarterback Brett Ottensmeyer, who has committed to play at Missouri State. In 2024 he passed for 2,484 yards and 22 touchdowns, with 12 interceptions.
“They’ve garnered a lot of hype,” Baer said. “Their QB can sling it. He has a couple of decent targets. It’s an exciting first week matchup and a good measuring stick for the season. It will be easy to get the guys up for that game. (The Longhorns) have been getting a lot of attention this offseason and they will get our full attention.”