As the rough season encountered by the Kansas University football team’s defense reveals on a nearly weekly basis, counting the number of returning starters is an overrated forecasting method.
Kansas returned nine defensive starters from the 12-1 Orange Bowl champions. Barring an upset against Missouri today in Arrowhead Stadium, KU will finish 6-6, thanks in part to a pass defense that ranks 114th out of 119.
And then there is the Free State High defense, which lost eight starters from last season’s defense and plays Junction City today in Topeka for the Class 6A state title.
At times early in the season, the Firebirds’ defense performed like a team that had to replace eight starters. Yet, as the playoffs arrived and the opponents grew tougher, the defense kept pace.
In a regular-season loss to Olathe North, the Firebirds allowed 35 points. In a playoff victory, O-North managed just six points. A week later, in the 6A semifinals, Blue Valley scored seven.
“They’re a pretty intelligent group as far as knowing when and where we need to be,” Firebirds defensive coordinator Brett Oberzan said. “They’ve done a good job as far as flying to the football.”
Free State plays a 3-5-3 defense.
Up front, nose guard Jack Caywood is flanked by ends Michael Lisher and Matt Ruder splitting time on the left and Grahm Saunders at right end.
The five staring linebackers from left to right: Mitch Werts, Eric Franz, Joe Riordan, Taylor Stuart and Keene Niemack.
In the secondary, Cameron Schmidt is at left cornerback, Camren Torneden at right corner. Free safety Preston Randolph makes the calls.
Linebacker Haedyn Cole provides valuable contributions substituting into the game, as does cornerback Aundre Allen.
The outside linebackers are called dogs, the linebackers between the dogs and middle linebacker Riordan are bandits.
Oberzan touched on several keys to the defense coming together.
Finding a good fit for Caywood, whose pitbull mentality would have gone to waste on the bench, was solved when coaches looked past his listed measurables of 5-foot-8, 160 pounds and put him at nose guard.
The play of Ruder, a junior, when Lisher missed time with a knee injury, can’t be overlooked. Heady players such as Randolph, Schmidt and Werts, who all have that knack for always being in the right place and for minimizing mistakes, has been huge.
The way Riordan and Franz put a little extra mustard on their hits fires up the entire team.
Thanks to the speed of Niemack, Schmidt and Torneden, opposing quarterbacks can be fooled into thinking a play is there when one is not.
In-season improvements from Stuart, Riordan and Saunders played a part in the overall improvement of the defense.
“I’ve never seen Grahm play as well as he’s played in the last two games,” Oberzan said of Saunders. “O-North was the best game he’s played for us by far. It’s really clicking for him.”
It clicked for the whole team just in time to make some magic.
— Sports editor Tom Keegan can be reached at 832-7147.
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