WICHITA, Kansas (KWCH) – Week 3 is not even halfway through the high school football regular season, but it could still tell us a lot about where teams will be in five weeks.
The season flies by and there aren’t many weeks left to prove yourself. Teams with a 2-0 record have a lot of work to do. Teams with a 1-1 or 0-2 record have time, but not much, to establish themselves.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top five high school football games from Week 3 in the Wichita area.
Medicine Lodge (2-0) at Moundridge (2-0)
No coach has led Medicine Lodge to two consecutive winning seasons since Max Ferguson went 13-6 in the 2005-06 season.
A year after the Indians went 9-3, losing only to Garden Plain and Conway Springs (twice), Nick Schmidt will accomplish that feat this year. As WWE Hall of Fame manager Paul Heyman likes to say, that’s not a prediction – it’s a spoiler.
How many wins Medicine Lodge will have in 2024 remains to be seen. A win over undefeated Moundridge would keep Medicine Lodge on track for a deep postseason run in Class 1A. But the same can be said for Moundridge, which has convincing wins over Bennington and Sterling in its return to 11-man football.
Quarterback Ke’Veon Ruiz is Medicine Lodge’s best rusher and, of course, passing player. His favorite target is Durham Nittler, who averages nearly 100 yards per game and has seven tackles. He also has one interception and five touchdowns.
The quarterback duel is an exciting one, as Moundridge senior Harry Hecox has totaled more than 3,000 yards on offense over the past two seasons. He likes to throw to tight end Bear Moddelmog and receiver Kaizer Kanitz, and Braden DenHartog leads the offensive line.
Buhler (2:0) at Great Bend (2:0)
Buhler is one of those 2-0 teams that still has something to show us. As for Mulvane and Augusta, Buhler’s wins over those teams by a combined score of 71-21 aren’t exactly an indicator of future success.
Buhler may still be on the upswing after the team improved from 4-5 in 2022 to 7-3 last year, but the Crusaders still need a decisive win and Great Bend, which beat Buhler 20-14 last season, offers that opportunity.
Steve Warner’s team relies on its defense – Buhler brought back all 11 of that team’s starters after holding seven teams to under 20 points in 2023. Brendan Scripsick, Buhler’s new quarterback, looked good in his first two appearances.
Great Bend is a projected west side contender in Class 5A after a six-win season, including a playoff win that preceded a 36-34 loss to Kapaun Mount Carmel in the second round. Keep an eye on the quarterback-tight end combination of Daxton Minton and junior standout Ian Premer, who scored nine touchdowns, in 2023.
Clearwater (2-0) at Wellington (0-2)
This could be the last appearance of a winless team in the Friday Five, but it could also be the game of Week 3 that we learn the most from.
Clearwater and Wellington have had very different seasons so far, and their contrasting records reflect that. Clearwater has crushed Rose Hill and El Dorado, who aren’t necessarily considered contenders, but every win is important for a program trying to get back on track.
Clearwater finished 7-3 in both 2019 and 2020 and was 3-2 after five weeks of the 2021 season. But then things started to go wrong. A four-game losing streak marked the beginning of a period in which the Indians went 5-17.
This year, however, things could be different. Running back Garrison Wells already has 321 rushing yards and senior Cooper Williams has six touchdowns and two interceptions.
We’ll find out if Clearwater’s start against, believe it or not, winless Wellington is for real. The Crusaders held up well against Wichita Collegiate and Andale, but suffered close losses in both games.
Wellington scored 48 points against Andale and has an electrifying passing attack with quarterback Dusty Bannister and receiver Carter Barnett, whose catches accounted for 365 of Bannister’s 734 passing yards.
Andover (1-1) at Goddard (1-1)
Andover is another team we probably wouldn’t have expected to see in the Friday Five at the end of September. The Trojans were 0-9 last year, their first winless season since 1971. You may remember that season for Andover’s 14-6 loss to Circle in quadruple overtime. Or maybe not.
Andover caught our attention with a close loss to Kapaun in Week 1, followed by a convincing win over Maize last week.
As with Clearwater, we can pinpoint when the Trojans’ decline began. Interestingly, this came after a Week 3 win over Goddard in 2022. Andover lost five of its final six games, and its winless 2023 season included a 50-8 loss to Goddard. This came while cross-town rival Andover Central was on its way to a Class 4A title game.
Like Andover, Goddard is looking to step out of the shadow of its younger cross-town counterpart. Eisenhower reached the 5A semifinals last year and beat Goddard last week to avenge a 2023 loss. The Lions don’t pass much and play a strong defense led by senior linebacker Preston Hagel. Quarterback Brock Sullivan leads Goddard’s run-heavy approach.
Garden Plain (1-1) at Cheney (2-0)
Cheney is making his third appearance in the Friday Five – yes, we’ll try it again. The Cardinals won exciting duels against Holcomb and Kingman on paper, beating them 38-7 and 40-8 against Holcomb and Kingman.
It doesn’t look like Cheney is slowing down after its 3A championship season.
If the Cardinals are tested at all in the 2024 regular season, it might be Garden Plain. We know we’ve said the same thing about Cheney over the past two weeks. But Garden Plain put the pressure on defending 1A champion Conway Springs last week, and if the Owls defend anywhere near as well as they did in that 13-7 loss, they might be able to keep up with Cheney.
Garden Plains running back Emrick Hays averages over 100 rushing yards and leads the team in tackles. Cheney’s contrasting offensive style is led by quarterback Josh Burdick and an offensive line that includes Garren Campbell, AJ Quick and Kolton Rohloff.
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