Week 1 recap: Who turned heads as Wichita saw the return of high school football?

The long-awaited Week 1 of the 2020 Kansas high school football season is in the books.

Here is a recap of the biggest games from across the Wichita area.

Andover at Maize: Trojans impress despite defeat

Quentin Born had it pinched in his right hand, but the ball tumbled out at the vital moment.

On a fourth down, Andover sophomore quarterback Brady Strausz lofted a perfectly thrown ball to the left side of the end zone. Down two scores with less than six minutes left, the Trojans needed it to keep the game alive.

Maize held on to beat Andover 20-6 in the 2020 season-opener. But the fact Andover was that close is a testament to how far the Trojans have come.

Last year, Andover finished 3-7. The Trojans won their two regular season games by a combined 15 points and lost their six by an average of less than a touchdown.

On the other sideline, Maize went 10-2 last season. The Eagles reached their second straight Class 5A semifinal and enter 2020 as one of the favorites for the state championship.

Although Friday’s result shows a 14-point loss, first-year coach Ken Dusenbury was happy with his group’s effort.

“I’m so proud of them,” Dusenbury said. “They played their guts out, and most of them played both sides of the ball. They gave everything they had against not just a quality team but a quality program. They just left it all out there tonight.”

Strausz, like Dusenbury, was making his Andover varsity debut Friday night. Although the Trojans relied heavily on a power running attack, one that worked for 81 yards and a score from junior Max Middleton on their opening drive, Strausz shined.

In his pass attempt without play action, Strausz dropped back in the pocked, stepped up and heaved a dime down the left sideline to Born. The pass hit Born in stride and reaffirmed to the coaching staff the kind of player Strausz is becoming.

Dusenbury said entering the season, he had no intention of making Strausz the starting quarterback. He was ready to go with senior linebacker Ashton Ngo. That changed.

“He just took the job over,” Dusenbury said. “He’s a good kid. He’s a smart kid, and a great football player. He made so much improvement in week 1 of practice, and by week 2, I made up my mind.”

Maize coach Gary Guzman saw what Dusenbury did, too.

“When you have a young quarterback back there, and they’re bringing the heat, the game is moving so fast,” Guzman said. “It’s admirable when they can step in a do a good job, and he did a great job tonight.

“He’ll be a good one. He’ll be a good one.”

With 1:38 to play, Strausz took a hit to the head on a roughing the passer penalty against Maize senior linebacker Kyle Haas. An ambulance arrived, and Strausz was taken to a hospital. His status is unknown at this time.

Although the night ended on a hollow note, both teams carry away valuable positives from Friday night.

Maize has won five straight season-openers. The Eagles haven’t lost to a non-league opponent since Oct. 23, 2015, and they have found a few budding stars on the offensive side of the ball.

Senior running back Josh Sanders accounted for all three Maize touchdowns Friday night, including one on the opening kickoff in which he faked a reverse, kept the ball and went untouched the rest of the way. Sanders transferred from Wichita Heights for his senior season.

Sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson had sputtering moments with the offense, but he came to life in the second half. On what proved to be Maize’s game-winning drive, Johnson’s improvisation outside of the pocket was what made the difference.

“Hopefully we can get the passing game going as well,” Guzman said. “Once the passing game comes to life, it’s going to open up the run even more. We’ve got some work to do.”

Andover worked its power run game to near perfection in the losing effort. Dusenbury, who came from Garden Plain, introduced the offense in the shortened offseason, and the Trojans looked as if they had run it for years.

Defensively, Andover might be one of the most talented teams in the Wichita area. Linebackers Chandler Goodnight and Ngo were game-changers, and the defensive backfield was a rock all night. Dusenbury dialed up enough blitzes to keep Maize guessing.

Dusenbury worked under Guzman in the late 2000s at Wichita Southeast. Guzman was proud of what he saw.

“I was very impressed,” Guzman said. “It looks like they picked up right where they left off. They’re going to be good. I’m not surprised coach Dus has his team playing this well already.”

Derby at Mill Valley: 26-game win streak snapped

By Shaun Goodwin, Special to The Eagle/Star

Friday night’s high school football game at Mill Valley was supposed to be a real showdown.

