DODGE CITY – In 1969, Kansas began its state football playoffs and with few exceptions the state championship games have been played on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.

There has been every type of weather at this late date on the calendar and once again in 2023, Old Man Winter or Mother Nature, (whom to blame!) decided to pay another visit to the Sunflower State on championship Saturday.

In Dodge City, with a snow-covered Memorial Stadium turf, it was Six-Player Cunningham defending its 2022 championship against Bird City-Cheylin.

The Cougars of the Western Kansas Liberty League made the most of their first KSHSAA state title match-up and reaffirmed their No. 1-ranking with a dominating 57-8 victory over the defending champion Wildcats. The game ended with 1:14 left in the third period on the 45-point margin rule.

Saturday's wintry game saw approximately two to three inches of snow fall from just before kickoff to the end of the game as game officials were able to clear the 5-yard line and hash marks for the teams.

From start to finish, it was Cheylin's quickness on offense and defense that made the difference against the Wildcats, who claimed the school's first KSHSAA team state championship in any sport or activity. 

"It's exciting to get the win, but I'm most happy for the kids," said Cheylin coach Chris Walden. "It's the first time the school has played for a KSHSAA state championship, so it makes it extra special."

It was three years ago in 2020 that Cheylin won the 6-Man Football Association's Wild West Bowl on the same Dodge City Memorial Stadium field. But it was only in 2022 that a Six-Player class was officially recognized by KSHSAA.

Walden said his team executed well on both sides of the ball and that everything just fell into place.

"We just did about everything we wanted to do from the scouting report," Walden said. "We wanted to take away Cunningham's passing game (8-of-23 with 3 interceptions) and I think we accomplished that goal."

Not only that, but the Cougars' quick defense limited the Wildcats to 65 yards rushing on 17 attempts (3.8 yds. per attempt). The defense stuffed the Wildcats to a total of 144 yards.

The Cougars, who completed a perfect 12-0 season, scored on their opening drive of the game, with the senior tandem of Logan McCarty to Brady Ketzner connecting on a 41-yard pass for the first TD and McCarty booted the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 7:26 left in the first.

Cunningham's first time with the ball resulted in a fumble on just its second play from scrimmage, and that would become one of the major factors in the game as the Wildcats committed five turnovers (3 interceptions, 2 fumbles).

The Cougars scooped up the ball and returned it to the Wildcats' 5-yard line. Four plays later the Cougs were back in the end zone on a McCarty 3-yard run. His PAT kick made it 16-0 at the 4:40 mark.
 

Cheylin's lead would increase to 24-0 early in the second when McCarty accounted for the second of his three rushing touchdowns and his PAT kick upped the margin to 24-0 with 9:00 left before halftime.

Cunningham got its only score when it put together its best offensive drive of the game, going 73 yards in seven plays, getting an 11-yard pass from Luke McGuire to Dylan Halderson. Dagim Reed's PAT kick trimmed the deficit to 24-8 with 2:40 showing before intermission.

Cheylin, though, wasn't satisfied with a 16-point lead and it only took 20 seconds for McCarty and Ketzner to hook up again, this one a 45-yard bomb that made it 30-8 after a failed conversion.

The halftime break of 15 minutes didn't change anything as the third quarter was dominated by the Cougars, getting four touchdowns in a span of 6 minutes, 30 seconds.

McCarty was involved in all of them, throwing TD passes of 17 and 59 yards to Pablo Bermudez, a 48-yard strike to Ketzner and then tacking on the game-ending score at the 1:14 mark on a 5-yard scramble diving into the end zone.

Ketzner, McCarty and Bermudez are seniors along with four others, and it was the triple-threat that catapulted the Cougars to hoisting the championship trophy and celebrating on the snow-packed turf afterward.

"We just went out there and executed and we were confident in everything we wanted to do," said Ketzner, who hauled in four passes for 167 yards and three TDs. "To win by that much is incredible because Cunningham is a very good team. I think we brought the energy that was needed."

