Hill City coach Travis Desbien posted 5-4, 5-4 and 6-4 records in his first three years with the Ringnecks. Hill City relied more on its offense. The defense permitted 35.3 points a game in ’17 and 33 points per contest each of the past two years.
Desbien talked with Craig Amrein, an Ellis graduate who served a long stint on staff at his alma mater, including as head coach from ’15-18. Following the ’18 season, Desbien told Amrein a job with Hill City was available.
“I kind of knew what he was capable of doing,” Desbien said.
Amrein elected to coach with the Hays school district last fall. This year, he accepted an instructional technology position in Hill City in April and joined the Ringnecks’ staff as the defensive coordinator.
He has made an immediate impact for an experienced unit. Hill City returned 82 percent of its tackles and seven starters from a squad that went through what Desbien labeled “an avalanche of injuries” in ’19. Senior Jayce Hamel is a four-year starter.
Hamel delivered 33 tackles, nine for loss in three contests last fall before he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Senior Brody McDowell led the Ringnecks in tackles as sophomore and delivered 66 in four games as a junior before he was done with a knee on a kickoff against Clifton-Clyde.
Junior Ayden Nickelson (85 tackles), seniors Justice Clark and William Penrod, sophomore Conner Dinkel and junior Cody Presley are all key returning players. Desbien knew the defense would be improved but called the unit a “real pleasant surprise.” Through the summer, Amrein noticed Hill City had more linebacker-type players. He elected to run a two-front defense popularized by eastern eight-man power Axtell.
“The way we play defense is a lot different,” Desbien said. “We are a very physical attacking defense, whereas before we weren’t quite as I would say aggressive. And that style of play has really translated well to the guys that we have got.”
Hill City opened with a 45-26 win versus Osborne and ended the Bulldogs’ 13-game winning streak. In Week 2, the Ringnecks beat Ness City, 7-6, in a physical contest.
Hill City scored its fewest points in a win since a 6-0 victory in 11-man versus Atwood in 1997, according to the Kansas Football History database.
Hill City is 2-0 for the first time since 2010, which ended with a state runner-up and the best season in school annals. Those mark the only 2-0 seasons in at least the last 26 years. From ’11-19, Hill City averaged 77.3 points allowed a contest in the first two weeks. The Ringnecks have already forced eight turnovers after 20 a season ago.
“I trusted him completely and gave him the whole keys to the defense. He’s running the entire show over there,” Desbien said. “I focus on the offense … and its been excellent on the defensive side. I couldn’t be happier.”
On Friday, Hill City (2-0) travels to Leoti-Wichita County, 2-0 and ranked second in Eight-Man, Division I in a key intra-classification matchup. This is the first time the squads have matched up in at least 30 years. Hill City has suffered several injuries, and Hamel is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Nickelson is also out. The Ringnecks are especially hurting with three of its top running backs injured.
Last year, Wichita County finished 10-2, the team’s best showing since ’91. Both losses came St. Francis, known for its physicality and currently ranked first in Division II. Third-year coach Brant Douglas has led a massive turnaround for the Indians. He has looked for Leoti to take the “mindset” that SF showed. Douglas watched the Hill City/Ness City game. Leoti will play Ness City in Week 5 in districts.
“Both those teams are extremely physical,” Douglas said. “They will come out and hit you, and they want to see how you respond when they hit you, and they grind out offensive drives, so it will be a great test for us to see if we truly learned what we think we have from those St. Francis games.”
Wichita County returns three Kpreps first team all-state players, all seniors: quarterback Kayde Rietzke, lineman AC Hermosillo and end Sheldon Whalen. The Indians have 15 seniors and can platoon, an extreme rarity in eight-man football.
Rietzke is banged up after he accounted for five touchdowns in the first two weeks, though is expected to play Friday. He has 96 career TDs accounted for. Rietzke played about a quarter a half in the season-opening 54-20 win versus Hoxie, and was in for about four plays in a 50-0 victory against WaKeeney-Trego last week.
“Just being cautious with him,” Douglas said.
Rietzke, Gardner and Whalen have all played significantly more offense, and the Indians have different starters on the offensive and defensive lines. On offense, Hermosillo, a guard, is a four-year starter. Senior Juan Mancillas is a two-year starter at guard, and junior Xavier Hernandez is a two-year starter at center. Defensively, seniors Kendrix Loy, Jakob Mora-Chavez and Manny Chavez are up front.
Erhik Hermosillo, the only sophomore who starts, has thrown a pair of touchdown passes in Rietzke’s place. He has started at defensive back. Senior linebacker Waylon West has led with 15 tackles. West was a role player as a sophomore before he committed to the playbook and learning the last two offseasons. Before this fall, West had 44 career tackles.
Junior 155-pounder Tristen Porter leads with 22 carries for 171 yards and three TDs. A wrestler who understands leverage well, he can play everywhere, including nose guard, defensive back, wide receiver, running back, and quarterback.
“That’s kind of what we noticed, especially in the postseason last year, the more guys we were having only play one side of the ball, the more valuable they were as the game went on,” Douglas said. “Because we continued to be fresh on both sides of the ball with only having guys go one way, and that really started to show in the second half of games in the postseason.”
Amrein’s son, Aiden, a freshman was expected to battle junior Derek Keith for the starting quarterback position after a stellar career in the younger ranks. Desbien called Aiden “an outstanding athlete.” In Week 1, Aiden played several different offensive positions and started at will linebacker, along with kicker and punter. He played a little quarterback and broke his wrist.
At first, Hill City thought he couldn’t play the rest of the season. After they talked with a few doctors, Aiden put on a cast and was OK to kick. He kicked the eventual game-winning extra point versus Ness City. Keith has led with 148 passing and is second with 112 yards. Hamel paces with 319 rushing yards and five scores. Unfortunately, he broke his tibia last Friday.
McDowell missed most of basketball and is now completed healed. He is first with 26 tackles, one more than Dinkel. Presley has 15 tackles and a sack. He started ’19 with pneumonia and required several weeks to get healthy. Presley is expected to start at fullback after he played line, and sophomore Kaleb Atkins will take over at tailback.
Keith, Presley, McDowell, Penrod, Atkins and Dinkel are expected to start both ways for a thinner roster than Leoti. Keith picked off three interceptions at safety the last two weeks and will move to will linebacker because of the injuries.
“Losing a good majority of his sophomore year – being a freshman starter – kind of ignited a flame for him,” Desbien said. “Since I have been coaching, I have not seen a kid more lit with excitement to play a full season of football than I have from Cody. He has put in so much work this last year. He is not taking any day for granted, and I really proud of him, because he has got himself in excellent shape and ready to play his best football.”
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