Why Carroll-Kapaun football rivalry still means so much to Wichita Catholic community
It’s not hyperbole to say Friday’s high school football game between Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mount Carmel is more than just a game to the Wichita Catholic community.
It’s West Side vs. East Side. It’s one side (Kapaun) desperately trying to end a 24-game losing streak that dates back 22 years and the other side (Carroll) desperately trying to uphold its supremacy. And now it will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 when the two top-ranked teams in Class 5A clash Friday night at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium.
Mix it all together and you have the most anticipated “Holy War” since 2009, when more than 7,000 fans witnessed a classic and thousands more watched on national television as Carroll pulled off a 36-34 come-from-behind win over Kapaun broadcast on ESPNU.
“For some people in the Catholic community, this is going to be the one game they go to all year,” said Alan Schuckman, who coached Carroll football for 22 years before retiring in 2017. “There’s a lot of pride with the alumni. A lot of these kids and families know each other.
“Both schools take a lot of pride in their athletics and academics, but this football game is the showcase to be the best Catholic school in town.”
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‘Beating Carroll isn’t everything, but it’s as important as it gets’
Rarely can a rivalry be so one-sided for so long and still elicit the type of passion that only Carroll-Kapaun can.
Although last year was the introduction for Weston Schartz to the rivalry, the Kapaun coach said it didn’t take long for him to realize the two-decade-long losing streak to Carroll doesn’t just loom over the football team.
“It was surprising to me to find out how much it hangs over the Kapaun community,” Schartz said. “They’ve won 24 in a row. That’s a lot of games. We try to treat this as just another game, but I’m not going to lie to you, when it’s Carroll week it’s a special time for the whole east side of town.”
In the final act of his legendary coaching career, Schartz is attempting to return the Crusaders to their past glory when they were a state power in the 1970s and 80s. In just his second season at the helm, Schartz is well on his way — Kapaun is off to a dominant 5-0 start where it has outscored opponents 240-66 and ascended to No. 2 in the Class 5A rankings.
But none of that matters to some in the Kapaun community. They’ve seen good football teams before at Kapaun ultimately come up short against its cross-town rival. To some, all that matters is ending the streak against Carroll.
“I think everyone in the community feels that we have a great team this year that seems ready to go, but I think everybody kind of limits expectations until we see where we stack up against Carroll,” said Jacob Klein, a former Kapaun football player who is now the school’s head wrestling coach. “Beating Carroll isn’t necessarily everything, but it’s about as important as it gets for us when it comes to every football season.”
As an outsider to the rivalry until last season, Schartz is still trying to get used to that kind of mindset. In his mind, building a team that can win all of its games — not just the rivalry game — is more important.
“We just got done beating a really good Northwest team and there were some comments that were made, ‘But are we going to beat Carroll?’” Schartz said. “It’s like, can I enjoy this victory over Northwest before we start thinking about Carroll? For some people, that’s the only game that matters. But it’s not for us.”
‘I never thought it would take this long to beat Carroll again’
The memories have long since faded, mostly because Jacob Klein never thought they would be such a big deal.
Back in 1999, Kapaun beating Carroll wasn’t that unusual. In fact, it was the expectation. Although Carroll had won three years in a row, Kapaun’s 34-8 victory on Oct. 1, 1999 gave the Crusaders a 29-9 edge historically in the series.
Klein doesn’t recall a wild celebration in the locker room or anything special about the win — he barely even remembers blocking a punt on special teams that helped swing the game the Crusaders’ way.
The thought of him answering his phone 22 years later and being asked what it was like being on the last Kapaun team to prevail in the rivalry was truly bizarre.
“I don’t know how much of a rivalry it’s been if we haven’t beat them in 24 straight games,” said Klein, a junior on the 1999 Kapaun football team who is now the school’s head wrestling coach. “I think we’re probably looking to make it a rivalry again.”
The following puts in perspective just how long it’s been since Kapaun has prevailed in the rivalry:
- The radio was blasting Brittney Spears’ “Baby One More Time,” TLC’s “No Scrubs,” Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle” and Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ la Vida Loca.”
