Wichita-area brothers headline one of the best football offenses in Kansas

One of Hooper Schroeder’s favorite things to do after games is to get on his phone.

“I like seeing 40 Twitter notifications,” he said. “I’ve gotten more exposure in the last three weeks than I have in my whole life. Sometimes I do have to step back and enjoy it.”

Schroeder, Sedgwick’s senior quarterback, has put up gargantuan stats every week this season and has gained notoriety as the top high school passer in Kansas with 1,063 yards, 15 total touchdowns and zero interceptions. He has the Cardinals at 3-0 heading into a highly anticipated home game Friday against Ell-Saline.

But it’s not just him.

To some degree, Schroeder is a product of the Cardinals’ system. Coach Jeff Werner likes to spread the field and the sling the ball around. It’s a system some in Kansas aren’t fond of because few run it.

In Week 1, Schroeder threw 51 times for 502 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was chosen as one of the Eagle’s top five performers of the week, and he hasn’t slowed down.

But Werner said Schroeder is just using his talents as he should.

Sedgwick has had more run-first quarterbacks in the past. Schroeder is about to break the school’s career passing record, and the player who holds it was a dual-threat quarterback.

With Schroeder throwing it as often as Werner allows, the Cardinals are at no shortage of receivers and skill players. That starts with someone who shares Schroeder’s dinner table.

Junior receiver Kale Schroeder leads the team with 341 receiving yards at 113.7 yards a game. He said it’s the best type of offense to play in.

“Every play I’m running a route,” Kale said. “You’ll watch film (on other teams), and the receivers on the back side of the play are just standing there. We run the routes hard because we could get the ball on any play.”

Hooper and Kale have played together since they were in grade school. Kale used to be Hooper’s running back and broke youth records for rushing touchdowns.

The Schroeders aren’t the only reason the Cardinals come in at No. 1 in in Class 1A heading into Week 4 in the Eagle’s state rankings. They lead the way, but the depth is outstanding.

Eleven receivers have caught a pass this season. Junior Mason Lacey, senior Cauy Root and senior Gavin Finch are among the other top targets. Together, their offense is explosive and dynamic with a nice blend of the deep ball and screen passes.

And just to keep the defense honest, senior running back Colton Smith is averaging more than 100 yards per game, too.

“I might make some double-wing guys mad, but kids want to come out and catch balls,” Werner said. “No one wants to get foot-to-foot and grind against each other in practice. I can’t imagine getting scout team kids excited to hear, ‘You’re gonna get run over today.’

“We lead the state in 5-foot-8, 145-pound kids.”

Werner said he had 45 kids in uniform Friday. Sterling, who the Cardinals beat 47-8, had 26. He said not many teams they play will have more than 30.

But with those numbers year-after-year, Sedgwick hasn’t produced a state championship. The Cardinals are looking for their first playoff win since 2013, when they made it to the Class 3A sectionals.

Last year, they lost 44-41 to Ell-Saline, the team they play Friday. The Schroeder brothers connected on a touchdown that would have virtually won the game, but the play was called back for an illegal forward pass beyond the line of scrimmage. In 2016, the Cardinals lost another three-point game to Republic County.

They know the task at hand and the history that is against them, but for now while the weather is warm and the ball is hot, Schroeder and the Sedgwick offense will keep flinging it around a small town 20 miles north of Wichita.

Werner said one of the things that gets people upset the most is they don’t return punts. They line up in a base defense and let the ball roll in case of a fake. It might not seem like it, but it is a representation of his belief in his high-powered offense.

“It may be at the 1-yard line, but we’re coming out, and we’re throwing,” Werner said. “The kids truly do not fear where the ball is at. It’s just fun to watch, and it’s our identity. I’d probably get fired if we went to the wing-T now.”