Even though Santa Fe Trail had enjoyed just one winning season in the five years prior to his arrival, Greg Slade found plenty of appeal in taking over the job at the start of the 2024 season.
 
And not just because the Chargers were coming off a 7-3 season in 2023.
 
“I thought I was stepping into a good spot,” Slade said. “You never know, but these kids are so resilient. When we came in we just said, ‘Believe in what we’re doing.’ Even last year when we lost some games early, 1-2 after our first three games, that whole time we were talking about, ‘This is what we can be. This is what we can do.’
 
“At the beginning of this year, I asked them what the goal was for the regular season and they said, ‘Be 8-0.’ I said, ‘Well these are the things you have to do to be 8-0.’”
 
Whatever those things were that Slade laid out, Santa Fe Trail has done them. Fresh off wrapping up an undefeated run through the Pioneer League with a 44-7 victory over Anderson County on Friday night, the first league title since 2016, the Chargers are one win away from that undefeated regular season.
 
Santa Fe Trail hasn’t been 8-0 since the 1997 season team went 8-1 under legendary Charger coach Bob Von Stein, that team losing in the regular-season finale to Hayden. The last perfect regular season for the program came in 1994 when the Chargers went 11-1, losing to Scott City in the Class 4A state semifinals.
 
“Last year, coming in being new, they really didn’t know who I was,” Slade said. “This is the first time this senior class has had the same head coach for two years. I think the consistency with the coaching staff has helped the kids come together. We’ve had some good leadership out of that. They set goals at the beginning of the year and when you set a goal, if you’re going to set it you’ve got to do the work to reach it.”
 
Trail went 5-4 last year in Slade’s debut as coach, finishing the regular season on a three-game winning streak before falling to Perry-Lecompton in the Class 3A playoff opener. The Chargers only graduated three seniors off that squad and this year returned a senior class of 11. In all, nine starters returned on offense and 10 returned on defense.
 
That continuity from both a coaching and personnel standpoint allowed Trail to hit the ground running this season and two weeks in, the Chargers got a statement-making win when they knocked off Prairie View 35-20. In that game, Trail held standout back Parker Schwarz to just 65 yards rushing and the Buffaloes to just 216 yards total, well below their season average of 379.7 rushing yards per game.
 
“It gave our kids a lot of confidence,” Slade said of the win, just the second over Prairie View for the Chargers since 2017. “It was a big win and we played well and played as a team. The thing we’ve stressed with the kids is play your one-eleventh and take one game at a time. Don’t get too excited over one game.”
 
Prairie View hasn’t lost since and Santa Fe Trail added another big win to its ledger three weeks later in pulling out a defensive 13-6 win over rival Wellsville, the first win over the Eagles since 2019.
 
“We struggled a bit that night on offense, but our defense stepped up huge and put us in position to win that game,” Slade said. “You have to win the tough ones and we won one that night.”
 
Trail added another quality win the following week with a 42-21 victory over Baldwin, scoring on all six possessions in the game.
 
While the senior class has led the way on both sides of the ball, sophomore quarterback Rigley Sleichter has been a catalyst for an offense that’s averaging nearly 41 points per game. Though his stats aren’t gaudy, he’s been efficient and effective in both the run and passing game.
 
Standing in the way of the Chargers and an undefeated regular season is Bishop Ward. The Cyclones are just 2-5, but will be at home and have played a tough schedule, including games against 3A unbeatens Hayden (No. 2) and Rock Creek (No. 4).
 