- The Sixth Sense was the movie to see in theaters, The West Wing had just debuted on television and Napster had just been released.
- Current Maize coach Gary Guzman was the head coach at Kapaun, while the Carroll roster featured current Newton coach Chris Jaax as a junior and current Carroll athletic director Tyler Fraizer as a sophomore.
“It’s so crazy it’s been that long,” said Justin Bloomer, another junior on that 1999 Kapaun team. “I never thought it would take this long to beat Carroll again. Obviously they have a great program over there, but hopefully this is the year for Kapaun to get that game back to our side.”
Players like Klein and Bloomer have conflicted feelings about the streak. Yes, they were on the last team to beat Carroll. But there’s also a flip side of that too, as a Kapaun parent pointed out to Klein earlier this week.
“When he found out I was on the last team to beat Bishop Carroll, he asked me what year I was,” Klein said. “When I told him, he said, ‘Oh, so you started the losing streak your senior year.’ So I guess you can look at it both ways.”
‘The intensity ratchets up and the records go out the window’
Coaches from both sides understand it’s a futile attempt to try to treat this week like every other one in the season.
They can do the same drills, preach the same fundamentals in practice and build a game plan the same way, but this week is just different. When it’s Carroll-Kapaun week, everything is elevated.
“It raises the intensity level and raises the motivations for both sides,” said Carroll coach Dusty Trail, who has been on the sidelines for all 24 wins during Carroll’s streak and the last four as head coach. “There are bragging rights at stake. These kids have all grown up playing against each other since they were 5 years old. Everyone knows each other really well because the Catholic community is a very tight-knit community here in Wichita.
“I think when you combine all of those things, it kind of ratchets up the intensity and the records go out the window.”
Kapaun coach Weston Schartz considered putting together some grand presentation to his team this week for inspiration to win bragging rights for the east side for the first time in more than two decades.
Ultimately, he decided against centering his focus this week on ending the 24-game streak. Instead, Schartz has tried to shift the focus to trying to win so Kapaun can clinch at least a share of its first City League championship since 1982. Ending the streak would be a bonus.
“The reason this is a big game for us is because the winner is going to get at least a piece of the City League championship,” Schartz said. “I know it’s been 20 years and they’ve won 24 in a row, but as far as I’m concerned, this is only my second time playing Carroll.”
As much as coaches on both sides try to downplay the importance of just one game, there’s no doubt the rivalry has brought out some interesting gamesmanship from both sides over the years.
Like in 2002 when Carroll didn’t want Kapaun to see it had overhauled the entire offense to change to single wing, so Carroll warmed up at Barry Sanders Field, then took a bus over to Cessna Stadium and didn’t arrive on the field until less than five minutes before kickoff. The Golden Eagles pulled out all of their tricks in a 26-23 double-overtime victory.
While Friday’s game might not see those levels of antics, the matchup appears to be an even one.
Carroll is at its most dangerous when it can find Matt Holthusen or Tate Blasi through the air, while Kapaun has embraced Schartz’s ground-and-pound preference with sophomore Omari Elias leading the way. Both defenses have several starters back from last season, as Carroll is led by Michael Polley, Andrew Bye, Cooper Buessing and Walt Gray and Kapaun is led by Isaac Schmitz, Will Doolittle, Austin Ruda and Nathan Fury.
After a thrilling 31-28 Carroll victory last season when Kapaun’s potential go-ahead drive in the final 90 seconds ended with a fumble at the Carroll 15-yard line, both sides expect another classic to be brewing on Friday.
“We know this is going to be a really tough game because Kapaun is a great team,” Trail said. “We know a coach Schartz team is going to be a very physical team and that’s something we haven’t faced a lot of the last couple of weeks. I know the physicalness of the game is going to ratchet up even more on Friday. It’s going to be a physical game and we know it’s going to be tough, but I think our kids are looking forward to the challenge as well.”
