By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
After reaching new heights last season with an appearance in the 3A state quarterfinals, the Rock Creek Mustangs will look to reload and run it back, with 19 starters returning for the 2022 campaign.
Head Coach Shane Sieben returns for his fourth season at the helm in Rock Creek, continuing to right the ship of a program that prior to his arrival had not enjoyed a winning season since 2012.
The Mustangs have made steady improvement through Sieben’s first three seasons, culminating in a 7-4 2021 campaign that saw Rock Creek win seven of their last nine games including their first two playoff wins this decade.
“We lost a lot of kids so going into last year we weren’t quite sure what we had,” Sieben said. “We knew we’d be young but we hoped that we’d come together and grow as a team. We hit our stride midway through the season and those playoff wins were a huge step for our program.”
The new tradition of excellence is expected to continue at Rock Creek this year as the Mustangs look to press even deeper into the upper ranks of Class 3A.
“We lost a couple of key pieces but we bring back a ton of talent and our kids were heavily invested this summer,” he said. “We’re so much further ahead than we were at any point last year and now we can build some depth.”
Chief among those 19 returners is senior signal caller Dalton Whitworth, who led the state of Kansas in 2021 with 2,894 yards, adding 38 touchdowns to just 16 interceptions thrown.
“When you watch Dalton the first thing that stands out is his quick release,” Sieben said. “He gets the ball out so quickly that you’re almost tempted to not come after him but he can throw the deep ball really well too and he’s taken another step forward this summer.”
Whitworth will return with almost all of his favorite targets from last season including 1,000-yard receiver Ethan Burgess, Yanci Spiller, and Daegan Vinduska. That trio hauled in 31 of Whitworth’s 38 touchdown passes last year and will be itching to torch opposing secondaries again in 2022.
While Rock Creek looks primed to air the ball out again this season, the Mustangs also return senior running back Jaydon Winans, who averaged almost seven yards per carry on the ground last year.
“We thrive on taking what the defense gives us,” he said. “We threw the ball around 80% of the time last year and we don’t want to be 50/50, we just want to take advantage of the looks we get and the mismatches we can find.”
In the offensive trenches, the Mustangs return even more veteran leadership in seniors Cooper Bittle and Gavin Meyer along with junior Malachi Bell and sophomore standout Mason Faith.
Meyer, Bittle, and Faith will all operate as two-way players this season, lining the trenches on the Rock Creek defense as well.
Behind that big three sits a veteran-heavy linebacker corps, with Kody Howard, Kade Welfringer, and Payton McCarn plugging the middle, while Yanci Spiller and Trevor Christensen patrol the outside.
In the secondary, seniors Maddox Ibarra and Daegan Vinduska will reprise their roles at safety while Logan Sturdy and Hunter Prockish lock down opposing wideouts from the corners.
With another year of experience on the defensive end, the Mustangs should be a force to be reckoned with heading into the new year.
“We’re flexible on the defensive side and we feel like we have good size up front and good speed to back it up,” Sieben said. “We struggled to stop the run at times last year but we have a lot that we can throw at teams while keeping it simple.”
While the preseason buzz around Rock Creek has generated many predictions as to what the team might accomplish this season, the focus internally remains to take things one day at a time.
“We just want to be playing our best football at the end of the season,” he said. “I hate putting expectations or limitations on a team, we never talk about winning a certain number of games, we just focus on going 1-0 every week.”
Rock Creek will kick off their 2022 campaign with a road trip to another 3A quarterfinalist in Southeast of Saline on September 2nd.
For more on Mustang football all season long stay tuned to the Little Apple Post.