Unbeaten City League showdown: East looks to ‘dethrone’ Northwest as Wichita’s best
It’s a credit to coach Ene Akpan that in his third season at East High he has the Blue Aces preparing for a highly anticipated, undefeated showdown with Northwest this Friday.
East is off to its first 4-0 start in football in more than a decade and is looking to snap an 18-game losing streak to Northwest and knock off the Grizzlies for the first time since 1984.
Meanwhile, Northwest has been the dominant team in the City League. The Grizzlies have won 25 straight league games and their players have played in multiple high-stakes games the last two seasons, when Northwest has gone 12-1 with its only loss in back-to-back Class 5A championship games.
“We know we’re playing the king, but in every story the king gets dethroned at one point,” Akpan said. “We just have to play our game. As long as we eliminate mistakes and play our game, that should do the talking for us.”
The two teams have similarly dismantled the competition before them this season. Both have broke school records for scoring this season, as Northwest did in a 92-0 win over North and East did in an 84-6 win over Southeast. In four games, Northwest has outscored opponents 274-28 and East has outscored opponents 234-19.
Northwest, which has led by at least 35 points at halftime in all of its games, is looking forward to the challenge, according to coach Steve Martin.
“After they took our season away from us, we’re just happy to be playing anybody right now,” Martin said. “Anytime you can get your blood pressure up a little bit and get ready for a meaningful game, anything like that is to our benefit. Our guys know the process. They’ve played in huge games before. It’s good for us that East is sitting there undefeated.”
Northwest, which again figures to be the favorite from the West to reach the 5A title game, will be East’s greatest challenge yet. The Grizzlies are averaging 10.1 yards per carry and 11.0 yards per play on offense.
Senior running back Julius Bolden has 508 rushing yards (15.4 average) and has scored touchdowns (11) on one-third of his carries, while sophomore L.J. Phillips has scored on six of his 17 carries and has 194 rushing yards. Quarterback Mason Ross has completed 19 of 24 throws for 357 yards and six touchdowns, with four of those scores going to Kaleb Coleman (seven catches, 182 yards).
While the offense is once again potent, Northwest’s defense might be the best yet under Martin. The starters have only allowed one touchdown and held opponents to negative rushing yards so far this season. Zac Daher, who recently committed to Army, as well as Nathan Hale and Nathan Carter headline the defensive line, while Darius Diaz and Jacob Younkman are standout linebackers; Wetu Kalomo and Todric McGee man the secondary.
“This is the biggest and fastest defense we’ve ever had here,” Martin said. “We returned nine starters from last year’s team and they’ve had another year in the weight room and that’s paid dividends to us. They’re doing a great job of shutting down the run and defending the pass. It’s a veteran group and the game doesn’t get too big for them.”
Under Akpan, East is beginning to gain that type of big-game experience. But the process of becoming a state power like Northwest takes time.
Akpan is glad East is headed in the right direction.
“Northwest has been the measuring stick, not just in the city but in the state,” Akpan said. “To get our program where we have the game of the week against Northwest, that’s an accomplishment but we still have a job to do.”
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