By: Brad Hallier, KSHSAA Covered Contributor
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Shelby Wehrman looked around in awe, amidst the snow that had been falling at Gowans Stadium for seven hours. Hundreds upon hundreds of Cheney football fans had taken the field Saturday afternoon, on a day some may have preferred to stay at home and watch the Class 3A state championship game on the stream or listen to the radio.
When Wehrman took over as Cheney football coach seven years ago, he was told it was a basketball community. Undaunted, Wehrman helped build a consistent winner that soon became a state power.
Saturday, Cheney became a state football champion for the first time ever, capping an undefeated season by beating Hayden 34-7 on a frigid field frosted with several inches of snow.
“It makes me really happy for the community,” Wehrman said. “Cheney supports their kids well. Football hasn’t been traditionally big in Cheney. I always heard it was a basketball school and rightly so because all the success has been there, but we worked hard, the kids bought in, we slowly built it, and the community has rallied even more than I hoped around the kids. They made it a big deal for the kids.”
The Cardinals secured their title by staying true to who they were. Cheney is a team that likes to fling the ball on offense, but the snow, frigid temperatures that didn’t touch 30 degrees, and slight northerly breeze could have made throwing the ball difficult.
Cheney quarterback Josh Burdick still completed 19 of 30 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Drew Tolar and Colter McDaniel.
“We were just going to go out and play our game, no matter what the weather was,” Burdick said. “(The snow) changed some things. We ran a little more than we wanted to, but we were able to adapt and fight through all the adversity with the snow.”
Cheney showed immediately it was going to continue to throw. After forcing a Hayden punt on the game’s first possession, Burdick connected on a screen pass to Jackson Voth that went for 46 yards. Then, Burdick found Drew Tolar for a 16-yard touchdown.
Cheney quarterback Josh Burdick threw for 277 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead Cheney to a 34-7 win over Hayden in the Class 3A title game.
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