#VKFB18: The teams you cannot sleep on in 2018
None of these teams had more than six wins last season.
But all of them have a chance to change that in 2018. Here are the top high school football sleeper teams in the Wichita area.
Andover Trojans
A good quarterback is a terrible thing to waste.
Andover has one in sophomore Eli Fahnestock. He threw for more than 1,800 yards last season and will be back to lead the Trojans’ offense for coach Cade Armstrong.
The Trojans are in the thick of the deepest league in the Wichita area in AVCTL II and will have to fend off the likes of Goddard, Eisenhower and Maize South. Even tougher, all of those games are on the road this season.
Andover is coming off a 5-5 year, including a 29-27 win over Valley Center in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. If the Trojans can find a few road wins in 2018, they might prove an attractive pick come postseason.
Campus Colts
The Greg Slade Effect seems to be in full swing.
Slade was the coach at Rose Hill and earned the Rockets their first state championship in school history in 2011. Entering his sixth season at Campus, expectations are high with plenty of top-end talent scattered across the field.
Last season, the Colts won their first playoff game in school history, a 27-21 victory over Hutchinson. It was their second time beating the Salthawks in 2017.
With a favorable home schedule, Campus is already a good pick to contend atop AVCTL I.
Eisenhower Tigers
Another near .500 team from 2017, Eisenhower is looking to make a huge leap in 2018.
The Tigers bring back All-League-caliber players in lineman Stewart Habbart, running back Parker Wenzel and cornerback Nic Cinotto. Adding 6-foot-3 quarterback Collin Mackey to replace Tyler Trudo was a huge find for Eisenhower, too.
Eisenhower played a tough schedule last season and entered the playoffs 3-5. After a pair of postseason wins and a trip to the 5A sectionals, the Tigers finished 5-6.
Eisenhower has proven capable of contending in the tough AVCTL II, finishing second in 2017. This year, Eisenhower gets Andover, Maize South and Newton at home, which could propel their record up a notch.
Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders
Kapaun’s record could have — and probably should have — been much better than it ended in 2017.
The Crusaders held a halftime lead in every game last season but finished 6-4. They didn’t lose too many starters and will rely heavily on their seniors to pull them through those types of games.
Kapaun reached the regional championship after a first-round win against Emporia but ran into a train in Bishop Carroll. The Crusaders might not be ready to take that next step and go from good to great or elite, but then again, they might.
Their biggest challenge: Fighting through a brutal road schedule that includes Northwest, Heights, Andover and St. James Academy.
Wichita Heights Falcons
If the Falcons’ defense matures quickly, the City League could be in trouble.
Under first-year coach Dominick Dingle, Heights will be heavy on offense, especially with senior quarterback K’Vonte Baker. But the Falcons lost two handfuls of starters on defense from a team that finished 6-4 last season.
Heights started its playoff push strong against Newton but fell flat a week later in the regional championship game against Maize. The offense will have the poise to keep up in pressure-filled moments like that this season, but in a loaded City League, it will likely come down to the defense.
Luckily for Heights, Dingle is a defensive-minded coach. If there is someone who can expedite the process, it’s probably him.