Team of destiny: Cheney football caps perfect season with team’s first state championship
Nothing could stop the dream season for the Cheney football team from unfolding.
Not Andale and the nation’s longest winning streak. Not the decades of school history without a state championship. Not even six inches of snow that piled up at Gowan Stadium in Hutchinson for Saturday’s Class 3A state championship game.
Cheney overcame it all to complete a heart-stopping run through the Class 3A playoffs with a resounding 34-7 win over Topeka Hayden in Saturday’s title game to secure a perfect 13-0 record and the program’s first state championship.
“We couldn’t have done this without the community support that these kids feel,” Cheney coach Shelby Wehrman said. “I think that’s part of the reason why these kids are willing to invest all of the hard work and effort it takes to come away with a championship. The community takes a part of this as much as the team does.”
It’s hard to argue that Cheney wasn’t a team of destiny this season.
It started with an Oct. 13 showdown against Andale when the Cardinals overcame four turnovers to erase a 22-point deficit and pull off a 36-30 overtime win to snap the nation’s longest active winning streak at 57 games.
It continued a month later when Cheney’s season nearly ended in the quarterfinals, thanks to a botched punt in the final minute that set up Clay Center to take the lead in the final minute. But Cheney escaped with a 23-21 win when little-used kicker Grady Kuehn drilled a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
And then last week, in a highly-anticipated rematch against Andale, Cheney climbed out of a 24-0 hole to score 28 unanswered points and knock off the four-time defending state champions to clinch its first appearance in a state championship game in school history.
“I think we really were,” Wehrman said when asked if he felt like Cheney was a team of destiny. “I think that question was answered today.”
On Saturday, the hero of the game was senior Drew Tolar, who was more known for his tackles on defense than his catches on offense this season. He entered the championship game with just 14 receptions and 209 receiving yards on the season.
He finished Saturday with five catches for 115 yards and two receiving touchdowns to go along with the game-changing 88-yard kickoff return for a score.
“We have four wide receivers that I think are difficult for anybody to guard,” Wehrman said. “Some weeks, defenses are focused on one more than the others and that leaves someone open. I guess the conditions favored Drew today. He was incredible for us.”
Tolar opened the scoring with a 16-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, but it was his kick-off return following Hayden’s game-tying scoring drive that changed the game.
The kick-off landed in the snow near the right sideline and Tolar looked like he was going to be wrangled up immediately by a Hayden player crashing — that is, until Jackson Voth came sprinting over to provide the pancake block to spring Tolar.
From there, Tolar jumped over a pile of players and it was off to the races down the right sideline where no one could catch him.
“To be honest with you, it was like a scene out of a movie,” Wehrman said.
But Tolar wasn’t finished there. With the game still up for grabs, with Cheney clinging to a 13-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, Tolar sprinted past the Hayden secondary and Cheney quarterback Josh Burdick lofted a perfectly-weighted pass that hit Tolar’s hands in stride for a 55-yard touchdown that all but sealed the victory.
Burdick tacked on two more passing touchdowns to Colter McDaniel later in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 227 passing yards and four scores to hand Topeka Hayden (12-1) its first loss of the season.
“It’s not easy to throw the ball in the snow like that,” Wehrman said. “But it’s also not easy to guard routes when you’re playing in those conditions. I thought the offensive line did a great job of protecting Josh and giving him time to make those plays.”
Cheney’s defense was spearheaded by Voth, Tolar, McDaniel, Kason Messenger, Hunter McKinley, Grady Ditgen, Gavin Maass, Levi Self and Weston Hill.
Wehrman was particularly proud of how several different players stepped up in crucial moments throughout the historic season for Cheney.
“I’m super proud of every last one of them,” Wehrman said. “I always preach to the team that no one guy is more important than the other. I know some guys might score more points than other, but we need everybody on the team to be successful like we were today. You want them to be ready for when their number is called. When these guys got their opportunity, I’m really proud of the way they performed.”
Cheney 34, Topeka Hayden 7
Topeka Hayden (12-1) 0 7 0 0 — 7
Cheney (13-0) 7 6 0 21 — 33
C—Tolar 16 pass from Burdick (Kuehn kick)
H—Mitchell 39 pass from Hanika (Becker kick)
C—Tolar 88 kickoff return (kick failed)
C—Tolar 55 pass from Burdick (Kuehn kick)
C—McDaniel 15 pass from Burdick (Kuehn kick)
C—McDaniel 7 pass from Burdick (Kuehn kick)
Rushing—Topeka Hayden, Dunshee 11-32, Desch 11-29, Schrickel 3-9, Ridley 2-7; Cheney, Black 4-17, Voth 7-15, Burdick 2-6, Self 1-2.
Passing—Topeka Hayden, Hanika 12-21-2-74, Dunshee 0-1-0-0; Cheney, Burdick 19-30-1-227.
Receiving—Topeka Hayden, Dunshee 6-23, Schrickel 4-18, Mitchell 1-39, Tetuan 1-(-6); Cheney, Voth 9-76, Tolar 5-115, McDaniel 3-22, Maass 2-14.
This story was originally published November 25, 2023 at 2:58 PM.
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