Back to Kpreps this fall, our contributors will hand out helmet stickers to a team or individual that delivered the most important performance of the week in their opinion. Check back each Sunday to see that week’s helmet stickers, and follow @Kpreps on Twitter and Facebook to watch as the Kpreps helmet fills up with stickers as the season goes on.
Helmet sticker: Deerfield (Conor Nicholl -- Kpreps)
This summer, multiple coaches predicted to Kpreps that despite recent struggles, several teams would enjoy an uptick in victories in the first season of KSHSAA sanctioned six-man football. Through three weeks, Deerfield, a veteran six-man program, is one of those squads.
Deerfield finished 0-7 in 2020 and ’21 and entered this season with a 14-game losing streak. The Spartans opened with three straight road games against Triplains-Brewster, Western Plains-Healy and Golden Plains. The losing skid bumped to 15 with a 60-13 loss to Triplains-Brewster in Week 1.
In Week 2, the Spartans defeated Western Plains, 59-12. Deerfield went 1,043 days between victories. Last Friday, Deerfield won 32-24 at Golden Plains. Triplains-Brewster is a new six-man program, while Western Plains did not have a varsity schedule last fall. Golden Plains is a long-time six-man team.
Deerfield is 2-1 for the first time in nine years and second time in 12 occasions, per Kansas Football History. This also marked the first time Deerfield has won back-to-back games since 2010.
Against Western Plains, QB/LB Ryan Musil and running back/linebacker Cesar Ramirez were the team’s players of the game. In the win over Golden Plains, Musil, Ramirez, lineman Irvin Rodriguez, and running back/safety Maverick Najera collected player of the game honors. Deerfield led 13-2 after the first quarter and 19-2 at halftime. Najera, a sophomore, completed 9 of 19 passes for 163 yards with a touchdown. He rushed 10 times for 63 yards and a score.
A senior, Ramirez delivered 18 carries for 79 yards. Musil finished six catches for 104 yards. Ramirez delivered two pick-sixes. Musil delivered 22 tackles, sophomore Treyton Hill had 11 stops, and sophomore Yulexis Robles-Quintero had 10. Deerfield has four seniors: Ramirez, Musil, running back/defensive back Jesus Amaro and 6-foot-2, 235-pound lineman Gael Arzate.
Deerfield’s staff is head coach Adam Leroux, assistant coach Cale Warden and assistant Refugio Chairez. Warden is in his ninth year of teaching and joined Deerfield this year. Chairez was a 2020 Shrine Bowl offensive lineman at Garden City.
Helmet sticker: Great Bend (Matt Gilmore -- Kpreps)
Great Bend snapped a 19-game losing streak with a 31-6 win over Buhler on Friday.
Panther senior quarterback Cayden Scheuerman passed for 222 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Scheuerman hit Braylon Council four times for 142 yards and a score. Maddox Spray and Colton Brack also caught touchdown receptions from Scheuerman.
Junior back Cody Miller added 148 yards rushing with a touchdown, while Scheuerman added 73 yards on the ground.
Scheuerman has passed for 461 yards and four touchdowns and has added 185 yards and two scores on the ground. Miller leads the Panthers with 312 rushing yards and three scores.
Great Bend’s last win prior to Friday was a 49-35 decision over Wichita Heights on November 1st, 2019 in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Helmet sticker: Meade (Conor Nicholl -- Kpreps)
On Oct. 16, 2020, Meade lost, 48-0, to Ness City. The Buffs had dropped their third straight contest after two games cancelled because of COVID-19. At that point, the Buffs were 9-17 in their last 26 games, starting with the last contest of the 2017 season.
Meade played 11-man football in 2017-19 before it moved to eight-man in 2020. The Buffs went 4-3 under coach Justin Powell, who had spent more than 10 years with the program in various capacities. Meade won its last two games: 36-32 at home against Hodgeman County and 60-0 in a non-playoff Week 9 game against Stafford.
Former assistant Bryan Luetters took over last season. Meade enjoyed the biggest turnaround in the last 15 years of eight-man football. The Buffs went 13-0, the first perfect season in school history, and captured the Eight-Man, Division I state title. Meade entered this season on a 15-game winning streak.
Meade finished second in the classification with 12.2 points allowed a contest. This fall, the Buffs have their third coach in three years as Luetters took the head job at Liberal, and former assistant Clint Kuhns took over. Meade lost three acclaimed players: quarterback Torren Haynes, running back Korben Clawson and lineman Cullen Lumry.
Meade remains just outside the top-five in Eight-Man, Division I, the state’s deepest top to bottom class. The Buffs have bumped their winning streak to 18 contests after 48-0 wins against South Central, and Hodgeman County along with a 51-6 decision against Satanta. Meade will be favored the next two weeks against Sublette and South Gray before a huge home district game versus Leoti-Wichita County, currently No. 1 in the classification.
Meade currently has the state’s second-longest winning streak behind Andale’s 41 game run. Meade’s all-time best winning streak is 22 from 2010-11. That was in a six-season stretch where the Buffs captured at least 10 wins each year and won two state 11-man titles.
Meade has also won back-to-back state cross country titles and boys track last spring. Brock Keith has been a part of all four state titles. He paces the Buffs with 14 carries for 155 yards and three rushing TDs. Senior Grayden Stapleton has contributed a passing, rushing and receiving score. Senior Brayden Norris leads the team with 14 tackles, three for loss. He led the Buffs with 98 tackles last fall.
Helmet sticker: Valley Falls (Matt Gilmore – Kpreps)
The Valley Falls Dragons picked up their first 11-man win since 2015 on Friday in a 34-20 decision over Horton.
Valley Falls spent the past six seasons playing eight-man football – the only school in the Northeast Kansas League playing eight-man.
The Dragons’ went 4-5 last season in coach Wyatt Hofstra’s first year. Their return to 11-man football this year opened with losses to Atchison County and Troy.
On Friday, Valley Falls scored 22 points in the first quarter against Horton and led 34-7 at halftime. Senior Dylan Cervantez completed 12 of 17 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns. He connected with Zac Evans eight times for 184 yards and all three touchdowns. Evans also added a 30-yard touchdown run.
Valley Falls will travel to Mission Valley this week to open play in Class 1A, District 3.
Helmet Stickers (2022 Season)
Week 1 – Atwood-Rawlins County, Coffeyville, Ellsworth, Ingalls, Topeka Highland Park
Week 2 – Abilene, Baxter Springs, Inman, Oswego, Shawnee Mission North
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