How Wichita Independent high school football went from perennial losing to undefeated
Friday nights in the fall used to be something the Wichita Independent high school football team dreaded.
The program lost 93% of their games the last five seasons for a 3-39 record that included a 22-game losing streak at one point.
“It was almost a foregone conclusion we were going to take a (loss),” Independent coach Leterius Ray said. “When I took over, with them having a losing history, I felt like they were letting the game happen to them. I wanted them to take control of the game.”
There was such a lack of interest in football at Independent that the team finished last season with just 13 players, forcing the team to cancel and forfeit a handful of games.
But with Ray in charge for his first summer and the program dropping from 11-man to 8-man football, a culture change has happened at Independent. Now Friday nights are a point of pride.
Independent is off to a 5-0 start, tying the best in the program’s 25-year history, and is now ranked for the first time ever with a No. 10 ranking in the latest 8-man Division I poll by The Eagle entering a Homecoming showdown on Friday against No. 6-ranked and fellow unbeaten South Sumner County.
“Last year people were like, ‘What’s the point of going out if we’re going to lose every game?’” Independent senior Joseph Recalde-Phillips said. “But we kept telling people that everything changed this summer. We promised everyone they would be joining a winning program and now everyone is having fun.”
The spread-out, high-scoring nature of 8-man football has perfectly suited the strengths of Independent, which has given track stars in Recalde-Phillips and Christian Dean even more space to work with. After struggling to score last season, Independent’s offense is averaging 47.2 points through five games this season.
Few have been able to catch Recalde-Phillips once he has the ball in his hands, as 5-foot-10 senior receiver has turned 17 touches into 619 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. Meanwhile, Dean has been a two-way workhorse, leading the team in rushing (537 yards, 15 touchdowns) and tackles (28).
“The success this year is even sweeter because we went through all of those hard times,” Dean said. “We know the hard work paid off, so it means everything to be able to have success right now. Fans are coming to our games and people are proud to represent our school now. It’s awesome to see.”
After years of losing, the seniors on the team say they’re enjoying their newfound spotlight — both in school and in the media.
“There’s a lot of excitement right now, but we still have to stay humble and don’t let everything get to our head,” Recalde-Phillips said. “We can’t let it get to our head because at the end of the day, we have our goals to win state. We don’t want to show out for just one week.”
Rey said the turnaround began in the summer with a renewed commitment to the weight room, where strength and conditioning coach Rashad Daniels was able to help begin the transformation.
Players started practicing together more in the summer and spending more weekends at team camps. Rey challenged the 12 seniors on the team to make their final year of high school football special and the group rose to the occasion.
Outside of Recalde-Phillips and Dean, the senior class also features a standout lineman in Bret Short as well as Conar Harris, Maddon Nguyen, Ethan Jia, Isaac Combs, Javon Beadles, Isaac Hernandez, Terry Guan, Cooper Randleas and Brayden Rabe.
The team has also had underclassmen contributions of sophomore Tatum Stalnaker, the starting quarterback who has thrown for 632 yards and 11 touchdowns, and junior Alvin Richard, who has four touchdowns and 18 tackles.
“It’s a world of difference in their attitude and self-confidence and that’s what sports is all about in my opinion,” Rey said. “We want to build self-confidence in kids. This hasn’t been an overnight success story. It’s been a long time coming.
“So much these days kids want instant gratification. This is proof to them that if they work hard, wait their turn and be patient that good things will happen if you do things the right way.”
No team in school history has won more than six games or won more than one playoff game, two records that this Independent team is determined to break.
The Panthers believe in their chances more than ever following a 64-18 victory last week over Argonia-Attica, a traditional 8-man power. Passing the test this Friday against South Sumner County would legitimize Independent as one of the top 8-man teams in Kansas.
That thought would have seemed ridiculous just a year ago, but it’s a dream that the seniors at Independent never gave up on.
“We’ve been here since freshman year and we believed by the time we were seniors that we were going to make a change to the culture,” Recalde-Phillips said. “We want to go out this year knowing that we changed the school and the program and we’re the foundation of a legacy.”
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