photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

The Eudora football defensive and offensive lines line up during a Thursday practice at Eudora High School on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Eudora.

When it comes to Eudora football’s eight-game win streak, the success starts with the big guys up front.

Eudora football has dominated its schedule, winning every 4A game they’ve played in along with a Frontier League championship. With a 7-1 regular season, the Cardinals earned the No. 1 seed in the 4A East in the playoffs. Where it all begins for the Cardinals is in the trenches.

“We know it starts and ends up front with us, on both sides of the ball,” Eudora coach Drew Steffen said. “As long as we’re rolling on the defensive or offensive line, we’re going to have an opportunity to be successful.”

Eudora sports an experienced offensive and defensive line that stepped up as leaders of the team. After a 2024 season in which Cardinals players felt they left too much on the table, the returning seniors decided they needed to step up as vocal leaders, rather than only lead by example.

“We knew we had a good, strong senior class coming in, and that just led us to our conversations about how we could grow from last year,” senior center and defensive lineman Cage Crabill said.

It started over the summer in the weight room. The team hit it hard, and the results have shown up in how the team’s lineman can play both sides of the ball while still being the physical team to win. The season began for Eudora with how they prepared during the summer months.

That energy followed into the season, especially in practices. The team challenges each other in reps daily in practice, and it’s built the team up in its preparations for Friday nights.

“It’s all attributed to our physicality and energy we bring not only to games but to practice,” Crabill said. “At practice, we’re such an energetic and physical group, not a lot of teams can hang with us.”

Eudora returned its entire starting offensive line, and that experience has helped the trenches succeed to the level they have. They understand how to play alongside each other, how to help one another and how to hold everyone accountable.

“I know our running backs want to get to the sidelines, so on a play where me and Ethan (Winton) pull, we’re going to see if we can get them to the outside,” senior guard and defensive tackle Leland Bradshaw said.

Steffen said the offensive experience allows the team to do a lot of different things in the run game. The Cardinals run a variety of option plays, zone schemes and gap schemes, and have found success in everything they’ve done. When one running back is tired, the Cardinals have the depth to sub in another and still get yards.

Teams know that Eudora wants to run the ball, but that hasn’t stopped the Cardinals from winning in the run game. When facing teams that stack the box with eight or nine players, the Cardinals are still calling runs and getting 300 yard rushing games.

“It’s so good to know the coaches and the backs trust us enough that that’s our identity — we’re going to run it down your throat play after play,” Crabill said. “That just shows what we are as a team.”

Defensively, the Cardinals have been just as strong. The team has allowed an average of 11 points per game in the eight-game win streak, and the Cardinals have shut down opposing teams’ run games.

“The D-line is incredibly physical and energetic,” Crabill said. “We fly around. If there’s a pile, we’re jumping on it. We’re not finished until the guy gets down. We play with intensity.”

Against Paola, who the Cardinals will face again in Friday’s playoff game, the Cardinals allowed 3.2 yards per carry and had 14 tackles for loss and six sacks. That level of disruption from the defensive line has been consistent all year long.

Steffen calls the plays on defense, but this season he brought in a couple new coaches on the defensive side who have helped lead the defense to success.

Carlos Kelly is the team’s defensive coordinator, and as a coach with defensive coordinating and head coaching experience, he allows Steffen to be able to focus more on specific positional groups during practices. Clayton Neas is another new member of the staff, and his focus is on the defensive ends. His coaching has helped the Cardinals get after teams and rack up negative plays.

The coaches put the team in the right spot, but the guys up front are the ones who get it done on Friday nights.

“Credit to our coaches, but obviously our kids have to go out and do it,” Steffen said. “They trust those guys — they play hard for those guys. It’s been fun to watch.”

Fun, along with intensity and energy, is one of the best words to describe this Eudora team and its linemen. With the experience playing together, the group has a special bond. They love each other, and they play hard for each other.

“It’s been fun to be a part of a brotherhood,” Winton said. “We all want what’s best for each other, and that shows on the field. (This season) has been a blast.”

What is left for the Cardinals is one guaranteed game, with the chance to build a legacy for the city that’ll be remembered for a long time. Having the city and school back them up each week has helped the team succeed, and knowing that the Cardinals will be at home until the state championship game gives the team confidence and excitement for whatever lies ahead.

“We’ve done our best to leave a legacy on our school and Eudora,” senior guard and Bradshaw said. “It’s about what we can do to be remembered for our senior year.”

The seniors are working to stamp their legacy with a playoff run to remember and a 4A state championship, something that the Cardinals have only done twice, in 2011 and 2012. To get there, the Cardinals have four more games to win, and it’ll only get tougher the further they go.

But the Cardinals have what it takes to win, and they’ve shown they can do it over and over. As has been the case all season, what Eudora accomplishes will start and end with the big guys up front.