1970-1974              Return to Football Year-by-Year                  HOME                    Updated 9/10/2005

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1970          KSHSAA Champions: Shawnee Mission North (5A) Dodge City (4A) Wichita Kapaun (3A) LaCygne-Prairie View (2A) Little River (1A)

                      The highlight of this season was the win over Leavenworth that gave Hayden it's first undisputed Centennial League football championship. Hayden had been picked to win the league in 1969 and a TDC Coach's pre-season poll had also predicted a championship for the team in 1970. Bill Gordon rushed for 143 yards and 1 TD to lead the Wildcats who scored all their points in the first half. The defense led by Doug Otto, Tom Redman and Pat Weissbeck stopped 3 Pioneer drives inside the 30 yard line in the 2nd half to hang on for the win. 

                       The week before the Washburn Rural game Hayden was reclassified 3A and Washburn Rural was raised to 4A. On the field Hayden dominated the Jr Blues on the defensive side. Ed Clark threw for 2 TDs and rushed for 2 others. Hayden and Seaman traded possessions without a score until a 4th quarter fumble gave Hayden the ball on Seaman's 10 yard line. The Viking defense stopped Hayden for three downs - but a rare field goal on 4th down by Leo Leiker turned out to be the game winner.  Hayden's hopes of finally defeating Topeka West in football were encouraged by the line's success in shutting down hard running Odell Weidner - but Rick Mudge broke loose with a long rushing TD and passed for another. 

                       The kicking game was the key to holding Highland Park in check long enough for the offense to score 2 TDs through the air. Rick Young maintained an excellent punting average - he punted 7 times against the Scotsmen and his long hang time kicks  prevented Highland Park from any significant returns.  Hayden could have won the Topeka High game except for several key fumbles. Ray Gerstenkorn, Shane Coughlin and Gordon rushed for 164 yds against the Trojans. 

                       Winning at Atchison was never easy and Hayden barely squeaked by the Redmen. Ed Clark's 33 yd TD pass to Dick Michaelis in the first half was the only score in the game. Steve Artzer's tackle of Don Ross on a 4th and goal from the Hayden one yard line stopped Atchison's best chance at a score.  The loss to Miege in Kansas City eliminated Hayden from 3A post season play.  Other seniors not mentioned earlier in this summary were Dave Zerngast, John Williamson,  Tom Sandusky,  Peter McInerney,  Mike Ingenthron,  John Hubbell,  Kelly Hanrahan,  Dan Grace,  John Collard, Dennis Centlivre,  Richard Beier and Mike Adame.  

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 1971        KSHSAA Champions: Shawnee Mission North (5A) Ward-Kansas City (4A) St. Joseph-Shawnee (3A) Stockton (2A) Little River (1A)

                Coach Brungardt was beginning to grow weary of having his team picked as the Centennial League favorite - the coaches picked the Wildcats again in 1971. The team performed at a high level  - but the other teams in the league had also improved. Quarterback Roger Howard operated with a backfield that featured Bill Gordon as the top running back. There were many returning lineman - Hayden's blowout win over Washburn Rural was a result of outstanding line play on both sides of the ball.  Seaman, however, took advantage of several turnovers to shut out Hayden in the annual rivalry. 

                      A highlight in the season was the win over Topeka West. This was the first win over the Chargers in school history after several near misses.  Top defensive games were turned in by Leo Leiker, Mike Custenborder and Chris Van Sickle. Rick Young fielded a series of bad snaps as the team's punter to keep the Chargers at bay. This would become a kind of joke during the year as various players attempted to hike the ball to punter Young, who managed most of the time to round up the ball and maintain a  good punting average. 

