GREENSBURG – Cunningham wrapped up its Six-Player football era with an emphatic closing statement.

The Wildcats, who are headed up to the Eight-Player classification next year, avenged last year’s title game loss to Weskan by rolling to a 51-8 win over the Coyotes in the Six-Player title game on Saturday at Kiowa County High School. 

Playing in its fourth straight championship game since the six-man game became KSHSAA sanctioned, Cunningham spotted Weskan an early touchdown before reeling off 51 straight points to win its second championship. 

“It's fun knowing we got the first sanctioned one (in 2022), and now won our last chance at one,” Cunningham coach Lance McGuire said of the Six-Player titles. “I think to the five seniors it’s a big deal. They're going to ride off in the sunset and they played very well today. They’re going to be able to look back and have some good memories.”

“Ending the dynasty with a win, we needed it to happen,” Cunningham junior Stephen Kerschen said. “This is our last year in six-man and we had to finish.”

Trailing 8-0 at the end of the first quarter, Cunningham hit its stride in the second quarter. The Wildcats grabbed a 12-8 lead after Brody Bock forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Cunningham pushed the lead to 19-8 after Logan Kinsler managed to complete a rare pass in the windy conditions for a 27-yard touchdown to Dylan Halderson. 

Cunningham never looked back from there, outscoring Weskan 32-0 in the second half. 

“They plowed through those first couple of miscues after we got down early,” McGuire said. “One of the boys said ‘I'm locked in. I don’t think I've ever been quite this locked in.’ And they just played that way the whole time. Not many letdowns.”

The Coyotes (11-2) had no answers for Cunningham’s 1-2 punch of Skyler Thimesch and Kerschen. Thimesch ran for 223 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries while Kerschen had 186 yards on 26 carries with two scores. 

The hard-hitting Wildcat defense shined, holding Weskan to just 143 yards. 

“We credit our hard hitting to our Mr. (Eric) Kerschen, our weight room coach,” Thimesch said. “He has pushed us in the weight room to make us what we are.”

“(The hard hits) just hype everyone up,” Stephen Kerschen said. “It just lifts everything up to such a degree like: We can't lose if we're hitting this hard.”

Weskan forced a turnover on Cunningham’s first possession and capitalized with a 46-yard touchdown run by Karsyn Wright, but the Coyotes couldn’t sustain the strong start. 

“It's just such a huge credit to Cunningham,” Weskan coach Brett Clow said. “We knew it would be really tough. They're so disciplined, they're physical, and they just made the right plays.”
 

Wright finished with 117 yards on 23 carries for the Coyotes. 

“He is extremely dynamic, and if you see him on film and you can rewind 10 times, he looks faster every time,” McGuire said. “One cut back and he's gone. He got to us a couple times. When we started staying at home, that’s when we bottled him up a little bit and kept him in the middle field.”

Last year’s title game was an instant classic with Weskan pulling out a 49-48 win with clutch plays in the closing moments to deal the Wildcats a heartbreaker. Cunningham went undefeated in Six-Player competition this season, finishing 12-1 with its lone loss coming to Minneola in an eight-man contest. 

Cunningham’s senior class comprises Halderson, Kinsler, Thimesch, Kendall Rogers and Andrew Schultz.

“I’ll admit (last year’s loss) stayed with us all the way up until this,” Thimesch said. “We were wanting to see Weskan again and take home this state title to our fans.”

Clow commended his Coyotes for a tremendous two-year run. 

“It’s just been such a fun ride,” Clow said. “Our identity is not in results. It's not even in football. We are thankful to be here. We’ve got good support. Our families are going to rally around these boys. We're proud of what we have accomplished and just who they are off the field.”
 

 

CUNNINGHAM 51, WESKAN 8 

Weskan (11-2) … 8 … 0 … 0 … 0 … – … 8

Cunningham (12-1) … 0 … 19 … 13 … 19 … – … 51 

Weskan – Wright 46 run (Conde kick) 

Cunningham – Thimesch 3 run (kick failed)

Cunningham – Bock 15 fumble recovery (kick failed) 

Cunningham – Halderson 27 pass from Kinsler (Kerschen run) 

Cunningham – Thimesch 39 run (run failed) 

Cunningham – Kerschen 37 run (Bock pass from Kinsler) 

Cunningham – Thimesch 3 run (McGuire pass from Kinsler) 

Cunningham – Kerschen 37 run (pass failed)

Cunningham – Thimesch 56 run (run failed) 

TEAM STATISTICS 

WE … CU … 

Rushes-yards … 32-119 … 47-401
Passing yards… 24 … 44 …  
Passing (Comp-Att-Int) … 6-21-1 … 2-3-0 
Total plays-yards … 53-143 … 50-445

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

Rushing – Weskan: Wright 23-117, Smith 3-3, Cottrell 3-1, Goodwin 3-(minus) 2; Cunningham: Thimesch 19-223, Kerschen 26-186, Kinsler 2-(minus) 8. 

Passing – Weskan: Wright 4-10-1, 18 yards, Cottrell 2-11-0, 6 yards; Cunningham: Kinsler 2-3-0, 44 yards. 

Receiving – Weskan: Aldridge 3-19, Cottrell 1-8, Smith 2-(minus) 3, Cunningham: Halderson 1-27, Kerschen 1-17.