Bermudez caught four passes with two scores. It was McCarty who checked off a big game. He completed 11-of-17 passes for 292 yards and five touchdowns, rushed 15 times for 98 yards and three scores. In all, the Cougars totaled 432 yards on just 43 plays, an average of 10 yards. The Cougars didn't have a single turnover and were penalized four times for 38 yards.

"I haven't had a better feeling on a football field," Ketzner said. "I just think our experience played a big role in it and our coaches did a great job of scouting and creating a game plan that we executed very well."

As bad as the weather conditions were, Walden said he thought it no effect on his players.

"We were able to use our quickness on both sides of the ball," Walden said. "On offense, we were able to execute almost everything we had planned. The kids had never played in the snow before, but we didn't change anything because of the weather."

It was no shock to Ketzner that his team won, but perhaps he was a little surprised at the final margin.

"We knew they had lost to Ashland at the start of the season, and we beat Ashland twice," Ketzner said. "But you never take anything for granted. Everything just clicked for us today."

"We made silly, uncharacteristic mistakes and they turned them into early touchdowns," Cunningham coach Lance McGuire said afterward. "As good as Cheylin was, and believe me they are that good, we did a lot of things that were self-inflicted. They had no turnovers, converted first downs on fourth down. I've been there before. They were simply the better team today."

McGuire might take some solace in knowing that he graduates only three seniors off his 10-2 team, so he is optimistic as he looks ahead to 2024.

"We had a bunch of young guys playing today, and they'll take their lumps from this, but also will learn from it," McGuire said. "Nothing to be ashamed of. We had a good season."

McGuire said the snowy and slippery conditions didn't affect the outcome of the game.

"We were on the same field as they were," McGuire said. "But looking at the way they played, you would have thought it was sunny, 100 degrees, clear skies with a tailwind. We had trouble with the old school of running the ball, and when we couldn't do that, we had to open up the playbook, but the plays didn't work."

CLASS 6-PLAYER CHAMPIONSHIP

CHEYLIN 57, CUNNINGHAM 8

Bird City-Cheylin (12-0) … 16 … 14 … 27 … X … -- … 57
Cunningahm (10-2) … 0 … 8 … 0 … x … -- … 8

Note: Game ended with 1:14 left in 3rd quarter due to the 45-point mercy rule in effect.

Cheylin – Ketzner 41 pass from Logan McCarty  (McCarty kick)

Cheylin – Logan McCarty 3 run (McCarty kick)

Cheylin – McCarty, 3 run (McCarty kick)

Cunningham –  Halderson 11 pass from McGuire (Reed kick)

Cheylin – Ketzner 45 pass from McCarty (kick blocked)

Cheylin – Bermudez 17 pass from Logan McCarty (Bermudez pass from McCarty)

Cheylin – Ketzner 48 pass from McCarty (McCarty kick)

Cheylin  – Bermudez 59 pass from  McCarty (kick blocked)

Cheylin  – McCarty 5 run (Game ended by 45-point margin rule)

TEAM STATISTICS
… CUN … CHEY
First downs … 6 … 16
Rushes-yards … 17-65 … 25-140
Passing yards … 79 … 292
Passing (Comp-Att-INT) … 8-23-3 … 11-17-0
Total plays-yards … 40-144 … 43-432
Fumbles-lost … 2-2 … 1-0
Penalties-yards … 1-10 … 4-38
Punts-Avg … 0-0.0 … 0-0.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Cunningham: Ruckle 5-37, McGuire 12-28; Bird City-Cheylin: McCarty 15-98, Bermudez 7-18, Ketzner 2-14, Sabatka 1-10.

PASSING – Cunningham: Wegerer 6-18-2--43, McGuire 2-5-1--36; Bird City-Cheylin: McCarty 11-17-0--292, Bermudez 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING – Cunningham: Albers 3-30, Halderson 2-33, Schnittker 2-11, McGuire 1-5; Bird City-Cheylin: Ketzner 4-167, Bermudez 4-80, McPherson 2-18, Sabatka 1-27.