Opinion: A lot to live up to
Michael Ashford
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Something pretty special is happening in our area on the football fields.
This year, there are two schools with legitimate shots at winning State titles, and neither is showing signs of slowing down.
Both Olpe (9-0) and Madison (10-0) have been steamrolling over opponents this season. In Olpe’s case, one team — Maranatha Academy — even decided it didn’t want anything to do with the Eagles, so it called off its game against the Eagles. As for Madison, it has barely seen the second half of most of its games, because 8-Man football has a mercy rule, and the Bulldogs have shown little mercy toward the opposition.
Including Tuesday’s playoff victories for Olpe over Chase County, 61-6, and Madison over Marais des Cygnes Valley, 52-6, both teams still have not been significantly challenged all season.
Having football teams as good as the Olpe Eagles and the Madison Bulldogs is not something that is uncommon in this area. Not only have Madison and Olpe been high-quality football programs for many years now, but it was just a few seasons ago that another team in the area was on its way to a State title in a similar fashion to what Olpe and Madison are doing this year.
In 2006, the Waverly Bulldogs assembled one of the most dominating football teams I’ve ever witnessed. Simply put, Waverly was unstoppable that season with athletes like Jesse Britton, Dentin Chapman, Casey Church, Matt Coursen, Dakota Foster, Matt Hevel, Joe Kaufman and Heath Redding — just to name a few of the incredibly talented players the Bulldogs fielded that season.
On its way to a second straight 8-Man State title, Waverly went undefeated (13-0) and was rarely challenged, including the State title game when the Bulldogs handily defeated Jetmore, 58-20, in a display that left me in awe. I mean, Waverly won its games by an average score of 53-18 that year. That’s unreal.
That 2006 Waverly team is the standard by which dominant football teams in this area will be measured. It will be interesting to find out if Olpe and Madison can sustain the kind of success both teams tasted during the regular season and match what Waverly did just three years ago.
Both Olpe and Madison’s opening-round playoff games offered little resistance, but rest assured, the road will get much tougher from here on out. The other teams in the playoffs have winning a State title at the top of their lists, too, and be certain that no team will look at Olpe and Madison’s lofty scores this season and be deterred.
Let’s be clear, though, regardless of whether or not Olpe and Madison come away with State championship trophies this season, both squads have had outstanding seasons and should be proud of their accomplishments.
But should Olpe and Madison finish out their respective seasons with that coveted hardware, I’d be ready to put them in the same class as that 2006 Waverly squad.
Talk about being spoiled with great football.
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