Linebackers, senior class give Goddard football its 2025 identity
When head coach Tommy Beason looks at his Goddard football team, he doesn’t see the traditional mold that has defined the program for much of the past decade.
Gone are the massive linemen who could lean on opponents for four quarters. In their place is something different — and potentially just as dangerous.
“We may not be very big, but we are big in spirit,” Beason said. “A good way to describe us would be large in spirit, small in stature.”
That spirit is embodied in a massive senior class that features 34 players, Goddard’s largest senior group since the school split with Eisenhower in 2011. The vast majority are four-year players in the program and Beason believes their leadership gives Goddard an identity.
The Lions have posted three straight winning seasons, including last year’s six-win campaign that featured a stunning upset of eventual Class 4A champion Andover Central, the Jaguars’ lone loss in 2024. But the season ended with a disappointing first-round playoff exit, leaving Goddard determined to push deeper this fall.
If there’s one position group that defines Goddard football, it’s the linebackers. And this year, Beason has a full set of seniors at the heart of his defense.
“Our linebackers are such an important part to who we are as a program,” Beason said. “We’re not the biggest, but we’ve got kids who can fly and are aggressive tacklers.”
Headlining the unit are all-league standouts Gage Koenigs and Elliot Walk, both sideline-to-sideline playmakers. They’re joined by Maddox Shook and Micah Mayer, giving the Lions one of the fastest and most experienced linebacker corps in recent memory.
The Lions often play with five linebackers on the field at once, using their speed to disrupt offenses.
“We don’t necessarily care what the offense is doing, we base what we’re doing on creating confusion and chaos with our blitz concepts and our coverage checks,” Beason said. “We let the linebackers have a lot of ownership over how we’re doing what we’re doing. So having a bunch of seniors doing it together, we feel super confident in those kids. Those kids are the face of our program.”
The defense also brings back Kamron Loch at defensive back and Trey Wright on the defensive line, plus contributors like Shawn Peck at defensive end and Giovanni Hernandez and Nick Miller in the secondary.
On the other side of the ball, Goddard is scrapping its run-heavy three-back scheme and returning to its shotgun spread-option roots. Beason believes the new approach will give the Lions flexibility when defenses take away their first option.
“Now if we get stuck in a spot where Plan A isn’t working, then it’s going to be easier to go to Plan B,” Beason said. “The offense is going to be more diverse and we’re going to give ourselves more options to get more guys involved with the ball in their hands.”
Quarterback Brock Sullivan and running back Erik Olivas lead the backfield, while receivers Bryer Rojas and D’Ervin Phillips are expected to become bigger weapons in the passing game. Joe Diekemper provides toughness at fullback, while the offensive line will be anchored by Braxton Koller, Jaxson Strausberg, Graeson Reid and Jordan Zeltner.
The Lions won’t have much time to ease in. Their season opener comes on the road Friday, Sept. 5, against Maize, followed by a rivalry matchup at home against Eisenhower, then a trip to Andover in Week 3.
It’s a brutal stretch, but also a proving ground.
“We feel lucky to have a whole bunch of them that are four-year players for us,” Beason said. “Those kids are the face of our program.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 5:01 AM.
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