                      The struggling offense seemed to get better against Highland Park. Gordon, Bob Weissbeck and Sherman Herold combined for 160 yards rushing with Gordon taking the ball over the line twice. Everyone broke out against Shawnee Heights. Reserve back Dan Walters had an especially good game rushing and receiving.  Maur Hill nearly pulled off an upset in the next game.  Roger Howard guided the team to a comeback TD in the last 4 minutes after Bill Gordon's kick-off return to the Hayden 39 yard line. Leo Leiker kicked the game winning PAT. Pat Weissbeck scored earlier in the 4th quarter on a key play by his brother Rick.  Rick blocked a punt and brother Pat picked off the loose ball and ran in for a TD. The Weissbeck brothers (Pat, Rick and Bob) were key players all year long for the Wildcats. 

                      The loss to Atchison ended Hayden's hopes for a share of the Centennial League championship.  Hayden had no answer for the speed of Atchison's backfield - especially Don Ross who scored 3 times. Atchison smothered Hayden's rushing attack - the team only came up with 31 yards total rushing. It appeared that Hayden was headed toward a middle of the pack finish - but the complicated play-off system  still kept Hayden in play when they met Miege.  The cold muddy field combined with a strong Hayden defense to keep Miege out of Hayden territory most of the night. A 2nd quarter tackle by Brad Schnellbacher dumped the Miege quarterback for a safety and the score that won the game. 

                      Reserve quarterback Mike Custenborder connected with Sherman Harold for a spectacular 84 yard TD pass that broke open the game against Leavenworth in the 3rd quarter.  The defensive line harassed Leavenworth's QB Krattli to limit the Pioneers high powered passing attack.  Coach Brungardt's prayers for a play-off spot were answered when Miege upset Ward giving Hayden more credit in the KSHSAA's  point system than Atchison, who ended up as the Centennial League champion.  That Miege win happened on the last play of the game. 

                      Hayden did not waste the first appearance by  a Hayden team in the state football play-offs. The Hayden players were loose and determined to make a good showing. Roger Howard displayed the new confidence by throwing a long 52 yard bomb to Bill Gordon on the 3rd play of the game.  Wamego was no match for Hayden in the line that was led by Rick Weissbeck (Rick accounted for a 2 point safety by tackling a Wamego running back in the end zone). Bill Gordon rushed for 121 yards while scoring 2 TD's. Hayden still owed a lot to this Wamego team. Their win over Atchison earlier in the year allowed Hayden into the 3A playoffs. 

                     Coach Brungardt marveled at the play of St. Joseph's quarterback Paul Bower. The undefeated Blue Streaks were a good team but Coach admitted that Bower could not be stopped.  "Everything he does is right", Coach said after the 21-7 loss. Hayden had some chances to stay in the game  -  the Blue Streaks held Hayden out of the end zone on 4 straight running plays inside the 10 yard line right before the 1st half ended.  Barney Byard did tie the game by recovering a fumble and running 48 yards for a TD early in the 2nd half. But, Bower took advantage of a slip by a Hayden defender that allowed a a 45 yard TD pass 2 series later in the 3rd quarter.  Coach Brungardt said that this was the turning point in the game. Players at the time wondered what might have been if the late 2nd quarter drive had resulted in a score. Regardless, St. Joseph-Shawnee was no fluke team. They finished the season undefeated by beating Wichita Kapaun for the 3A State Championship.  

                      Seniors not already mentioned above were Jim Seal, Dave Schmidtlein, Gary Sadowski, Larry Montague, Peter Jaramillo, Doug Ingenthron, Tim Huston, Rick Gardner, Mark Burghart and  Dan Bennett.        

Most wins since 1950

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1972        KSHSAA Champions: Shawnee Mission West (5A)  Miege- K.C. (4A) Wichita Kapaun (3A) Meade (2A) Burlingame (1A)

          Coach Brungardt announced in a pre-season newspaper that 1972 would be a rebuilding year  with few experienced linemen returning from the 8-3 1971 season.  Quarterback Mike Custenborder was in charge of the backfield that returned fast running back Sherman Herold and a steady rusher in Jim Duff.  The team was able to edge Washburn Rural in the opener with a field goal by Bob Weissbeck right before the end of the first half.  Custenborder got untracked in the rivalry game with Seaman passing for 67 yards and rushing for another 55.  Sherman Herold had his best game of the year - 107 yards rushing - and caused a Seaman fumble that was one of three that helped Hayden to a 2-0 Centennial League start. 

