Osage City coach Andrew Gatenbein is aware of the trend between his squad and Wellsville. The towns are separated by 46 miles on KS-68. Osage City is in the Flint Hills League, and Wellsville in the Pioneer League. Both teams have generally enjoyed success. Gantenbein stands at 72-52 in 13 years as head coach. Wellsville has three consecutive 4-5 seasons after eight straight winning records.
The teams don’t face every year, though have generally matched up in district play. In ’09, Gantenbein’s first season, OC handily won, 50-16. He remembered the next four matchups, all Wellsville victories by at least 28 points. Last season, the teams met for the first time in four years. Osage City delivered a big 45-20 victory.
“We ran into a buzzsaw with Osage City,” Wellsville coach Mike Berg said. “They were phenomenal last year.”
The lopsided margins have occurred for the last 26 years between the two squads, per the Kansas Football History database. Since 1994, Wellsville holds a 9-2 edge in the series. None of the games are closer than 21 points. The last close contest was a 41-33 win for Osage City in 1992.
On Friday, the teams meet in likely the Class 2A, District 2 championship game. Both squads are 5-0, 2-0 in district. Host Osage City is ranked third in 2A, and Wellsville stands fifth. Neither team was ranked in the preseason. This is likely to be the narrowest margin between the squads in nearly three decades.
“We haven’t really had close games with them,” Gantenbein said. “It’s been kind of lopsided one way or the other, but we knew Wellsville was going to be really good this year. They were relatively young last year and bring a lot back, and that certainly has been the case. They are playing at a very high level. …. They have got a fantastic football team, and we feel like we have a pretty good football team, too, so I would think it ought to be a great matchup.”
While Wellsville has multiple new varsity players in big roles, both squads have plenty of standouts, including Osage City junior quarterback Landon Boss and senior running back/linebacker Brody Littrell. Wellsville has countered with junior running back Nash Money and four returning offensive line starters.
“Two different styles of teams going at each other, and we will just see who can hold up the best,” Berg said.
Wellsville joins No. 4-ranked Chaparral as a surprise undefeated 2A squad. The Eagles have 10 seniors, which has kept the squad together since the start of summer. Berg said he “was so proud” of the seniors.
“This is a great team with unity and great leadership,” Berg said.
Wellsville has enjoyed big gains from junior quarterback Dylan McCarty. He has completed 30 of 49 passes for 518 yards with eight scores against one interception. Money has delivered another nice season at running back. He paces with 69 carries for 452 yards and 10 scores.
Last year, McCarty completed 57 percent of his passes for 1,164 yards, though had an 8/12 TD/INT ratio. Money rushed 159 times for 778 yards and nine scores. McCarty played behind a young offensive line in 2020 and has faced less pressure this year. McCarty put in offseason time, became fitter and stronger and gained confidence. Berg said McCarty is in his best health; the quarterback was coming off a knee injury as a freshman.
“We have a very, very talented group of guys right now coming through Wellsville,” Berg said. “And they all like each other. They get along. They work extra. … When practice is over, they stay out after practice and run routes together. They practice their kicking, their snapping, their punting, and they’ve just worked hard, that’s what’s gotten the improvement. Offseason conditioning, I think a lot of them have transformed their bodies into a better athlete and worked hard on the summer camps.”
Wellsville’s line features 6-3 senior center Cruz Farley. Junior guard Kaleb Green (6-1, 220) was an honorable mention all-state selection. Senior guard Jake Berg is the coach’s nephew and transferred from nearby Baldwin. Berg wanted to attend in-person classes. Baldwin was hybrid classes because of COVID-19.
“What’s a blessing he’s been,” coach Berg said. “He’s another guard that’s just got great feet, great instincts.”
Senior tackle Eddie Lopez (6-5, 315) is a four-year starter and has received MIAA interest. Senior Parker Engel (6-0, 250) starts at the other tackle. Lopez can play multiple gaps and has plugged the defensive line with 23 tackles, five for loss. Berg, a multi-year starter at Baldwin, has 24 tackles, six TFLs. Senior Dylan Schnoor paces the defense with 37 stops.