 
OTHER WEEK 7 FOOTBALL STANDOUTS

• Rock Creek clinched both the Class 3A District 5 title and the North Central Kansas League title with a 48-0 blanking of Concordia. The district title is the second straight and third in four years while the league title was the first for the Mustangs in their second year in the NCKL. Tate Smith threw for 324 yards and 5 touchdowns on just 15 completions with Luke Skinner hauling 3 TD passes for 209 yards. Zion Bell added 152 yards and a TD on the ground to go over 1,000 yards for the season.
• Sacred Heart clinched its first winning season since 2013 with a 41-0 win over Herington, improving to 5-2. Maddox Wells threw for 246 yards and 5 touchdowns and Noah Hines had 5 catches for 108 yards and 3 TDs.
• Rossville came alive late to come away with a big Class 1A 36-22 road win over Olpe. The Bulldawgs trailed 16-14 going into the fourth quarter but Canann Mitchel scored early in the fourth on a 34-yard run and then Conner Bush returned a punt 85 yards for a score. After Olpe score, Mitchell broke an 81-yard TD run to clinch it. Mitchell finished with 151 yards rushing, while Bush added 101 yards on the ground, 71 coming on a second-quarter TD run.
• Republic County scored four straight touchdowns in the first half to build a 28-3 lead on Valley Heights and went on to take a 36-11 victory that gave the Buffaloes the most wins ever since the program became Republic County. Kash Henke ran for 118 yards and a touchdown and also threw a pair of touchdown passes to Aden Morris.
• Silver Lake stopped Osage City on a goal line stand late in the fourth quarter to preserve a 28-21 that put the Eagles in position to win the Class 2A District 3 title. Kipton Kruger threw three touchdown passes, two to Grady Bergmann and Dom Monhollan ran for a 31-yard touchdown that proved to be the game winner in the third quarter. Dylan Theel and a 42-yard TD run and 73-yard TD reception from Reed Silver, who also threw a 64-yard TD pass to Tate Smith, that coming in the fourth quarter to pull the Indians within 28-21. Silver threw for 182 yards and ran for 85 and Theel ran for 118 while Kruger threw for 201 yards and Monhollon ran for 156.
• Riley County picked up its biggest win of the season, handing Class 3A Hesston just its second loss of the season with a 40-32 win. The Falcons got out to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter but saw Hesston pull withing 24-16 by halftime. Kadrick Woodard ran for two second-half touchdowns and three overall to hold off the Swathers as he finished with 134 yards passing. Rilyn Wurtz ran for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Council Grove clinched its fourth straight playoff berth with a defensive 14-12 win over St. Marys, coming up with big defensive plays to seal the win. Tied 6-6 going into the fourth quarter, Council Grove took a 14-6 lead on a 23-yard pass from Luke Stewart to Sy’ied Smith-Jenkins and two-point pass from Stewart to Mason Samuels. St. Marys scored late, but Blaise French picked off the two-point try and after the Bears got the ball back, Stewart came up with a game-clinching interception.
• Chase County quarterback Wyatt Griffin had another monster game as the Bulldogs finished off a 72-24 win over Northern Heights on Saturday after weather postponed the game at the end of the third quarter. Griffin ran for a school-record 471 yards and 9 touchdowns and also threw for 73 yards and a touchdown, accounting for 10 TDs overall. Chase County rolled up 628 yards of total offense.
• Logan Fulton threw for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for another as Wamego fought past Clay Center 28-14. Dominic Falco had 125 yards receiving and a TD for the Red Raiders.
• Junction City’s Kingston Timms returned a kickoff 95 yards to break a 14-14 tie with Washburn Rural and the Blue Jays added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away for a 35-20 win. Conrad Gomez threw for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns and Lovell Autry had a rushing and receiving score.
• Rural Vista set up an Eight-Player II District 2 championship showdown with Burlingame by rolling past Hartford 49-0. Kole Riedy continued his huge season, rushing for 162 yards and 3 touchdowns while having another two scores called back by penalties.
• Sabetha exploded for 35 first-quarter points and went on to take a 42-0 win over Oskaloosa. Micah Lang threw a pair of TD passes and also ran for a score in the first quarter and finished with 114 yards passing. Will Voos ran for 147 yards and a touchdown.
• Jefferson County North set up a showdown of Northeast Kansas League unbeatens, rolling into this week’s clash with No. 1 Jackson Heights with a 58-8 romp past McLouth. Merrick Noll ran for 90 yards and 5 touchdowns and Will Elias ran and threw for a touchdown.
• Carter Hajek ran for 277 yards and 5 touchdowns and also threw for a score as Nemaha Central rolled past Royal Valley 48-27.
• Jaxon Grimmett ran for 129 yards and 5 touchdowns as Lebo blanked Centre 48-0 in one half.
• Wabaunsee’s Cole Frank rushed for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Chargers to a 36-21 win over Mission Valley and clinch the runner-up spot in the Flint Hills League.
• Cair Paravel’s Tobias Bonura racked up 244 all-purpose yards and ran for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Lions to a 54-13 win over Maranatha.
• Manhattan bounced back from its loss to Wichita Northwest with a 50-0 rout of Topeka High. Kha’Mario Davis returned from injury to rush for 160 yards and three touchdowns and Finn Watson threw for 111 yards and 3 scores, all three touchdown passes going to JJ Dunnigan.
• Southeast of Saline stayed unbeaten with a 55-14 win over Halstead. Tiernan Ptacek threw for 266 yards and 4 touchdowns while Grady Gebhardt had 143 yards and 2 TDs receiving and also ran for 85 yards and 3 touchdowns.
• Wes Anderson accounted for six touchdowns as Frankfort raced past Wakefield 58-12. Anderson threw for 253 yards and 4 touchdowns and also ran for 83 yards and 2 scores. Henry Ketter had two rushing touchdowns and Peyton Adams caught two TD passes for the Wildcats.
• Shawnee Heights’ Aiden Scott threw for 281 yards and 4 touchdowns with AJ Gallegos snagging three of those TD tosses and finishing with 130 yards as the T-Birds blanked Lansing 42-0.
• Joseph Fahey ran for three touchdowns and threw for another as Clifton-Clyde beat Rock Hills 54-6.
• Brixton Schwinn threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns and Corbin Mayer had two touchdown runs and returned a fumble for a score as Jefferson West built a 50-0 lead and beat Atchison County 50-12.
• Jackson Heights' Drake Mellies had 321 total yards and 5 touchdowns as the Cobras rolled past Valley Falls 54-6.