CNC coaches pick Colgan No. 1

St. Mary’s Colgan head coach Chuck Smith seemed a little surprised that his fellow Crawford-Neosho-Cherokee League coaches picked Colgan No. 1 in the preseason poll released Thursday.

“We’ve got one starter back from offense and he’s been hurt most of this summer,” Smith said. “We’ve got zero starters back on defense. I’m a little bit surprised up here. . . . People are saying ‘Your league’s going to be better.’ It’s going to be better because Columbus is in it. Columbus makes the league better and not only that, I think, from top-to-bottom, it is a better league.”

Colgan makes its debut in Class 3A with a district schedule involving all CNC League schools — Galena, Riverton and Southeast. The Panthers thus become eligible for a league title and postseason recognition.

Frontenac introduces a first-year head coach with a familiar last name (former Colgan and Pittsburg State standout quarterback Mark Smith) and plays its first season in a new classification (4A). CNC coaches picked Frontenac preseason No. 5.
The Raiders have 15 returning starters (8 offense, 7 defense), including seniors Devon Keith, Bryce Burdette, Tanner Craig, Ross Edge, Taylor Johnson, Cody Lindbloom, John Murray, Kylor McCartney and Nick Zafuta.

“We had a good camp this summer,” Mark Smith said. “We are looking to have around 60 kids, which is a great blessing to have. There’s going to be a lot of competition for starting jobs. One of our strengths will probably be our senior leadership. We’ll have 18 seniors come out. Not everybody played last year but I think the senior leadership will help us with our team strength.”

Frontenac steps in for Chanute in what turned out to be an incredibly competitive district last season featuring Girard, Independence and Parsons — all four teams 1-1 in district entering the ninth game of the season.

Mark Smith played for his father Chuck on four consecutive Class 2-1A state championship teams, Colgan teams with a combined 54-0 record.

“Let me say this about Mark,” Chuck Smith said. “He’ll do a good job and right now, he’s one of my top eight friends. And when the game’s over, he’ll be one of my top eight friends. He might be No. 8 but he’ll still be one of my top eight friends. We’re looking forward to that challenge there.”

Girard ended in a second-place tie with CNC newcomer Columbus and earned one first-place vote. Four teams received first-place votes.

“We’ve had a very steady summer,” Girard head coach Leon Miller said. “Great attitudes and what I mean by steady is we’ve not had any lows or highs throughout the summer. They’ve been steady, they’ve been reliable, they’ve been committed all summer long. We’ve got a group of kids who understand commitment, who understand the importance of the weight room,  that like the weight room, they like what it brings them, they like what it teaches them and that’s some place we’ve been trying to get since I’ve been at Girard.”

After quarterback Anthony Scholes injured his throwing hand against Osawatomie last season, Girard switched from an I-formation to a wishbone offense, featuring Scholes in a running back role. Scholes rumbled for over 1,000 yards behind a line featuring returning starters Jalen Merrell, Logan Franklin, Kevin Rowe and Devin Vail. Brayden Johnson returns as quarterback and the George twins — Nick, Nate — return for their senior years.

“They’re an unselfish group,” Miller said. “We’ve had kids that made the move from a skill position type deal to the o-line for us and they understand that’s what it takes to make us better.”

Southeast, picked No. 7, returns all 22 of its starters from last season, both offense and defense — including senior quarterback Josh Thompson, senior receiver Daniel Peak, sophomore receivers Ryan Rakestraw and Caleb Biancarelli and senior tight end Jason Reed from an offensive unit which scored its points during a difficult 1-8 season under first-year head coach Clint Rider and his newly-installed Pistol Spread offense.

“We lost one senior who didn’t play a whole lot,” Rider said. “He saw some time but he wasn’t a starter for us. We return everybody. Now, that doesn’t mean the kids who started last year will start this year so there may be some switching up. We’ll have 14 seniors, five juniors, 12 sophomores and 11 freshmen. We’re looking around 42 kids, which is the most that we’ve ever had since I can remember. We’re real excited about that. . . .

“We’ve seen some incredible gains (in the weight room). I think our team average on bench and squats has gone up 30 pounds on bench per player and up 60 pounds on squat per player. The kids have taken to that and it’s something they pride themselves in. We’re looking forward to the transition that will make on the field for us this year.”

In addition, Southeast returns its entire coaching staff — head man Rider and assistants Frank Pittman, Nick Cheney and David Dainty.