Sophomore 130-pounder Dez Winton never played varsity football as a freshman. In 2020, Winton weighed just shy of 110 pounds and paced the freshman team to an undefeated season and averaged 50-plus points a game. He has served in a multi-faceted role with 397 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns.
Winton has 10 tackles and picked off three passes. Sophomore William Dorsey has stepped up with a team-high three receiving TDs. Both were key varsity basketball players as freshmen. Berg said the pair is “phenomenal” and brings energy and excitement.
“He knows the offense better than me,” Berg said of Winton. “I can’t say enough about him. I will put him in at tailback, and he will do exactly what to do.”
Boss is around 6-1, 220 and performed well in the weight room. He has completed 26 of 38 passes for 712 yards with seven touchdowns against zero interceptions and missed the Week 3 Mission Valley game with a shoulder injury. Boss was one of the better signal callers returning this year. In his career, Boss has thrown for 2,612 yards on 53 percent with 34 scores against 12 interceptions.
“He has got a great understanding of our offense,” Gantenbein said. “He was kind of thrown into it as a freshman. Not ideal when you have to start a freshman quarterback, but that’s what we kind of had to ask him to do. And so he has got a lot of experience at it. So I think it’s a combination of a lot of those things – his size, his ability, his strength, his work ethic, overall experience is paying off for him.”
The offensive line returned junior center Mason Gibson, an all-district selection. Senior Riley Patterson returns at guard. He is a third-year starter. Senior Tanner Schaefer starts at tackle in his first year on the offense after he started at defensive end some in 2020.
Schaefer has performed well as a two-way player. Junior Dalton Rush plays left guard. Gantenbein believes 6-1, 230-pound senior left tackle Trent Green has maybe had the biggest jump. Green plays defensive tackle, too. Green had limited varsity time previously. A four-year, player, Green has raised his game, especially with his mobility.
“We try to give him a lot of praise, because so many kids nowadays, they want instant gratification,” Gantenbein said. “…There’s a lot of kids that maybe would have not stuck with it in that situation, but he stuck with it, he continued to improve. He took all those reps and did a good job in the offseason as well.”
Littrell has started at linebacker and been in the running back rotation for a couple of years. He had just over 1,000 career rushing yards entering 2021. This fall, Littrell has 46 carries for 422 yards and 10 scores. Defensively, Littrell has delivered 23 tackles, five for loss. Littrell is a state powerlifting champion.
“He is really seeing the field this year, much better than he has in the past, reading his blocks,” Gantenbein said. “Brody is a fantastic kid in the weight room.”
Senior Garrett Fager has started at cornerback the last couple of years and has earned some postseason accolades. He has moved to free safety, operated the defense at the back end and picked off two passes. The 6-foot Fager has 13 catches for 420 yards and six scores.
Osage City has five players between 23 and 28 tackles. Fager and sophomore Cooper Parsons pace the squad in tackles. Running-wise, four players have between 119 and 422 yards. A trio has at least 138 receiving yards.
“We are blessed to have some good players first and foremost,” Gantenbein said. “…One change that we have made over the years is that we rotate guys in a little bit more than we used to, and so that helps develop depth.”
Defensively, OC developed the 3-3 look several years ago when it did not have many defensive linemen. The Indians believed it had more athletic-type guys who could play outside and inside linebacker. Osage City went to a three-front.
In the last couple of seasons, OC has produced more defensive linemen and ran more 4-2. In 2020, Osage City finished fourth in 2A with 36.6 points a game and led the classification with nine points allowed a contest.
In ’16, Osage City finished 5-6, including a huge Week 3 comeback versus Olpe in a 35-33 win. Two weeks later, OC nearly did a similar feat in an overtime loss to Mission Valley. Gantenbein said that season “kind of helped get the ball rolling.” OC is 36-11 since the start of ’17 and twice tied the school record with nine victories. Osage City reached the quarters in ’17 and ’20, tied for the best finishes in Indian annals.
“We wanted a defense that we didn’t have to change from week to week,” Gantenbein said. “Something that was adjustable within its scheme to where our kids could learn a base scheme, and we could run it week to week, and just make small tweaks based on alignment rules and things of that nature.”
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