Week one of the 2020 season: Kansas Class 5A state champion versus Class 6A state champion.

Instead it was a 45-14 blowout for the Class 5A champion Mill Valley Jaguars over 6A champ Derby.

“It’s week one — you never know what to expect,” Mill Valley coach Joel Applebee said. “I knew we had a good team; I knew we had great seniors who lead us and do a great job with everything, whether it’s on the field, off the field with everything that’s going on right now with the protocol that we follow.

“I’m just so proud of our seniors leading us and I’m proud of all these kids. They all invested a lot of time and they deserve this win.”

Quarterback Cooper Marsh was a star right off the bat for Mill Valley (1-0). The senior enjoyed a career night: three rushing touchdowns and a passing TD, too, for 192 total yards.

“I thought it was going to be a tough battle, and I thought it was going to come down to whoever secured the ball better,” said Marsh, who scores all three of his rushing TDs before halftime.

Each time Mill Valley scored, all of the floodlights in the stadium flashed off and on simultaneously for a couple of seconds. They were constant strobe lights Friday as the Jaguars made stop after stop and scored TD after TD..

The first came just under six minutes in. Winning the toss and deferring kickoff, Mill Valley forced a quick three-and-out — the first of five for Derby.

The Jaguars then embarked on a three-and-a-half-minute drive. On a third-and-10 at the Jags’ 36, Marsh connected with wide receiver Kendrick Jones for a 28-yard gain.

Jones became a favorite target for the quarterback, piling up six catches for 107 yards.

“Kendrick has been one of my main targets in practice this last week. and he ran clean routes tonight and got open,” Marsh said. “We knew we could get the out-routes and short game, considering their corners were playing off ... and that’s really what we do.”

Running back Quin Wittenauer took the reins of the drive from there. His opening touchdown was the first of two for Wittenauer, who finished with 102 yards rushing on 20 carries.

“He did an outstanding job, too,” Applebee said. “He ran the ball hard, had some nice cuts, held onto the ball. He just did a great job.”

Mill Valley didn’t waste any time in extending its lead, forcing Derby into a second three-and-out. Marsh linked up with Jones, then scored on a 25-yard keeper to make it 14-0.

Derby offered a semblance of fight on its next drive as sophomore running back Dylan Edwards pulled in a screen pass from QB Lem Walsh and ran for an 85-yard TD. Edwards finished with 33 yards on 11 carries.

Before halftime arrived, Marsh ran for two more touchdowns and found senior wide receiver Jacob Hartman in the end zone. The Jags led 35-7 at intermission.

Wittenauer scored in the third quarter, pushing it 42-7, and a running clock was instituted for the final period. Derby’s final TD came courtesy of Walsh, capping a 10-minute drive to close out the game.

Buhler at Goddard: He had 300 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns

By Taylor Eldridge, teldridge@wichitaeagle.com

Catch Jake Shope any other day of the week and the Goddard senior is quiet, mild-mannered and soft-spoken.

But on Friday nights during football season, Shope allows those repressed emotions to boil over and come to the surface. And entering his senior year, there’s more anger than there’s ever been because he feels like he has been overlooked.

Shope should command the respect he’s after following his season debut on Friday in Goddard’s 35-20 victory over Buhler. The 6-foot-1 receiver was the breakout star of the game, catching a school-record four touchdown passes and racking up 242 yards on 12 receptions.

“He is like a quiet assassin,” Goddard coach Tommy Beason said. “He doesn’t say two words. He internalizes every bit of anger and when he gets the opportunity to bring it out, he’s like the Hulk ripping his shirt off. He’s like a whole different human. When he gets heated, he’s a dude’s dude.”

Sometimes Shope doesn’t even need outside motivation.

In the midst of his breakout performance, Shope was perhaps the most angry in the third quarter by his quarterback Kyler Semrad’s decision not to go his way on a third-down play near the goal line. After the incompletion, Shope was incensed, yelling at the sideline and pounding his chest as if to say “they can’t stop me.”

Sure enough, on fourth-and-10 from the 21-yard line, Semrad floated a jump ball to the corner of the end zone and Shope shed his defender and came down with the touchdown grab to put Goddard up 28-7.

