Season Opener
The Dodge City High School football program will begin its’ fall campaign this Friday night, September 3, as the “Red Demons” play host to the Wichita Southeast “Buffaloes”. This will be the fifth time in Red Demon history in which Southeast will be Dodge City’s season opening opponent. The Red Demons won last year’s season opener defeating the Buffaloes, 30-14.

Game Night Details

• Location: Memorial Stadium
• Game Time:  7:00
• Admission: $5 Adults, $3 Students (Staff passes will be accepted)

Series History
The Red Demons have faced the Golden Buffaloes eleven times in the storied history of both programs. The Red Demons first played the Buffaloes in 1963 with the Buffs winning the inaugural contest by a score of 28-13. Five of the nine contests have come in the KSHSAA Playoffs with Dodge City winning four of the five playoff games. The overall series record has Dodge City with a (7-4) advantage. The six-game winning streak in the series by the Demons was halted by Southeast the last time the teams playing in Dodge City in 2008.

Dodge City is coming off a second consecutive trip to the 6A State Playoffs, losing to Derby in the Sectionals round. This is the first of three consecutive contests for the Red Demons versus Wichita City League opponents.  Next Friday night, Dodge City travels to play Wichita Northwest “Grizzlies”.  The Red Demons finish their City League run hosting Wichita North on September 17, which will be the annual Homecoming Contest.

Dodge City
Mascot:  Red Demons
Classification: 6A
Conference: Western Athletic Conference
2009 Record: 8-3
Website:  www.dchssports.org

Southeast
Mascot: Golden Buffaloes
Classification: 6A
Conference: Wichita City League
2009 Record: 4-5
Website: www.southeast.usd259.org

Week #2 – Dodge City @ Wichita Northwest

The Memorial Stadium parking lot was full and the stands were packed while the Dodge City High School football team put on its annual Watermelon Scrimmage on Friday.

The Dodge City players suited up under the lights and participated in the intrasquad scrimmage for about an hour.

“The biggest thing is we got a lot of game-speed reps,” DCHS head coach Dave Foster said. “Hopefully on film we see a lot of improvement over what we had a week ago. That was our biggest thing. It is about the journey and getting better each and every week.”

The highlight of the night was Trey Hallman’s 45-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Jared Helfrich.

Helfrich found Hallman 5-yards downfield in the center of the gridiron and Hallman did the rest, breaking tackles and dodging defenders on his way to the end zone.

Tailback Bruce Campbell helped set up the pass with a 30-yard run a few plays earlier.

Hallman was the second receiver to score that night.

Rico Hogan, who had four touchdowns in a scrimmage a week ago, caught 5-yard pass for the first touchdown earlier in the scrimmage.

That was Hogan’s first catch of the drive as Helfrich was connecting with Josh Ginther and Hallman early on.

After the two touchdowns, the defense stepped up and kept the offense out of the end zone for the remainder of the game.

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Through the years, the Shrine Bowl, which features 68 of the top high school football players in the state, has showcased many of Kansas’ all-time greats, including several who have gone on to enjoy great success at the collegiate and professional levels. Listed below is one man’s list of the top 25 players in the first 25 years of the Shrine Bowl. The list is based not only on what players did in the Shrine Bowl, but also takes into consideration what they did after moving on to the collegiate, and in some cases, the pro level. The Top 25 are listed in alphabetical order:

BROOKS BARTA, Smith Center (1988) – Barta, now the head coach at Holton, became an all-conference linebacker at Kansas State.

MIKE BELL, Wichita Carroll (1975) – Bell starred at Colorado State and was a standout defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs for many seasons.

LAMAR CHAPMAN, Liberal (1995) – Chapman led Liberal to a state championship as a quarterback/defensive back and has gone on to establish himself as one of the nation’s premier defensive backs at Kansas State.

TONY CHERICO, S. M. Northwest (1983) – Cherico went on to star at Arkansas as an offensive lineman.

PAUL COFFMAN, Chase (1974) – Coffman starred at tiny Chase before going on to a standout career at K-State and a long career in the NFL with Green Bay and the Chiefs.

MICHAEL COSEY, Lawrence (1992) – One of the top running backs in state history, Cosey was a part of three class 6A championship teams at Lawrence. He went on to be a standout at Fort Scott Community College and Southwest Missouri State.

KEITH DeLONG, Lawrence (1985) – After graduating from Lawrence, DeLong went on to become an All-American at Tennessee and was a first round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers.

TOM DINKEL, Shawnee Heights (1974) – Dinkel was a standout linebacker at Kansas and went on to play in the Super Bowl for the Cincinnati Bengals.

ROY FOSTER, S. M. West (1978) – Agile enough to play fullback at S.M. West, Foster went on to star at USC and was an all-Pro guard for the Miami Dolphins.

MATT GEE, Arkansas City (1988) – After leaving Ark City, Gee, also a state champion in track, went on to a productive career as a linebacker at USC.

CURTIS HUGHES, KC-Wyandotte (1983) – The trio of Hughes, Less Miller and Grady Newton combined for one of the Shrine Bowl’s all-time great defensive games in ’83. Hughes went on to play for a time at K-State and later became a professional wrestler.

GREG KOLENDA, KC-Ward (1976) – The star lineman went on to become an All-American offensive lineman at Arkansas.

KYLE McNORTON, Seaman (1978) – McNorton went on to be a standout linebacker at KU and played briefly for the Chiefs.

LES MILLER – Arkansas City (1983) – Miller had an outstanding Shrine game in ’83 and played collegially at K-State and Fort Hays State before embarking on a still-active NFL career as a defensive lineman.

