‘Tradition never graduates’: Conway Springs wins state title in fourth different decade
There’s a sign in the weight room at Conway Springs that proudly states “tradition never graduates.”
Under the same coaching tree, the Conway Springs football team had won seven state championships that spanned three different decades before Saturday’s Class 1A title game.
The rallying cry — “unfinished business” — was the same as it was in 1998 when head coach Matt Biehler was an assistant coach on the first title team with the Cardinals.
And it led to the same result, as Conway Springs dismantled Jefferson County North in a 35-6 win on a snow-packed Lewis Field at Fort Hays State on Saturday. The Cardinals added title No. 8 to their trophy collection (1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2023) with Biehler winning a title in his fourth decade.
“This is a huge win for our community,” Biehler said. “It’s a very special moment and I’m very proud of our kids and our community for being able to do this. The kids have been really hungry to get back. That’s all the talk has been about. This sets the standard for the players who are coming up and I think it helps to have that tradition.”
Biehler and long-time line coach Gregg Hullinger have been coaches in the program for all eight championships, while offensive coordinator Brent Martens and linebackers coach Ryan King have also been mainstays with the program for more than a decade.
Since Biehler took over the program in 2009, the Cardinals won the state title in his third season and haven’t been back to the state finals since.
Conway Springs has maintained a consistent presence deep in the Kansas high school football state playoffs, reaching at least the quarterfinals in the past five seasons, but a ring has eluded Biehler and his staff for the past 12 years. That made the championship celebration on Saturday all the more sweet.
“It was a really wonderful moment for myself and my staff,” Biehler said. “We’ve all been together a long time, so it’s a great feeling to get back and win. We kept talking to our kids about how important this was and how they’ll love to have this for the rest of their lives. And they listened.”
The same single-wing offense that led Conway Springs to a 62-game winning streak and four straight state titles from 2001-05 was used to help the Cardinals recover from an 0-2 start to this season and reel off 11 straight wins.
No one could slow down star senior running back Brayden Kunz, who turned 33 carries into 300 rushing yards and three touchdowns, including scoring runs of 87 and 54 yards, in the state championship game. He finished the season with 2,806 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns.
Joining Kunz in the rushing attack was junior Isaac Winter and senior Nathan Berntsen, who also scored in Saturday’s game. The defense was spearheaded by Kunz, Winter, Cade Howell, Grant Fisher, Eli Howard, Connor Rusco, Taylor Wykes, Cooper Koster, Logan Osner and Blake Pauly.
“Brayden has been a great leader, especially for our underclassmen,” Biehler said. “And then our lineman, they blocked hard for him and always gave him an opportunity. And I think Nathan and Isaac helped out a lot along the way too. They made it where defenses couldn’t always just key on Brayden and that opened up a lot of things for him.”
Conway Springs’ ground game was perfectly suited for the snowy conditions on Saturday, as the Cardinals led 21-6 at halftime and were never threatened by Jefferson County North, which finished the season with an 11-2 record.
This story was originally published November 25, 2023 at 2:05 PM.
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