          Topeka West was favored to win - but Hayden played the Chargers close for one half.  Former Centennial League team Shawnee Heights ( they participated in the Big 7 in 1972) gained their first victory ever over Hayden in the next game. Tom Dinkel was a star for the T-Birds and rushed for over 100 yards.  Hayden was beginning to wear down and suffered a demoralizing loss against Highland Park.  Hayden outrushed the Scots 204 to 94 but a critical fumble set up a Highland Park TD in the 4th quarter that tied the score. Bob Weissbeck blocked a PAT but HPHS got another chance due to an offsides penalty and they converted on the second try. 

          Hayden was hammered by injuries at this point in the season - Sherman Herold was lost for the season - Mike Custenborder's shoulder injury virtually finished his season - Dirk Christie, a starting tackle, suffered a knee injury that hampered his play. This was a year that Coach Brungardt simply did not have the reserves to cover these losses. The result was a steady decline against teams that were already heavily favored to defeat the Wildcats.

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1973          KSHSAA Champion: Shawnee Mission South (5A) Ward-K.C. (4A) Osawatomie (3A) Moundridge (2A) Quinter (1A)

       This squad could make no improvement on 1972's record. Outside of an upset win over Washburn Rural  and a shutout victory over winless Maur Hill, there were few highlights in this season. Shawnee Heights and Highland Park both had star running backs that the defense could not stop - All-Staters  Mike Woodfin for the Scots and Tom Dinkel for the T-Birds.  Hayden was trounced so soundly that Coach Brungardt had no comment to reporters after the Olathe game. Leavenworth was the league champion and completely dominated in the season finale. Seniors on this team were Mike Boleski, Rene Valdivia, Terry Orozco, Bob Steinbock,  Mark Ubert, David Gomez, Tom Stafford, Joe Tetuan, Gene Meyer, Kurt Strathman, Jim Maus, Marc Ingenthrone and Steve Isley.

          Coach Brungardt knew at the beginning of the season that the only positive that would result from this year  was to give experience to the younger players and hope for better results in future seasons. He used a platoon system extensively and some of his better players often had to play out of their normal position. The coaching staff and players worked hard to compete and in many cases the game became drudgery when the losses kept coming despite the great effort expended.  Many Sophmores and Juniors were able to gain experience at the least and this helped assistant coach  Joe Leiber who inherited the job the following year after Leroy Brungardt resigned.  

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1974         KSHSAA Champion: Shawnee Mission North (5A) Manhattan (4A) Wichita Kapaun (3A) Sacred Heart-Salina (2A) Colgan-Pittsburg (1A)

      Joe Lieber gave the players a fresh attitude in pre-season drills.  Line player Larry Vossen and line backer Mike Weissbeck emerged as leaders of the players that had suffered through the past losing seasons and Coach Lieber vowed to make the offense more effective. The opening game against Topeka West did nothing to encourage Hayden fans about the offense in the 23-0 loss - but the defense did hold the Chargers to 125 yards total offense.  The next game against Seaman was the first overtime game played by a Hayden team. The loss did not reflect the statistical domination by the Hayden team.  Confusion over a PAT attempt in overtime allowed Seaman the edge when it was their turn on offense. 

       The Wildcats then went on a 7 game victory streak that few would have considered possible at the beginning of the season. The offense was lead by a trio of running backs - Joe Geist, Dan Chavez and Doug Boldt. The defense threw 4 shutouts against teams that had punished Hayden just one season ago.  A great example was the 27 yards of total offense that the defense allowed Atchison. The flawed play-off system kept Hayden out of the Class 3A playoffs. Even though the TCJ ranked Hayden the #5 team in 3A at the end of the year , Council Grove (unranked) moved on in the playoffs.  The play-off spots were determined mostly by season W-L records regardless of strength of schedule and without a district schedule that guaranteed a head-to-head meeting for contenders.