“I knew as soon as I got one-on-one I wanted the ball,” Shope said. “I know we need to spread it around and all, but I wanted it there. I guess that’s the greedy part of me. I wanted to really prove myself tonight.”

Semrad laughed afterward when asked about the sequence.

That type of frustration shown by a receiver might rattle some quarterbacks, but not this duo. Friday’s breakout connection was forged through many hot, sticky days in the summer sun on a field in Owasso, Oklahoma where Semrad and Shope developed the impeccable rhythm they unveiled on Friday.

“We spent a lot of time this summer down there working for hours and hours and hours,” Semrad said. “There where times where he didn’t want to go, but he would get dragged along and we would get work done. That’s where we built our connection.”

“There were some hot days that I didn’t want to be there all the time, but I knew it was going to work out for us in the long run,” Shope added.

Shope’s big numbers didn’t come as a shock to those within the program. He’s been a starter for Goddard the past two seasons, including the 2018 Class 4A state championship game. And even without Semrad for the second-half of last season, Shope was productive enough to earn all-league honors at receiver.

But still, 12 catches for 242 yards and four touchdowns? Not even a little surprise?

“I feel like I knew something like this was going to happen,” Shope said. “I am pretty confident in my ability. I feel like I’m pretty underrated, so I just wanted to show people what I can do.”

For Semrad, who missed the second half of his junior season due to a knee injury, it was a near-perfect return to the field. The senior completed 26 of 36 passes for 344 yards and five touchdowns without an interception.

While Shope and Semrad were the ones who put up eye-popping stats, they both gave credit for their performances to a Goddard offensive line that entered the season as a question mark with only one returning starter. But the blocking from Rhett Brown, MJ Owings, Levi Derksen, Edjuan Belling and Easton Shaner-Palmer on Friday help swing the game in Goddard’s favor.

“We were never able to get to the quarterback,” Buhler coach Steve Warner said.

“I only got knocked down one time and no sacks,” Semrad said. “I’m so proud of those guys.”

Buhler actually controlled the game for the first 19 minutes, holding a 7-0 lead after Bradley Neill found Ryan Henderson wide open on third down for a 57-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter.

But that’s when Shope started to take over. His first big strike came on a 58-yard bomb over the top of two defenders courtesy of a well-placed ball from Semrad to tie the score with 4:32 remaining in the second quarter. Shope gave the Lions a 14-7 halftime lead by bringing down another jump ball in the end zone for a 34-yard score just 14 seconds before the break.

Buhler’s chances significantly diminished after its offense failed to register a first down on its opening drive of the second half, then a botched punt gave Goddard the ball inside Buhler’s 10-yard line. Semrad made quick work of the opportunity, finding Tyler Haskell for a three-yard touchdown score for a 21-7 lead. Shope added touchdown catches of 21 and 54 yards to close out the game for Goddard, which led by at least two scores for the final 21 minutes.

“The first half was a great chess match, but once we got down 21-7, things went downhill from there,” Warner said. “We kind of fell apart, but we’re a young team. We’ve only got nine seniors. We’ll learn from this and get better. We’ll have to get better.”

Junction City at Bishop Carroll, Kapaun at Dodge City: What a Holy War it should be

Momentum is with Kapaun.

The Crusaders drove almost three hours west to beat Dodge City 42-0 on Friday. Dodge City went 9-1 last season while Kapaun finished 2-7.

Back in Wichita, Bishop Carroll hosted one of the biggest games in the state. The Golden Eagles beat Junction City, a contender in Class 6A, 29-28. Carroll trailed at halftime after receiver Chase Smarsh was stopped just before the goal line as time expired.

But with under two minutes to go, Carroll senior running back Hunter Trail plowed in for the go-ahead score. Junction City scored with short time, but a failed 2-point conversion meant Carroll hung on.

The parochial schools meet in Week 2 as Carroll hosts Kapaun. The Crusaders haven’t beaten Carroll since 1999, but coming off a big road win, the first under legendary City League coach Weston Schartz, the hope is there.

Conway Springs at Garden Plain: Cardinals a 2-point conversion away

Two rivals ranked in the top four of their respective classification opened the season on a one-point game.

Garden Plain beat Conway Springs 14-13 after a failed 2-point attempt with 2:42 to play. The Owls received the ensuing kickoff, and the offense never gave the ball back.

