NEWTON – Lyndon lineman Kaedin Massey and his fellow seniors have often found themselves visualizing different state championship game scenarios during their quest to make school history for the Tigers.
“For years, we’ve been joking about playing in a state championship game when it’s cold and snowing,” Massey said. “I guess we talked about it so much that it happened.”
Indeed, those discussions proved prophetic. Snow picked up just before kickoff at 10:30 a.m. Saturday for the Eight-Player Division I championship between the Tigers and Wichita County, and it wasn’t long before Fischer Field was completely covered.
“It’s always been a dream when you’re a little kid to come say you’re going to play in a state championship in the snow,” Lyndon senior quarterback Tanner Heckel said. “I think we were all excited. That gave us another boost of motivation to go out there and play.”
The Tigers proceeded to have a blast, using a phenomenal defensive effort and another huge game from Heckel to cap a perfect season with a 34-6 win over defending champion Wichita County, snapping the Indians’ 25-game win streak.
Lyndon (13-0) captured the school’s first football championship in its first title game.
“It’s very exciting, very special,” Lyndon coach Michael Massey said. “These kids have put in a lot of time and are very selfless kids. It’s amazing to see that the time and the effort, and not caring who gets the credit, what can come out of that. It’s a bond that they will have for the rest of their lives.”
Heckel, who transferred to Lyndon this year from Inman, ran for 254 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries with Massey, a 6-foot-8, 285-pound Kansas State commit, and fellow linemen Eli Feltner and Caleb Anshutz helping pave the way up front.
Perhaps even more impressive was the Tigers’ defensive effort. Wichita County entered as the top-scoring team in any class this season, averaging 61.8 points per game. Lyndon contained the Indians’ ground game and gave up just one completed pass for two yards. Wichita County finished with under 200 yards of offense.
“We’re not going to make any excuses,” Wichita County coach Brant Douglas said. “(Lyndon) played extremely well. They’re a talented team and well-coached. They have studs almost everywhere on the field and hats off to them.”
Michael Massey gave the credit to Tigers’ defensive coach Toby Baker for Lyndon’s game plan in defending the potent Indians.
“Coach Baker has coached our defense for 17 years and he’s done an outstanding job for 17 years,” Coach Massey said. “Our guys know where they need to be on certain formations, certain motions. They’re fast, physical, and (Baker) has done an outstanding job with them. It was super special how physical we played today.”
“We take a lot of pride in it,” Kaedin Massey said. “The physicality of how we played, we came out here with an attitude and it showed in the first half.”
The teams traded defensive stops on opening possessions before senior Jalen Massey put the Tigers on the board with a 3-yard run from Jalen Massey. Heckel scored on runs of 37 and 4 yards in the second quarter.
After sputtering for most of the first half, Wichita County entered halftime with some momentum after a 12-yard touchdown by quarterback Wyatt Gardner, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 18-6 at the break.
The Indians had a chance to get back in the game in the second half after Khris Hermosillo forced and recovered a Lyndon fumble inside the Wichita County 10. Wichita County marched down to the Lyndon 25, but the blitzing Casten Wirth sacked Gardner on 4th-and-five.
“I think we had opportunities and they stopped us at opportune times,” Douglas said. “They made plays when they needed to and that’s a testament to how well prepared they were.”
Lyndon's Tanner Heckel rushed for 254 yards and four touchdowns.
Heckel scored on runs of 52 and 36 yards in the second half and also forced a fumble on Gardner in the fourth quarter, stripping the ball away on what would been Wichita County’s longest gain of the day. Ethen Ramey also had an interception in the second half for the Tigers.
Heckel transferred to Lyndon for his senior year after his mother, Megan Heckel, was hired as girls basketball coach for the Tigers. Tanner had helped Inman reach the 1A championship game in each of the last two years, with the Teutons suffering a 44-41 heartbreaker to St. Marys in the 1A title game last year. He finished this season with 50 rushing touchdowns and 72 total TDs.
“Tanner is an outstanding young athlete, but he’s an even better person and a better leader,” Michael Massey said. “From Day 1, the kids accepted him and he accepted the kids. They act like they’ve gone to school for 15 years together.
“I wish some of these FBS schools would start hitting him a little bit harder because he’s a special athlete and a special kid. He’s going to make whatever program he goes to better.”
Kaedin Massey said Heckel made quite the first impression.
“We were in summer basketball, warming up, and I see him go between the legs and slam it,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Yep, this is going to be awesome.’”
“They’re very knowledgeable and very inviting so when I got here it was very easy to make friends with them,” Heckel said of his Tiger teammates. “We all wanted to work and we all had the goal to get here to the state championship and the whole community was behind us, and here we are.
“It's going to take a while to set in. I’m still at a loss words right now. Once it sets in, it’s going to feel real nice.”
The Tigers eight-player senior class is comprised of Heckel, Anschutz, Wirth, Jalen Massey, Kaedin Massey, Ramey, Daxten Miller and Jordan Meyer.
“It means so much,” Kaedin Massey said. “This community has been good in football for so many years we just hadn’t crested that hill yet. It feels so good to be the ones that got over the top.”
Wichita County (12-1) will also celebrate the contributions of a senior class that helped the Indians put together a remarkable run over the last two seasons. Gardner, Colton Harbin, Brandon Price and Christoper Michel were playing in their last games for the Indians.
“They’ve done stuff that most kids don’t get to experience in high school,” Douglas said. “They’ve played in three out of four state championship games. They left this program much better than they found it. We’re going to miss them.”
Lyndon captured the program's first state title in school history.
Lyndon's James Marcotte delivers a hit on Wichita County's Khris Hermosillo as the ball arrives.
Wichita County's Khris Hermosillo looks to follow the block of Christoper Michel.
LYNDON 34, WICHITA COUNTY 6
Wichita County (12-1) … 0 … 6 … 0 … 0 … – … 6
Lyndon (13-0) … 6 … 12 … 8… 8 … – … 34
Lyndon – Massey 3 run (pass failed)
Lyndon – Heckel 37 (pass failed)
Lyndon – Heckel 4 run (pass failed)
Wichita County – Gardner 12 run (run failed)
Lyndon – Heckel 52 run (Heckel run)
Lyndon – Heckel 36 run (Wirth pass from Massey)
TEAM STATISTICS
… W. County … Lyndon
First downs … 10 … 11
Rushes-yards …48-177… 43-287
Passing yards … 2 … 21
Passing (Comp-Att-INT) … 1-11-1 … 2-3-0
Fumbles-lost … 1-1 … 2-1
Penalties-yards … 8-97 … 7-47
Punts-Avg … 3-20.6 … 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Wichita County: Gardner 25-107. Hermosillo 20-57, Young 2-7, Harbin 1-6. Lyndon: Heckel 29-254, Massey 13-27, Ramey 1-6.
Passing – Wichita County: Gardner 1-11-1 2 yards. Lyndon: Heckel 2-3-0 21 yards.
Receiving – Wichita County: Harbin 1-2, Lyndon: Wirth 1-17, Ramey 1-4.