After a challenging first year under head coach Jim Johnston, the Wabaunsee football team enters 2025 with a renewed sense of confidence \u2014 and a goal of turning experience into results.<\/p>\n
The Chargers finished 3-6 last fall, earning the No. 13 seed in the Class 1A East playoffs before falling to Rossville in the opening round, 47-13. With a year in Johnston\u2019s system and a core of returning players, Wabaunsee returns looking to climb the district standings.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, I think the kids really gave a good effort \u2014 a good first year in many cases,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cObviously, we wanted to win more than three games. One of the things we\u2019ll hopefully take from last year is learning to play under pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there are key plays or the game is on the line, we need to perform better. The kids did a good job last year. We just slipped up on a couple of games we maybe could have won. Hopefully this year, in similar situations, we\u2019ll come through on the winning side.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the center of the Chargers\u2019 plans is senior quarterback Cole Frank, who passed for roughly 400 yards and nearly rushed for 1,000 as a junior. Johnston expects him to take on an even bigger role this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is the straw that stirs the drink for us,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be key \u2014 we\u2019re counting on him. We\u2019ll probably move him a little more to running back to take advantage of his running. He\u2019s a kid I want to throw to and a kid I want throwing for us. In some cases, he\u2019s going to be our splash player, for lack of a better term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Protecting Frank will be senior lineman Brody Droegemeier, an all-league selection last season who also reached the state wrestling tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to be a real key for us,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cHe\u2019s our returning offensive lineman, got league honors last year. He\u2019s one of those kids who can do it all \u2014 quick, fast, went to state in wrestling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnston said Droegemeier has also set the tone off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look for kids who can perform on Friday night but also set an example in the weight room,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cHe\u2019s done a good job this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnston also expects leading receiver Wyatt Gehrt to play a major role as the Chargers expand their passing game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to be able to throw the ball a little bit more this season,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cWyatt is going to figure pretty heavily into that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Improving through the air will be a priority after opponents stacked the line of scrimmage last fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have got to be able to pass the ball better,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cThat\u2019s the huge key. A lot of times teams crowded the box, and we struggled in those situations. This year, our goal is to take advantage of that and throw the ball better.\u201d<\/p>\n
On defense, Wabaunsee will look to rebuild its front after losing several key players from last season. Karsyn Schoffner will take on a bigger role, while Droegemeier moves from defensive tackle to defensive end and Tyler Poovey steps in at tackle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defensive line \u2014 even though we\u2019ve lost some kids, I think we\u2019ll have kids step up,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cTyler Poovey is going to come in and do a nice job for us. He\u2019s been in the weight room and he\u2019s a big kid at defensive tackle. I think we still have the potential to be pretty solid on the defensive line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linebackers will also be key, with Frank shifting down from strong safety to take on a bigger role in the middle of the defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cLinebackers always have to be your key players,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cCole Frank is another one we\u2019re moving more to linebacker from strong safety. Those are the kinds of kids who have to step up and really shine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chargers\u2019 schedule features several run-heavy opponents, making the defensive front even more critical.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a pretty tough schedule \u2014 teams that are really good at running the football,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cTrying to slow down the run is going to be the real key for us. I think we\u2019ll be okay in terms of pass defense, but against the Rossvilles, Olpes, Council Groves and Osage Cities, you\u2019ve got to do a good job on the defensive front. That\u2019s our main goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Above all, Johnston said the Chargers need to stay healthy to make a run this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay healthy. Stay healthy,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to have a good season \u2014 I really do. I think we\u2019ll have some kids step up. I like what I\u2019ve seen this summer, but like a lot of small high school teams, you don\u2019t have a lot of depth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chargers open the seaosn Friday on the road at Council Grove before playing four of their next five games at home. Key district matchups against West Franklin, Olpe, Cair Paravel and Mission Valley highlight the middle stretch of the season.<\/p>\n
Wabaunsee will close the regular season Oct. 24 with a rematch at Rossville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a challenging first year under head coach Jim Johnston, the Wabaunsee football team enters 2025 with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[265,241,2793,7,5446,636,4135,642,1014,262,2444,2443,122,6,47357,1890,47358,646,16678,632,635,643,638],"class_list":{"0":"post-330152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-american-football","9":"tag-chargers","10":"tag-defensive-tackle","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-gridiron-football","13":"tag-gridiron-football-variants","14":"tag-linebacker","15":"tag-lineman-gridiron-football","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","18":"tag-losangeles","19":"tag-losangeleschargers","20":"tag-national-football-league","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-nfl-seasons","23":"tag-nfl-teams","24":"tag-nfl-teams-seasons","25":"tag-outdoor-sports","26":"tag-san-diego-chargers","27":"tag-seasons-in-american-football","28":"tag-seasons-in-american-sport","29":"tag-tackle-gridiron-football-position","30":"tag-team-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115120983950541563","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}