After losing three straight to Conway Springs from 2016-18, the Owls have now won back-to-back games against the Cardinals and lead the series all-time 31-25.

Friday was the first game in charge for coach Dan Adelhardt, who came over from Kapaun Mt. Carmel. Under former coach Ken Dusenbury, now at Andover, the Owls went 10-1 last season.

Andover Central at Newton: State runner-up wins on the ropes

Newton went 3-6 last season, and Andover Central played for a state championship, but Friday night, only seven points were the difference.

Andover Central left Newton with a 41-34 victory. It was the first meeting between the programs. Senior quarterback Chase White hit senior receiver Kyle Kohman for a 53-yard touchdown with 8:21 to play for the game-winning score. The Jaguars trailed early in the third quarter after Newton connected on a 49-yard touchdown pass.

Andover Central went 11-2 last season. Its only losses were to Maize South on the road by a touchdown and to Bishop Miege in the 4A title game.

Clearwater at Wellington: Cash takes it to the bank in overtime

There is a reason Tanner Cash is regarded as one of the best players in the Wichita area.

After Wellington forced overtime with a 5-yard touchdown from quarterback Berkley Wright, Clearwater had the ball first. In high school overtime, each team gets a shot on offense with the ball at the opponent’s 10 yard line. Cash needed two plays to score.

Wellington took over, but a block in the back penalty cost the Crusaders a good shot at the end zone. Clearwater escaped with a 36-29 overtime win.

With the win, Clearwater has won three straight season-openers for the first time since 1977-79.

Campus at Salina Central: Colts edge Mustangs by a nose

Campus lost to Salina Central 47-0 at home last season.

Friday, the Colts repaid the favor with a 37-32 road victory. Campus junior quarterback Braelyn Jay threw four two passes and ran four more in. His top target, senior receiver Tate Rico, brought down both of those passing touchdowns.

Salina Central scored with 1:09 to go to make it a one-score game, but the Campus offense held on long enough to see the victory formation.

Campus went 1-8 in 2019 in coach Jamie Cruce’s first season with the team after taking Pratt to the Class 3A state championship game.

Trinity Academy at Chaparral: Knights get first win in 686 days

Oct. 19, 2018, was the most recent time Trinity Academy football fans celebrated a victory until Friday.

The Knights beat Chaparral 33-25 on the road, their first victory away from home since Oct. 20, 2017.

Trinity is not the worst team in the Wichita area, and it never has. The Knights play one of the toughest schedules of any team in all of Kansas. Last year, they had to face heavy-hitters like Andale, Collegiate, Conway Springs, Garden Plain and Cheney.

This year, the Knights play a much more hopeful schedule featuring games against Kingman and Douglass.

Winfield at Arkansas City: Cowley Cup ends historically lop-sided

The past four Cowley Cups were decided by 19 points.

Friday, Arkansas City beat its biggest rival, Winfield, 33-0 in what is believed to be the most lop-sided Cowley Cup since 1984.

The Bulldogs didn’t even score in the second half. Sophomore quarterback Gabe Welch threw for three touchdown passes of 46, 36 and 25 yards. He ran for another score.

Ark City has beaten Winfield in six of the past seven matchups and is going for its third straight Class 4A regional title in 2020.

Great Bend at Maize South: Mavs blank Panthers in emphatic fashion

On paper, it looked like a fair fight, but Maize South crumpled the paper.

The Mavericks thumped Great Bend 56-0. It was 42-0 at halftime. The 56-point margin is Maize South’s largest since 2017 and its most lop-sided season-opener in school history.

Maize South finished with 602 total yards and held Great Bend to 116. Senior quarterback Colin Shields missed only two passes and threw for four touchdowns, two of which went to receiver Jake Johnson, according to Sports in Kansas.

Maize South went 10-1 last season before dropping out of the Class 5A playoffs to crosstown rival Maize in the quarterfinal round.

This story was originally published September 5, 2020 at 1:44 AM.

Hayden Barber

The Wichita Eagle

316-269-6760

Wichita Eagle preps reporter Hayden Barber brings the area updates on all high school sports while adding those hard-to-find human-interest stories on Wichita’s student-athletes.