JIM MOORE, Garden City (1992) – A two-time All-State pick at Garden City, Moore was a multi-year starter at tight end for KU. Moore has had NFL looks with the Tennessee Oilers and Chiefs.

GRADY NEWTON, Bonner Springs (1983) – After starring in the ’83 game, Newton went on to a productive career at K-State.

PAUL OSWALD, Hayden (1982) – Oswald went on to become a solid offensive lineman at KU and had a short career with the Pittsburg Steelers.

MIKE RINGGENBERG, Manhattan (1988) – After starring at Manhattan, Ringgenberg was a solid performer at linebacker for Missouri.

BARRY SANDERS, Wichita North (1986) – Without a doubt the top performer in the history of the Shrine game. Sanders set a single-game Shrine Bowl rushing record, won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma State and is now on his way to the NFL Hall of Fame as a running back for Detroit Lions.

BRIAN SHAY, Paola (1995) – Since leading Paola to a Class 4A championship, Shay has gone on to become a record-setting All-American running back at Emporia State.

MARK SIMONEAU, Smith Center (1995) – After starring at Smith Center as both a running back and linebacker, Simoneau has become one of the Big 12’s premier linebackers at K-State.

JEFF SMITH, Wichita Southeast (1980) – Smith became a star I-back at Nebraska and had a short NFL career.

GARY SPANI, Manhattan (1974) – Spani was a standout linebacker at K-State and then played nine seasons, eight as a starter, for the Chiefs.

KENDALL TRAINOR, Fredonia (1985) – The Fredonia star went on to become an All-American kicker at Arkansas.

NYLE WIREN, Wichita Northwest (1992) – Wiren was a virtual unknown when he played in the Shrine Bowl, but had a good game and went on to become an all-conference defensive lineman at K-State.

Dodge City (7-2) took care of business Friday night, holding off a second-half push by bitter rival Garden City for a hard-fought 14-6 road victory.

It is the second straight win for Dodge over its longtime Western Athletic Conference counterpart after losing 13 straight to the Buffaloes.

Dodge City, the Class 6A District 8 champions, used some big defensive plays to stem Garden’s second-half comeback bid. The Demons will host a first-round state playoff game next Friday night at Memorial Stadium against either Derby or Topeka High.

Garden City ends its season at 4-5, losing all three of its district games.

“Our defense did a whale of a job,” Dodge City coach Justin Burke said. “I was real pleased with the defense and how they played.”

Clinging to a 14-6 lead, the Red Demons snuffed out Garden’s final chance on defensive back Zach Harvey’s interception of quarterback Cody Bernbeck’s pass with 2:51 remaining near midfield.

The Demons then were able to run out the clock, with standout tailback Jace Banner gaining two yards on his final run to push his total to 195 yards on 30 carries on the night.

Banner then had to be helped off the field by his teammates as the final minutes melted off the clock.

No worries, according to Burke.

“He was just cramping up,” Burke said.

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Give the football to Banner, and it’s gravy.

Banner, a senior tailback, had another huge game Friday night, leading the Red Demons to a 35-14 victory over Maize in Class 6A District 8 action.

“Our main goal is to win football games,” said Banner, whose rushing total grew to 1,119 yards on the season. “But the line and myself before every game, we have a goal of getting 200 yards and if we get that, then we met our goal.”

Banner and Co. barely missed their rushing goal, yet they were dominating nonetheless.

“That’s the main thing, getting physical and playing smash-mouth football. That’s what it’s about, getting in there and making yourself known.”

With the convincing victory, the Demons (6-2 overall) have assured themselves a state playoff berth. Dodge City, the only team still undefeated in its four-team district at 2-0, now has the maximum +26 in the points system.

Maize, 2-6, including 1-1 in district play, sits at minus-9 in the points system. Goddard, which beat Garden City 21-14 Friday night, moves to 1-1 in the district and sits at minus-6 in the points system. Garden (0-2) now sits at minus-11.

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In a first-round Class 6A district football game, the Red Demons hammered out a 31-7 victory at the Goddard District Sports Complex.

Senior tailback Jace Banner was the catalyst, accumulating a career-high 202 yards in 30 carries and scoring three touchdowns to lead the Red Demons’ offensive assault.

“I had a great push from the offensive line, it was the best of the year,” said Banner, who now has 938 rushing yards on the season. “They did their job up front, which allowed me to get to the linebackers and the secondary and make my cuts.”

When push came to shove, the Demons hit the Lions in the mouth and never let up. So much for Goddard’s blitz package, which never was a factor.

Instead, Dodge ran the ball down the Lions’ throat, with Banner assuming the starring role.

“I thought (Banner) did a good job of following some blocks,” Dodge City coach Justin Burke said. “I thought the line did a pretty good job in the run game.

“In the passing game, we struggled early and then we were able to adjust. Jace did what he was supposed to do. He ran hard and was able to do some things that only he can do.”

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Hays quarterback Bryant Bombardier threw a pair of touchdown bombs in the first half and then added a short scoring toss early in the fourth quarter, propelling the unbeaten Indians to a 28-17 victory over Dodge City before a disappointed Homecoming crowd.

While Dodge City (4-2, 1-2) saw its WAC championship hopes dissolve in suffering its second straight WAC loss, Hays (6-0) is in the driver’s seat in conference standings at 3-0.

“We’re not playing together,” deadpanned Dodge City coach Justin Burke. “We got caught against Great Bend (in a 28-27 road loss last Friday) and we didn’t fix some things. I thought we had those things fixed, but we didn’t.

“Guys weren’t communicating, and we just didn’t get it done. We’ve got too much attitude now. We read the paper too much when things were going right. Now we have to dig down through adversity and it’s hard.”

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