Kansas high school football spotlight on area’s three 1A title contenders Friday night
It’s not often that Class 1A can boast about offering two marquee Kansas high school football games in the same evening, but the state’s attention will be on the smallest 11-man classification Friday night.
Even better for fans in the Wichita metro area, both games are being played locally as Inman (6-1) hosts Smith Center (6-1) and Conway Springs (6-1) travels to Sedgwick (7-0). All four teams are Class 1A championship contenders, with the winner of Friday’s games earning the district title and first-round bye in the playoffs.
Conway Springs coach Matt Biehler said he was pleased that small-town football would be on the big stage.
“What’s so great about (small-town football) is that everybody is proud of their community and everybody goes into every game wanting to dominate,” Biehler said. “Sedgwick is the same way we are. There’s some great football in every classification in Kansas and we’re going to see it this week.”
Both matchups pit a traditional powerhouse against an up-and-coming program looking to break through.
Conway Springs has won six state championships in the last two decades and won nearly 85% of its games (111-20) in Biehler’s 13 seasons at the helm. Meanwhile, Smith Center has won two state titles in the last three years and eight state championships since 1999.
By contrast, Sedgwick has racked up 82 wins in the last 10 seasons under coach Jeff Werner but has never advanced past the quarterfinal game in the state playoffs, while Inman had posted a 17-50 record before this season since 2014.
“The way we look at it, this is a great opportunity for us to make our name,” Inman coach Lance Sawyer said. “Three years ago (when Inman went 0-9), nobody cared anything about Inman football. So we’re just excited to be involved in a big game like this against Smith Center, one of the premier teams in the state on any level. Our guys have worked really hard and we want to be a team that people are talking about.”
Inman’s turnaround has been led by junior quarterback Jace Doerksen, who has completed 70% of his passes, thrown for 1,114 yards and 15 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Senior Cole Hase and junior Dawson Mannebach help Inman control the line of scrimmage, while senior Carter Brown and junior Kyler Konrade have been standout linebackers on a defense that is allowing 9.4 points per game.
The Conway Springs-Sedgwick game features two high-powered offenses that move that the ball in different ways.
Sedgwick likes to run a high-tempo offense with junior quarterback Lance Hoffsommer slinging it around the field. The Cardinals are averaging 47 points per game during their undefeated start, as Hoffsommer has thrown for 1,687 yards (281.2 per game) with 12 of his 19 touchdown passes to senior Henry Burns (39 catches for 826 yards). Sam Culp leads the line, Ryan Stucky and Blake Huebert also catch passes and Connor Tillman might be 1A’s top kicker.
“It’s important that there’s a district title on the line, but for us it’s probably more important that we compete against one of the best teams,” Sedgwick coach Jeff Werner said. “(Conway Springs) runs that single-wing offense and we know we’re not going to shut them down, but we have to try to slow them down. We have to try to score points every time we have the ball and keep putting the pressure on them.”
Since losing opening week to Garden Plain, 14-13, Conway Springs hasn’t felt much pressure. The Cardinals outscored their next six opponents, 335-41.
In fact, it reminds Biehler of the last time Conway Springs played Sedgwick. It was a 2011 second-round playoff game. Sedgwick boasted an undefeated record and Conway Springs had one loss, again to Garden Plain. Conway Springs won that game, 55-13, en route to a Class 3A championship.
Once again, Conway Springs features a dominant rushing attack that is averaging 8.6 yards per carry and led by senior Zach Osner. Senior Jonathan Wright, who is also an all-state linebacker, has 504 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns with a 14.8-yard average.
But this year’s attack also has big-play ability through the air thanks to senior quarterback Heath Hilger, who has thrown 10 touchdown passes on 19 completions, and senior receiver Cole Schulte, who has turned six of his eight catches into touchdowns for 337 yards.
“I love our leadership that we have on this team and we have some guys who have all made deep playoff games and played in big games before,” Biehler said. “We know whoever wins Friday gets the title and the bye and that we could see each other down the road. We’ve been in these same battles with Garden Plain over the years.
“Now it’s up to us to control what we can control and play good, hard-nosed football.”
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