The 2006 football season could one day be labeled as a breakthrough season for the Emporia High Spartans.
Led by a stellar group of never-say-die seniors, not only did the Spartans shake loose of the shackles of consecutive 1-8 seasons, but EHS won enough games — six to be exact — to finish in a tie for second place with Seaman in the Centennial League.
But as for 2006 being a breakthrough season, that will only be determined by Spartan teams in the years to come, because for as good as Emporia High was this season, the Spartans fell just short of reaching the hallowed ground of the State playoffs.
Emporia High head coach Bill Lowe sat down with The Gazette on Tuesday to discuss what this past season was like and to offer a glimpse into what lies ahead for the Spartan football program.
Q: Reflect on the season and how it went. It was obviously a pretty special season for you and your team.
A: Yeah, it was. We started off with a loss to Blue Valley West, and we knew it was going to be a tough game. But the kids played well, and I thought we had them kind of where we wanted them. They scored a couple times there in the fourth quarter and we turned the ball over once and gave them a short field. It was very disappointing because it was like, “Oh no, here we go all over again.”
It was very important for us to respond in that second game against Topeka High. You didn’t know if it was going to be the same kind of effort and attitude that we had last year, or if it was going to change. It certainly changed, and we found that out right off the bat. The kids really dominated Topeka High and played really well. I was excited about our performance there.
That was a big win because it had been a long time since we’d won a game. That was big. The attitude and the belief that we were going to be better was what got it turned around.
Then we played Washburn Rural here, and we hadn’t won a home game in a really long time, so that was another huge win. The big catch by Billy Malone in that game was just a senior making a play.
We talked to the seniors about making plays, and somebody had to be the guy that was going to step up and get this thing turned around. Just that effort that Billy made on that catch was indicative of all the seniors and the way that they wanted to get this thing turned around. That was another huge win for us; to beat Washburn Rural was huge.
That led to the five-game winning streak. That was nice, and the kids started believing. We got a big win at Shawnee Heights even though we faced a lot of adversity. We had a lot of penalties early, and we let them back into it late, and that was a big win for us on the road.
Finishing up with Junction City and beating them to go 6-3 was another big win.
The attitude of the kids, it was such a fun year. I think the kids had fun, and I know we did as coaches. We really enjoyed coaching them and they were just a great group. They got along great, and their attitude at practice was so good. They wanted to work so hard, and hopefully the younger kids caught that enthusiasm and that attitude about work ethic. Hopefully we can build from there.
Q: You spoke all year about that attitude of winning and practicing with an attitude to win. What brought that about? Was there any point where you said, “This team has that attitude?”
A: You’ve got to start with a foundation. It’s got to start somewhere. That win at Topeka High was big because it got the kids believing that we could win.
I think in that Washburn Rural game, that could have gone either way, and we made a few really big plays in that game. It was just like, “OK, we finally got over the hump. We won a home game.”
I think, maybe even before that, just seeing them at practice after the Blue Valley West game, it was just a different attitude of “Hey, we’re not going to take it anymore and we’re going to be better and we’re going to win. We’re not going to accept that losing.”
I think that week was probably the biggest week of practice with the way they came back after the loss because we handled our losses a lot differently than we did last year. It was just a completely different attitude and effort after that first loss.
Q: Talk about a couple of your players. You already talked a little about Billy Malone. There were not too many passes thrown his way, but when they were, he came up with some big catches. What did he mean to this team?
A: He had some really big catches — a big touchdown catch against Wichita Heights and some big catches against Shawnee Heights. He had some big touchdown catches all year long.
Dillon Cox and Robert Keisler were our two leaders on defense, without a doubt. They played lights-out all the time. They have that attitude that you’re always looking for. They just played to the next level and played every play as hard as they could go. Those two guys were probably the epitome of our team in that they brought everybody along with them.
They were going to find a way to get it done, and their attitude at practice was so good.
Q: You kind of touched on it, but there were a lot of firsts this year: the winning streak, the Homecoming win, the first home win in a few years. This team accomplished a lot over the course of the season. Is that something the kids can hang their hats on?
A: I think it’s great for our seniors to go out like they did by beating Junction City in that last game to finish 6-3, because now they can reflect on all those good things and they’ll mean that much more — all those firsts that they got and the big wins and the Homecoming win and that last game.
Just knowing that they tied for second in the conference — Seaman only had one loss — that’s big for those guys.
Then, for our younger kids, they now know they’ve got something to build on and live up to. You’ve got to be better than the team before you. Now, the younger kids know how hard they have to work and that they’re going to have to strive to have that confidence.
I think this last year will help them to know that when we step on the field, we know we can play with people instead of how it was this year when we had to prove we could play with people. We weren’t really sure if we could, but now, our young kids should know that every time we step on the field, we can compete with anybody.
Q: Is that the legacy of this senior class? They didn’t get to the postseason, but they might have got it started.
A: We talked about them hopefully being the foundation. We’ll see how we do. It will kind of depend on the next few teams.
But if it happens for us, this will be the class that’s remembered as the foundation.
I told the seniors after that last game that I was going to get them a big plaque to go in the weight room with all their names on it that will say, “Starting A New Era.” And they’ll always be known as the class that got it started, hopefully, if the other guys can live up to those expectations.”
Q: Let’s go to next year. What do you see as your strengths coming back for next year?
A: Our skill positions are back, and that a big thing. We’re going to be looking for linemen — offensive and defense linemen.
We have some linemen, but they’re going to have to get in the weight room and improve themselves.
That’s probably our biggest thing as far as weaknesses, because we have to find some guys in there on the lines. We have some kids, but it’s going to depend on how hard they work.
Q: You’ve got Edd Noonan and Taylor Euler coming back, along with Mark Kolmer. Is that nice to have your entire backfield back?
A: That’s nice to know they’re coming back. It’s nice to know that all three of those guys will be back, and then even guys like Craig Turner and all the guys we used back there are back.
That’s a good feeling, and if we can put some linemen in front of them, those guys will be good.
Q: On the defensive side of the ball, is leadership the thing you will miss the most to start next season?
A: That’s probably a really good point — a really good observation. That’s what we’ll miss without Robert and Dillon as our two biggest leaders on defense.
We had a lot of seniors over there on defense, and whoever takes charge over there is going to have to display some great leadership and hopefully develop a chemistry with the guys we’ve got coming back.
Ryan Bass will be a senior linebacker. Troy Pierce is back. Our secondary, with Brandon Childs and Seth Torres, will be pretty good. Corey Bacon will be back, and he was just a sophomore.
We feel like we have some strength over there, it’s just going to be a matter of chemistry and playing together and finding a leader to step up.
Q: What is the next step for you guys as a team and program?
A: It’s definitely got to be the playoffs. You’ve got to get to the playoffs as the next step — that and winning the conference.
The biggest thing is to just take it one game at a time. We can’t look at big, long-range goals. We’ve got to win our first game, which will be a tough one at Blue Valley West.
We just have to take it one game at a time and keep trying to improve.
The biggest thing for us between now and next year is the weight room. We have to get more physical and stronger. We’ll see. You’ve got to want to get in there, and we’ll see how many kids will pay the price to get better.
Q: How fun was this season?
A: It was really rewarding for me because it was so different from last year. Last year was probably one of the hardest years I’ve ever had in coaching, just because so many outside things happened.
It was just a tough situation, but this year, we’ve been able to have fun again, and to see the improvement and see the kids having fun and believe in themselves was really rewarding for me.