5 Sporting Things: Conway Springs is back in the top 4, Wellington is picked to finish 3rd in the AV-CTL DIV and more…
Brayden Kunz is one of the key starters returning for the preseason No. 4 ranked Conway Springs Cardinals.
By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The high school football season is upon us and so have the preseason hype.
Here are five things to know going into the high school football season for Sumner County:
1 – On tap tomorrow.
Here are the Sumner County football games tentatively (and that’s a huge word here) set for tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
Wellington at Andale.
Conway Springs at Garden Plain
Douglass at Belle Plaine
Cedar Vele/Dexter at South Sumner (Caldwell)
Flinthills at Oxford
Norwich at Argonia-Attica (Attica).
According to the Kansas State High School Activities Association, no outdoor work or competition can be conducted if the temperature is over 89.8 degrees. According to the National Weather Service, the temperature at 7 p.m. game time tomorrow in Andale is projected to be 90 degrees and in Caldwell, it will be 91 degrees. By 8 p.m. the weather temperature is projected to dip to 84 degrees. So there stands a chance that the football game you are watching could be delayed an hour. Wellington Activities Director Elly Johnson said this will probably be a game-time decision.
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2023 Conway Springs football team. (Photo courtesy of Cheney Times-Sentinel).
2 – Conway Springs is getting plenty of preseason love.
Conway Springs is ranked No. 4 in the first K-Preps preseason poll released today.
The Cardinals are returning 16 lettermen — seven offensive starters and nine defensive players from a team that went 8-4 and reached the state semifinals. All-state senior running back Brayden Kunz returns after 300 carries for 2,266 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns in 2022. Overall, the skill players have over 3,000 yards of offense.
“We are hungry to get this season underway,” said Matt Biehler, embarking on his 15th year as head coach. “Our offense will look to rely on a heavy rushing attack. Our Red Rage defense will look to get as much athleticism as possible.”
Last year Conway Springs got off to a slow start, going 0-3, including a loss to Garden Plain in week one. This will be a tough opening act with Garden Plain on the road, followed by Kingman at home and Chaparral on the road. Conway Springs being in Class 1A will only have three Central Plains League games this year.
Here is the K-Preps Top 5 in 1A: 1. St. Mary’s, 2. Inman, 3. St. Mary’s Colgan. 4. Conway Springs, 5. Olpe. For the full poll, click here.
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2023 Wellington High School football team.
3 — Wellington picked to finish third.
As always, preseason prognostication is meaningless but fun to talk about, nevertheless.
According to several area digital publications, Wellington will finish third in the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. IV. Vype, Central Kansas Sports, and the Wichita Eagle list the AVCTL-DIV as 1. Andale, 2. Wichita Collegiate, 3. Wellington, 4. Clearwater, 5. Rose Hill, 6. El Dorado (Rose Hill and Clearwater are switched in two of those polls).
Wellington is ranked “others” in the KPreps poll, sitting next to McPherson and Circle – two future Wellington opponents.
Also, the Eagle picked the preseason top 75 in the four AVCTL divisions. Derek Lowe was named as a senior offensive lineman and Brody Weir is a junior defensive lineman.
Oh, the top five in Class 4A are 1. Bishop Miege, 2. St. Thomas Aquinas, 3. St. James Academy, 4. Wamego, 5. Eudora. In other words, the 4A state championship runs through the Kansas City metropolitan area in Kansas and Missouri.
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Colby Irey with a lengthy gain for South Sumner. (Courtesy photo from Donita Clausen)
4 — Elsewhere in Sumner County.
South Sumner got some “others” votes in the KPreps poll. In its first season of existence, it finished 9-1. The Outlaws have to replace all-everything Keiondre Smith from last season. It has a good nucleus to do so. Key returning offensive starters include: Alex Smith, sr, at quarterback; Colby Irey, jr., at running back, Miles Newell, sr., at offensive lineman; Jackson Risley, sr., at tight end; Alex Shore, jr., at wide receiver, Cole Theurer, sr. at the offensive line and Tanner Kelly, jr. at offensive line.
“We are getting excited for our second season,” said Sean Blosser, who is embarking on his second year as head coach at South Sumner and 15th year at Caldwell. “We have several young men that have worked hard in the offseason and put themselves in a position to replace the two starters we lose on each side of the ball.”
Attica-Argonia usually always puts out a competitive team. The Titans return five starters from the 2022 team that went 5-4. Dalton Morrison returns as an all-district/all-league first-team running back. C.T. Fahring is a returning all-district honorable mention lineman. Other starters include Thomas DeViney as a running back/wide receiver, Carson Vineyard as a sophomore running back, and Mac Harnden as a junior wide receiver.
“We should have good team speed but will lack team size,” said head coach Luke Greenwood, 11th year running the A&A program. “We will have to replace five graduating seniors. Our numbers will be down this year as our incoming freshmen classes are pretty small.”
We didn’t receive any preseason information from Oxford or Belle Plaine.
5. Coaches send your scores to sumnernewscow@gmail.com.
