photo by: Conner Becker

Free State senior Wesley Edison gets instruction during a summer practice on Thursday, June 15, 2023, at Free State High School.

Senior Spotlight is a summer series highlighting incoming area high school senior athletes.

Wesley Edison is a familiar face on the Free State football team. The incoming senior notched his varsity letter quarterbacking as a sophomore with a team full of big names — Jet Dineen (Kansas State), Dash Cleveland (Baker), and Jordan Brown (Saint Mary) — two years ago.

Things have changed since then. Gone are the faces surrounding Edison’s rise to the starting job. Even star offensive lineman Calvin Clements, now at Kansas, is nowhere to be found as summer practices resume.

Returning running back Grant Lincoln and offensive lineman Hank Fuchs are two seniors Edison is looking at to help elevate the program after Free State endured a learning curve during last year’s (5-3 Sunflower League) campaign.

“It comes with a lot of help,” Edison said. “More people than you’d think. Last year, I had a really skilled running back (Tay Ware) so it was a lot better being back there than say if it was just me. I think I had a lot of help on the leadership part.”

Recovering from a discouraging start, Free State closed its 2022 regular season with four consecutive wins, including a 31-19 victory at then-top-ranked Olathe North and a 28-26 thriller at Lawrence High in the City Showdown.

Last season, ending with a 34-0 loss at Wichita East in the first round of the substate playoff, seemingly brought Edison and Free State coach Kevin Stewart closer together.

“Me and (Stewart) have been talking since we lost in November,” Edison said. “We’re running a new offense this year, it’s more of a passing offense. Stewart just has to trust me a lot, and we have a lot of pieces, but it just depends on how we build as a team for our success.”

Edison, who provided over 1,800 yards in combined offense last year, will be directly competing with junior Boston Baker for the starting job this spring.

Needless to say, nothing’s a sure thing for either candidate. But for Edison, the work gets a little sweeter with a familiar face on the sidelines. His personal position trainer, Mason Beach, is now one of the newest members of Stewart’s staff, serving as the team’s receivers coach.

Beach previously served as the QBs coach at Lansing and Pleasant Ridge, as well as a student assistant at Saint Mary in Leavenworth.

“I told (Stewart), ‘You gotta hire this guy,'” Edison said. “He’s a really good dude and coach.”

Additionally, Edison is working closely with returning quarterbacks coach Asheiki Preston. Edison and Preston have worked together since the senior QB was still in junior high. Preston’s son, Bralin, will be a returning starter in the receivers’ room.

Those connections will be huge for Edison in the final chapter of his high school career. Edison has spoken with several schools, including KU, Northern Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota State.

A shiny senior season would undoubtedly improve Edison’s recruitment, but the senior QB isn’t focusing on where he’ll land in the future just yet. Right now, the Firebird’s big concern is just on winning one football game after another at Free State.