By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
After handling their business in a 54-13 win over Belle Plaine last week, Wabaunsee Head Coach Jess Rutledge’s message to his team was simple.
Now is the time to go make history.
This Charger program has won just five playoff games in all its time on the gridiron and has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs.
That remained true last season where Wabaunsee once again suffered second-round heartbreak at the hands of Lyndon, dropping a second straight round-of-16 matchup.
Despite all of this, expectations were, and remain high for a Charger team loaded with talent, postseason experience, and an unrivaled drive to take this program to the next level.
“This group of juniors and seniors just won a playoff game for the third year in a row, they have the majority of postseason victories in school history,” Rutledge said. “We didn’t feel a ton of pressure last week, guys were expecting to win and we stayed level-headed going into that game.”
That cool, calm, and collected attitude allowed the Chargers to stampede past Belle Plaine and will be needed again this week as Wabaunsee welcomes in 6-3 Marion with history and a ticket to the 1A quarterfinal on the line.
“That first playoff win is huge,” he said. “Being on an eight-game winning streak has definitely helped our confidence but the elephant in the room is that we’ve never made it past the second round and we want this team to be the first team to ever do that.”
In order to achieve those feats, the Chargers will have to contend with a Warriors squad that looks imposing in the trenches, bullying Sacred Heart in a 38-14 week nine victory last Friday.
“Marion’s run game is astounding,” Rutledge said. They average about 300 yards a game and this is easily the biggest offensive line that we’ve seen since Smith Center. They get off the ball well and their running back is a load to bring down.”
The Warriors have used misdirection and read-option looks to throw defenses all season long and to thwart that attack, Wabaunsee will need to stay home and play sharp defensively to hold Marion’s offense at bay.
“With their zone read our read keys will be crucial on defense,” he said. “We’ve stressed this all year but our guys have to do their job and take care of their read responsibility. We have to stay on our guy and we can’t get caught guessing where the ball is going.”
Offensively Wabaunsee still holds the third-best scoring unit in Class 1A, averaging 42 points per contest through the regular season, and will need to buy time for Wyatt Wurtz and lanes for the running game against a rarely-seen 1A front.
“Defensively they’re very sound at all three levels,” he said. “In high school it’s tough to effectively run a three-man front but they do a great job with three very big guys up there and their linebackers flow well. They seem to have a good grasp on their responsibility and it’s a talented, disciplined unit.”
Wabaunsee knows the road to their first-ever quarterfinal will be far from easy, but the Chargers take solace in knowing that they’ve put in the work to get here, and trust in that process to carry them to a potentially historic outcome.
“Our focus and energy has been good in the leadup to this one,” Rutledge said. “The excitement level is high and these are the moments that we’ve worked so hard for. All of those summer practices, all of those 5 AM mornings, all of the work we’ve put in this season was so we could go make history, now we just have to go out and execute against a very good football team.”
Kickoff between the Chargers and Warriors is set for 7 pm at Wabaunsee High School with the winner advancing to take on 6-3 Conway Springs, who knocked off Plainville 35-31 on Thursday.