The five most memorable Holy Wars during the streak
1. Carroll beats Kapaun, 36-34, in 2009
With a record crowd and ESPNU cameras broadcasting the game to a national audience, the 2009 rendition had the biggest stage and a game that lived up to the hype. Kapaun jumped out to a 14-0 lead when Jonathan Truman picked off Blake Bell for an interception return for a touchdown and the Crusaders took a 28-21 lead into the fourth quarter. That’s when things got crazy. Bell bulldozed his way into the end zone for a touchdown, but when the extra-point attempt snap was botched, Tyler Nance scrambled in for a two-point conversion to put Carroll up 29-28 with 5:43 to go. Bell scored again to extend the lead to 36-28, but Kapaun found a miracle when Keaton Lewis connected with Michael Reynolds over the middle for a screen pass that turned into a 63-yard touchdown with 1:07 left. Needing the two-point conversion to potentially force overtime, Kapaun’s rush attempt was stonewalled by Carroll in a heartbreaking loss.
2. Carroll beats Kapaun, 26-23, in double overtime in 2002
With star quarterback Mike Friess out with an injury, Carroll coach Alan Schuckman decided to overhaul the entire offense for the rivalry game. That’s why Carroll warmed up at Barry Sanders Field, instead of Cessna Stadium, so Kapaun wouldn’t know of the drastic change until the first drive. Carroll pulled out all of the stops — a fake field goal, quick kicks and some direct snaps to the running back — but Kapaun held a 13-6 lead late in the fourth quarter. Carroll was even backed up into a 4th-and-21, but backup quarterback Geffrey Garcia threw a 26-yard pass for a first down, then picked up another fourth-down conversion when Kapaun was flagged for pass interference. Garcia connected with John Miller for the game-tying touchdown with 39 seconds left in regulation, then Kapaun’s attempt at a 54-yard, game-winning field goal sailed just wide. After trading touchdowns in the first overtime, Kapaun settled for a field goal to start the second overtime and Carroll won the game when Joe Heincker barreled in from four yards out. “It sickens me watching that,” Kapaun quarterback Alex Holladay told The Eagle after the game. “You have to commend Carroll for coming back after their adversity. I’m stunned.”
3. Carroll beats Kapaun, 31-28, in 2020
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the rivalry game occurred in Week 2 — instead of the typical October, late-season meeting. Kapaun took a 28-24 lead late in the fourth quarter, but Carroll answered with a go-ahead drive capped by Hunter Trail’s third rushing touchdown for a 31-28 lead with 3:50 left. On its final drive, Kapaun faced a critical 4-and-3 from midfield and despite being a primarily running team, decided to try a wheel route down the sideline. The play call worked brilliantly, as Andrew Gimino hit Ethan Stuhlsatz in stride for a 35-yard gain deep into Carroll territory. But on the very next play, Kapaun’s hopes were dashed when the Crusaders lost a fumble at the Carroll 15-yard line with less than 90 seconds remaining in the game. “It tore our hearts out,” Kapaun coach Weston Schartz told The Eagle after the game. “If we don’t put the ball on the ground, I think we win that game. They weren’t stopping us. I really do believe we would have scored.”
4. Carroll beats Kapaun, 16-7, in 2003
The City League championship came down to the rivalry game, as both teams entered with a 5-1 record. But this game belonged to Carroll’s defense in what was one of the most impressive defensive performances in the rivalry game’s history. The Golden Eagles limited Kapaun to 52 total yards of offense, scored a safety and finished with three interceptions in the game. Although Kapaun did take an early 7-2 lead with some of its own defense, as Bryan Hastings returned an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter. But Carroll’s defense pitched a shutout and the offense did just enough to to seal yet another win over Kapaun.
5. Carroll beats Kapaun, 28-21, in 2005
With both teams having a good season, it was Carroll who came out with a dominant performance. Carroll quarterback Nick Kammerer ran the hurry-up offense to perfection, as he threw for more than 200 yards and scored all four touchdowns to put the Golden Eagles up 28-0 in the third quarter. It was a frustrating game for Kapaun, which turned the ball over three times in Carroll territory during the first half. But Kapaun never gave up, as quarterback Tysyn Hartman threw for two touchdowns and the Crusaders scored again following a Carroll fumble to cut the deficit to 28-21 in the final minute. Kapaun even had a total of three chances at the onside kick due to penalties, but Carroll recovered all of them to seal the victory.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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