photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Eudora head football coach Drew Steffen gathers his team before the start of a preseason on August 16, 2023, at EHS Stadium. Steffen, who led the program to an 8-2 finish during his first year on the job in 2022, has his eyes set on a Class 4A state title.

There’s a pretty high bar set for the Eudora High football team this fall – something that hasn’t been the case for several years.

Head coach Drew Steffen, now entering his second year, led the Cardinals to a second consecutive winning season last fall (8-2) — the first time they strung two together since the 2014 and 2015 campaigns.

Steffen, promoted from assistant to head coach ahead of the 2022 season, elevated Eudora to new heights last fall. The Cardinals won all but one regular season game, a 28-27 overtime loss to Louisburg, before coming up short against eventual state champion Bishop Miege in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.

This season’s senior turnover, including the departure of current Kansas tight end Jaden Hamm, isn’t a problem for Steffen, though. The Eudora coach isn’t sure if he’s seen a senior class – expected to be between 10 and 12 members – more in love with football than the class of 2024.

“They just love to compete their tails off,” Steffen said. “I’ve had them for all four years and so I’m really excited to not only enjoy practice but, once we get to the game, competing and going through what is a high school season.”

Eudora returns five seniors to its triple-option flexbone offense, which pushed the Cardinals up to No. 2 in 4A last fall with 4,042 total yards of production. Four more seniors are slated to anchor the defense this season, too.

At the center of the Cardinals’ production are senior quarterback Kole Manley and junior running back Errol Siemon. Manley completed 38 passes for 739 yards and 14 touchdowns last fall, while Siemon took 107 carries for 795 yards and eight scores worth on the ground.

Manley, like several upperclassmen on Eudora’s roster, has been itching for a leadership role since first playing football when he was 4 years old. Entering his second year under Steffen’s command, Manley couldn’t be happier about where his hometown team is headed.

“(Steffen)’s a big guy on culture,” Manley said. “He’s kind always been about – you show up, you put the work in and you get excited about it… It makes people excited to be here. They want to go and hit somebody.”

photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Eudora senior quarterback Kole Manley hands the ball off to junior running back Errol Siemen during a preseason practice on Wednesday, July 16m, 2023, at EHS Stadium.

Two experienced offensive linemen, senior Thomas Cromer and junior Braeden VanDonge, will be on the front lines right away in Week 1. Senior wideout and free safety Adrion Seals, as well as senior slot targets Braylen Hoobler and Matt Magette, will also be found in Manley’s toolkit.

All three – Hoobler, Magette and Siemon – will double as starting linebackers this fall, too. Hoobler put together 99 tackles (19 solo) last season and four tackles for loss.

Eudora’s defense returns a key piece in starting tackle Owen Wilks, who finished last season with three sacks on his resume. Conducting traffic in the secondary, Seals (with four) and junior corner Christian Jarrett (three) combined for seven interceptions last fall.

More depth means more communication between upper- and underclassmen, Manley said.

“I’ve learned over the years (that) teammates take constructive criticism a lot better from the teammates than they do from the coaches,” Manley said. “If a coach tells me something I can tell somebody else, then they’ll take it a lot better for me and it makes it a lot easier to critique them.”

Both sides of the ball were put to the test this summer, as Eudora held scrimmages with Shawnee Mission South, Olathe East, St. James Academy and Olathe West – to name just a handful – in preparation for the upcoming season.

It’s all part of recreating the level of competition of last year’s second-round loss to Miege, Steffen said.

“We challenged ourselves to be better and to get over that hump,” Steffen said. “Our seniors use that as motivation, not only to make themselves better but as a team. I think we pushed ourselves in the weight room, we pushed ourselves by doing speed stuff and we pushed ourselves with who we competed against.”

Eudora opens its schedule at home vs. Baldwin on Sept. 1. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.