High school football numbers and notes
Winning streaks
22 — Hutchinson won its sixth straight title, its second in Class 5A.
14 — Wichita Collegiate won the Class 3A title, its first since 2000 and third in school history.
13 — Olathe North won the Class 6A title over Wichita Heights, extending the City League’s streak to 22 years since it won a state football title.
13 — Centralia lost its season opener in 2009 to Silver Lake but went on to win its next 13. Its final win was over Smith Center, which not only gave Centralia the Class 2-1A title, but ended Smith Center’s winning streak at 79, a state record.
11 — Hanover won 11 straight games last season to win the 8-Man II title, its second straight.
10 — Quinter won 10 straight games to win the 8-Man I title.
Losing streaks
28 — Maur Hill-Mount Academy
26 — Republic County, KC Wyandotte
25 — Santa Fe Trail
23 — Kingman
20 — Weskan
18 — Elk Valley
16 — Haven
15 — Leavenworth, Bluestem
14 — Bucklin
12 — Satanta, Chetopa, Rolla
11 — Highland Park, Parsons, West Franklin
10 — Solomon, Pleasanton, Attica
9 — Valley Center, El Dorado, Peabody-Burns, WaKeeney
8 — Pike Valley
Milestones
Gary Guzman is at 98 career wins and ranks sixth in City League career wins, three behind former North coach Bob Shepler.
Northwest’s Weston Schartz has 143 wins, second in league history, while Bishop Carroll’s Alan Schuckman has 119. Schuckman also ranks fifth in league history in winning percentage (.773), while Heights’ Rick Wheeler is 10th (.703).
Garden Plain coach Todd Puetz has 98 career wins and could reach 100 wins in Game 2 at Cheney. In nine seasons, Puetz has never lost more than three games and has advanced to the playoffs each season.
Mulvane coach Dave Fennewald, in his 19th season, is at 90 victories.
Coaching consistency
The City League returns eight of its nine coaches. Of those coaches, five have been at their current school for between at least six seasons and 16 years as many as 16.
The AV-CTL has consistency, as well. Of its 25 schools over four divisions, six coaches have been at their current school for at least a decade and 18 coaches have been at their current school for at least four seasons.
Top games
Derby’s toughest games this season are against Salina Central, Hutchinson, Andover, Salina South and Heights. All but the season finale at Heights is at home.And only one of those games is on the road — Derby plays at Heights on Oct. 29 in the regular season finale.
Sept. 2
Kapaun Mount Carmel plays at Northwest for the second consecutive season in the Thursday opener. Northwest won 16-13 edged the Crusaders 16-13 in 2009.
Sept. 3
Carroll at Heights — Carroll smacked Heights 28-0 in the 2009 opener; Heights went on to play in the 2009 6A title game. Count on a close game this season. Other games to watch —Salina Central at Derby, KC (Mo.) Rockhurst at Hutchinson, Andover at McPherson, Rose Hill at Buhler, Andale at Wellington.
Sept. 10
Collegiate at Rose Hill — Collegiate, the defending 3A champion, starts a string of three games against some of 4A’s top teams. The Spartans play host to Wellington on Sept. 17 and then play at Andale on Sept. 24. Other games to watch —Hutchinson at Derby, Salina South at McPherson, Buhler at Wellington.
Sept. 17
Rose Hill at Andale — Andale is 5-0 against Rose Hill since 2006. Including a 12-point Class 4A playoff win in 2006, Andale has won those games by an average of 19.6 points. Other games to watch — McPherson at Andover Central, Rose Hill at Andale, Wellington at Collegiate.
Sept. 24
Conway Springs at Garden Plain — One of the best rivalry games is no longer a Class 3A district game. They’ll likely meet again in the playoffs. Other games to watch — Northwest at Carroll, Heights at Great Bend, Salina Central at Hutchinson, Collegiate at Andale.
Sept. 30
Heights at Northwest — Northwest hopes to have quarterback Jordan Wiedemann at full strength, making this game that much more intriguing.
Oct. 1
Andover at Derby — That Andover has moved up a class to 5A will be most evident when the Trojans, a small 5A school, play at Derby, one of the largest 6A schools. Throw in Derby’s electric atmosphere and it’s a can’t-miss-game.
Oct. 8
Gardner-Edgerton at McPherson — McPherson was looking to toughen its schedule, and this game did it. Gardner-Edgerton, the 5A runner-up in 2009, has one of the state’s top players in quarterback Bubba Starling, who committed to play baseball and football at Nebraska. Other games to watch — Carroll vs. Kapaun (at WSU), Salina South at Derby, Rose Hill at Mulvane, Conway Springs vs. Wichita Trinity (at Circle).
Oct. 15
Andover Central at Andover — The spotlight is on this rivalry game even more now that it’s the first game of district play. Hutchinson Trinity at Garden Plain — This is a matchup of two 3A powers. While Hutchinson Trinity knocked Conway Springs out of the 2009 playoffs, can Trinity win at Garden Plain?
Oct. 22
Wichita Trinity at Andale — Trinity’s in its third season as a football program, and while it boasts one of the area’s top running backs in Morgan Burns, playing at Andale is a huge test.
Oct. 29
Carroll at Hutchinson — If you go to one game this season, this is it. Sure, you’ll probably be able to see it again in the playoffs, but these are two of the state’s top teams and programs.
Other games to watch — Derby at Heights, Kapaun at Andover Central, Maize at Goddard.