Little Seven (aka Little 6, Little 5) & Jayhawk (II) Football League: 1936-1982 Return to AREA FB HOME
This organization started football competition in the fall of 1936. The first LITTLE FIVE was comprised of DE SOTO, EUDORA, GARDNER, SPRING HILL & WELLSVILLE. As mentioned in the discussion of the KVL, EUDORA & DE SOTO belonged to this new league as well as the KVL in 1936. DE SOTO dropped football in 1937 and joined the TRI-COUNTY League that same year. Independent school BALDWIN was admitted to replace DE SOTO - EUDORA also competed in the last year of the original KVL in 1937.
TONGANOXIE was allowed into the league in 1938 - they were a former member of the KVL. LOUISBURG joined in 1941 after playing a limited league schedule in 1940 (games that year were not included as league games). Tonganoxie pulled out after 1941 and played as an Independent.
WW II disrupted most high school league football play. SPRING HILL dropped football from 1943-1945. LOUISBURG dropped out for the year of 1943. The remaining four teams played each other twice in 1943 in order to fill out the league schedule. The Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD-OLATHE) played just one season in the circuit (1944) . LOUISBURG played again in 1944-46 before exiting the group. SPRING HILL & DE SOTO resumed football play in 1946.
Membership stayed the same until 1954 when LOUISBURG returned to the league. This group stayed together as the LITTLE SEVEN League until 1967 when all members plus STANLEY began play as the same league but with a different name - JAYHAWK. This version should not be confused with the original JAYHAWK that existed from 1930-1961. In 1969 GARDNER and DE SOTO joined the new PIONEER League. The league brought in BASEHOR (previously TRI-COUNTY) and SANTA FE TRAIL-CARBONDALE (previously INDEPENDENT) in 1970. That same year STANLEY merged with STILWELL and played under the new name BLUE VALLEY. PIPER-K.C. was admitted in 1976 - BLUE VALLEY joined the EKL in 1979. SANTA FE TRAIL joined the MID-EAST League in 1981.
Many leagues were shook up after the 1982-1983 school year. The decision had already been made in early 1982 to disband the JAYHAWK. EUDORA, BASEHOR and PIPER-K.C. joined the new KAW VALLEY League. BALDWIN, WELLSVILLE, LOUISBURG and SPRING HILL joined the new FRONTIER League.
This league provided one KSHSAA State Champion listed below.
| 1981 | Baldwin | JAYHAWK II | (13-0) | Merle Venable |
TDC Football Poll: Mythical State Champion: CLASS 2A (later known as 3A)
| 1968 | Baldwin | JAYHAWK II | (9-0-0) | Merle Venable | |||
Year Team League All Coach
| 1936 | Wellsville | (4-0-0) | (5-0-0) | Jim Miller |
| 1937 | Wellsville | (3-0-0) | (4-2-2) | Jim Miller |
| 1938 | Eudora | (5-0-0) | (6-1-1) | Herbert Knipp |
| 1939 | Baldwin | (5-0-0) | (9-0-0) | Joe Wallace |
| 1940 | Baldwin | (4-0-1) | (8-0-1) | Charles Bonebrake |
| 1941 | Baldwin | (6-0-0) | (9-0-0) | Charles Bonebrake |
| 1942 | Wellsville | (5-0-0) | (8-0-0) | Carl Bierman |
| 1943 | Eudora | (5-1-0) | (5-1-0) | George Figgs |
| 1944 | KSD-Olathe | (5-0-0) | (8-0-0) | Charles Bilger |
| 1945 | Baldwin | (4-0-0) | (9-0-0) | Charles Bonebrake |
| 1946 | Wellsville | (6-0-0) | (9-0-0) | Carl Lewis |
| 1947 | Wellsville | (5-0-0) | (8-1-0) | Carl Lewis |
| 1948 | Eudora | (5-0-0) | (9-0-0) | J.E. Raker |
| 1949 | Baldwin | (4-1-0) | (6-2-0) | Clarence Broadfoot |
| 1950 | Baldwin | (4-0-1) | (7-1-1) | Clarence Broadfoot |
| Wellsville | (4-0-1) | (7-0-2) | Bob Moore | |
| 1951 | Baldwin | (5-0-0) | (8-1-0) | Clarence Broadfoot |
| 1952 | Wellsville | (5-0-0) | (8-1-0) | Ray Waddell |
| 1953 | Baldwin | (5-0-0) | (9-0-0) | Clarence Broadfoot |
| 1954 | Gardner | (5-0-1) | (7-0-1) | Dale Jones |
| 1955 | Spring Hill | (5-0-1) | (8-0-1) | Merle Gibson |
| 1956 | Spring Hill | (5-0-1) | (7-0-1) | Merle Gibson |
| Baldwin | (5-0-1) | (7-1-1) | Clarence Broadfoot | |
| 1957 | Spring Hill | (6-0-0) | (8-0-0) | Merle Gibson |
| 1958 | Louisburg | (6-0-0) | (9-0-0) | Norton Hartsook |
| 1959 | Louisburg | (5-1-0) | (7-2-0) | Norton Hartsook |
| 1960 | Eudora | (7-0-1) | Perry Miller | |
| 1961 | Louisburg | (5-0-1) | (7-1-1) | Norton Hartsook |
| 1962 | DeSoto | (6-0-0) | (8-0-0) | Roy Braley |
| 1963 | Baldwin | (5-1-0) | (5-2-1) | Dick Hedges |
| Gardner | (5-1-0) | (6-2-0) | Lowell Hoch | |
| 1964 | Baldwin | (6-0-0) | (8-0-0) | Dick Hedges |
| 1965 | Baldwin | (5-0-1) | (7-0-1) | Norman Cobb |
| 1966 | Spring Hill | (5-1-0) | (7-1-0) | Dennis Versch |
| Gardner | (5-1-0) | (5-3-0) | Dennis Delay |
League name was changed to Jayhawk League in 1967
| 1967 | Gardner | (6-0-1) | (7-1-1) | Dennis Delay |
| 1968 | Baldwin | (7-0-0) | (9-0-0) | Merle Venable |
| 1969 | Baldwin | (4-0-1) | (8-0-1) | Merle Venable |
| 1970 | Baldwin | (6-1-0) | (8-1-0) | Merle Venable |
| 1971 | Baldwin | (7-0) | (10-2) | Merle Venable |
| 1972 | Eudora | (6-1) | (8-2) | Don Laws |
| 1973 | Wellsville | (7-0) | (10-1) | Rick Clark |
| 1974 | Wellsville | (7-0) | (11-1) | Rick Clark |
| 1975 | Wellsville | (7-0) | (8-1) | Bob Moore |
| 1976 | Louisburg | (6-1) | (7-2) | Dee Graham |
| 1977 | Baldwin | (8-0) | (11-1) | Merle Venable |
| 1978 | Baldwin | (8-0) | (12-1) | Merle Venable |
| 1979 | Baldwin | (7-0) | (10-2) | Merle Venable |
| 1980 | Baldwin | (7-0) | (8-2) | Merle Venable |
| 1981 | Baldwin | (6-0) | (13-0) | Merle Venable |
| 1982 | Baldwin | (5-1) | (7-2) | Merle Venable |
| Wellsville | (5-1) | (11-2) | Bart Kjolhede |