The Kpreps.com statewide Game of the Week featuring the undefeated Cherryvale Chargers and the undefeated Neodesha Blue Streaks is presented by:
Newton’s True Value -- Proud supporters of the Cherryvale Chargers
First Neodesha Bank – Proud supporters of the Neodesha Blue Streaks
Wilson County Agency, Inc. & Kent Carpenter – Proud supporter of the Blue Streaks
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Cherryvale and Neodesha posted solid seasons in 2014. The Chargers finished with a 5-4 record, while the Blue Streaks went 7-3. However, each team returns plenty of experience and has made big improvements.
For unbeaten Cherryvale, the biggest change has come in the running game.
The Chargers averaged 4.1 and 4.2 yards per rush in the last two seasons, and are up to 7.5 yards per carry so far this year. Cherryvale averages 352 rushing yards a game, an improvement from 143 yards per contest last season.
The Blue Streaks, also 4-0, have greatly improved team chemistry behind eight returning starters on both sides of the ball. Neodesha has a large junior class and several key returning senior starters, including fullback McKadin Songer, lineman Hunter Hutchinson and defensive back Colton Cunningham.
“Right now, we are playing as a team,” coach John Black said. “If something bad happens, we think something good is going to happen, so we don’t get down on each other if something bad happens. I think right now, that’s the big key, our kids are playing together. I think that (junior) class is a very good class, but our seniors are incredible leaders, and they are phenomenal athletes.”
This Friday, Cherryvale travels to Neodesha in a key Class 3A Tri-Valley League matchup. The Chargers have won the last two in the series and five of the last seven.
“Our kids are going to be up, and they think that it’s the Super Bowl,” Black said. “I don’t have any problems this week getting anybody up or mental focus or anything like that. We just know that it’s Cherryvale, and the kids want to play well against Cherryvale. This is the game that they for every year.”
The Chargers’ triple option has produced five players who have rushed for between 125 and 420 yards: seniors Brendan Menzer, Zack Steed, and Ian Pearson and senior quarterback Lane Raida, along with sophomore Kortland Verge.
Steed, known for getting the tough yards, starts at fullback after he was banged up last season. Coach Harry Hester said Steed’s impact has been “huge.” Defensively, Menzer, a state powerlifting champion, started at safety last fall and an outside linebacker as a sophomore. He has four interceptions this year. Cherryvale has nine as a team after ten in all of 2014.
“You get that experience, and then when it finally hits – it’s your senior year,” Hester said. “It’s all we got. You see that every year with seniors, it just kind of clicks.”
Menzer and Raida are three-year starters, and senior Brady Snider has started all four years on the line. Senior lineman Trenton Smedley, a returning honorable mention all-league pick, has played well, too.
“A lot of these guys just needed an opportunity,” Hester said. “We had pretty good classes ahead of them.”
Black lists senior Kyle Savage as one of the best he has ever coached. Savage and Cunningham, starting cornerbacks, have allowed a completion rate of less than 30 percent, and the Streaks have given up just 48 total points. Black had always ran a 4-2 defense before he came to Neodesha six years ago, and then switched to a 4-3.
With an abundance of defensive backs, Neodesha switched back to a 4-2 with five defensive backs this fall, and has lowered its scoring defense from 17.5 points a game in 2014. The transition has worked thus far. The Bluestreaks had a linebacker miss this season because of a back problem suffered last year has carried over to 2015.
“We are doing just about anything that you can imagine, and they pick it up,” Black said. “Those guys are smart. They are not just great athletes, they are very smart athletes, and they make adjustments, and they know how to check everything at the line based on what we are seeing.”
On offense, junior Matthew Shinkle is a returning starter at quarterback and has completed around 60 percent of his passes.
Hutchinson, whom Black calls a great lineman and character kid, is similar to many players on the team. Junior Jordin Linn, another leader, and Hutchinson start on the same side of the line and can play on the left and right side. Junior Cole Wooten moved from tackle to center and has played well.
“They have got great hearts, they are there for each other,” Black said. “Last year, I wouldn’t be able to say that, to be honest with you. We had what I thought was kind of a selfish team, self-centered. This year, it is not like that, it is very much as a team. The kids are all playing well, and Hunter is one of those guys that do that.”
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