Tigers picked second, Dragons first in poll

Fort Scott High School head football coach Bob Campbell speaks to media during a pre-season media conference Tuesday in Pittsburg. The Tigers were picked to finish in second place in the Southeast Kansas League behind two-time defending champion Pittsburg in a poll of league coaches. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

PITTSBURG -- Two-time defending champion Pittsburg was picked to repeat as Southeast Kansas League football champion in a poll of league coaches released at a pre-season media conference here Tuesday. Fort Scott was tabbed to repeat last year's second-place finish.

Although Pittsburg has won six of the last eight SEK titles, it has not won three straight in that time. Fort Scott won the title in 2012 to prevent a three-peat and Chanute interrupted an earlier three-peat attempt in 2009. No team has won three straight SEK championships since Labette County won the Lower Division thrice from 1999-2001.

With coaches unable to vote for their own teams, Pittsburg was as close to an unanimous choice as can be had, picking up six first-place votes. Fort Scott received Pittsburg head coach Tom Nickelson's first-place vote.

Coffeyville was picked to finish third followed by Chanute, Labette County, Independence and Parsons. Parsons, which has lost 28 consecutive games, received six points in voting, the minimum possible.

Fort Scott head coach Bob Campbell, who will begin his 20th season in charge of the Tiger program, said the outcome of voting is a sign of the respect other coaches have for the program.

"It shows a lot of respect for our kids," Campbell said. "Ultimately, what matters is the six Fridays you play in your conference. We have a tough schedule. We start off with Parsons, then have Spring Hill, who we don't know a lot about but we're familiar with them from last year. Then we have Pittsburg and Coffeyville in back-to-back games."

Reviewing each coach's comment going from the last pick, Parsons, to the top, Pittsburg:

Parsons head coach Marc Svaty begins his second season with an all-new coaching staff with the exception of one person. Two of them have been head coaches previously.

This year, Svaty says it will be easier to evaluate his team. Although he lost seven defensive and eight offensive starters, he knows more about his players going into pre-season practice.

"Last year at this time, I didn't know who was coming out and I didn't know what our kids could do," Svaty said.

Keenan Dodd will move to quarterback for Parsons. Dakolby Johnson, who may be the Vikings' best returning player, will be a starter on both sides of the ball this season.

Last season, Independence head coach Carl Boldra became just the 14th person since the Southeast Kansas League was formed in 1927 to remain a head coach at the same school for 10 seasons. However, season 11 could be one of his toughest as many players he was counting on having won't be playing this year for various reasons, including one who said he had burned out.

"It's going to be a tough couple of weeks," Boldra, who is 39-59 at Indy, said. "I don't know what opportunities lie ahead of us."

Sean Price, who coached at Columbus in 2003-04 and again in 2006-07, returns to the SEK at Labette County after coaching the past few seasons in Chetopa. He said the LCHS job was one he had expressed an interest in previously.

He'll have 15 seniors this season, 10 of whom he expects to start and five on the offensive line. Price will also expects 19 freshmen to report. Regardless of age, the Grizzlies should be well-prepared as they went to four different camps over the summer.

"The 7-on-7 camp at Carl Junction was crucial for us with our spread offense," Price said.

Chris Shields, a 1994 graduate of Chanute, returns to take over the reigns at his alma mater. He said the league was tough when the played and is just as tough now.

Kenton Richards will be back at quarterback for the Blue Comets. On defense, while Richards has been an occasional starter on that side, cornerback Grant McMillin is the only full-time starter returning.

While the Comets will look to spread out the ball, Shields hesitates to call his offense a "spread," because it implies that it relies on finesse and passing. He wants his offense to be physical at the point of attack and to be able to run the ball well.

Coffeyville (or Field Kindley if you prefer) head coach Murray Zogg, 34-21 in five seasons, has seen what talent can do, seeing his team reach the 2013 Class 4A State championship game. He's also seen what happens when talent doesn't come together, such as last season when the Golden Tornado won just three games. One key to this season, he feels, is teaching his returning players "the difference between those two teams."

Zogg is also somewhat handicapped by the administration's decision to cut a coaching position, leading him with just three full-time assistants. He's compensating by having three "student-assistants," who are attending Coffeyville Community College and are interested in becoming coaches.

Zogg has three starters back on each side of the ball but his quarterback will be determined by pre-season competition.

Meanwhile, in Fort Scott, quarterback should be in the capable hands of senior Kaleb DeLaTorre, who Campbell calls a "fine decision maker and a real team leader."

Carter Young will be a third-year starter at running back and linebacker. Josh Hudiburg will be back as a tight end and linebacker. Brody Southwell will play wide receiver and also established himself as one of the best kickers in the SEK last season.

Also back are three offensive linemen, Austin Cook, Nick Woods and Tristian Wilson.

"It's a big advantage having those three kids back," Campbell said. "They've worked and improved greatly this summer."

Pittsburg head coach Tom Nickelson, 26-12 since taking over in 2011, lost every starting offensive lineman and SEK scoring record holder Alex Barnes. There are 11 seniors back but no "star" player among them.

"They've done a super job of leading our kids," Nickelson said. "They're tired of hearing about the guys who were ahead of them. They're very, very motivated and that's been handed down to our younger kids."

As the only Class 5A school in the league, Pittsburg will play its entire SEK schedule in the first five weeks (the Purple Dragons do not play Labette County), then play 5A Arkansas City before going into a district that includes three Overland Park schools.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.