The Raiders are playing with a chip on their shoulder this season, trying to rebuild the prestige of Raider football, a program that has won a total of six games since 2018 and leave a legacy that future teams will aspire to live up to.
There is a different energy with this team. Over the summer, the Raiders faced tough competition against Mill Valley, who was ranked 2nd in the state in the pre-season, and 5A powerhouse Blue Valley Southwest. The Raiders beat these tough teams and those wins give them confidence leading into the season, ready to face their formidable Sunflower league opponents.
“We’re all friends, we all joke around in the locker room,” senior Sawyer Noyce said. “This group feels more confident, and this group believes we can do good this year.”
This team is also tight-knit, not only because of what they have endured but also because they like to be around each other.
“In the weight room or at practice, we’ve known each other for a while, and it’s a good team bond like a family,” Captain Carter Cox said.
There are 23 seniors led by the six captains: Cox, Charlie Jin, Luke Natzke, Wyatt Dietzel, Jaymon Carpenter and Logan Headley.
“They were specifically voted on by the coaches and the players to be leaders,” head coach Nick Foster said. “Not all six of those guys are naturally very vocal, so sometimes they have to step outside of their comfort zone. But, honestly, just the senior class in general, [I’m] just very proud of them.”
Jin suffered a fractured fibula in week one against Lawrence and is out for the remainder of the season. In the same game junior, Ladaenanian Luster was hit hard and sent into shock, leaving him temporarily unable to move his legs. Luster had to be taken off the field in an ambulance, a difficult scene for his teammates to witness. Luster was able to give a thumbs up. His teammates were crying and the whole group was just in pain as what they had just seen happen to their teammate. But when he got in the ambulance and gave the thumbs up to his team and the crowd that gave them the motivation they needed to keep playing.
Luster has passed concussion protocol and is expected to play against Mill Valley in week four.
This team wants to prove their opponents wrong, on and off the field prove to themselves that they can be a successful program despite all they’ve dealt with the last six months.
Junior Drake DeBaun said his motivation comes from wanting to honor Coach Terrale Johnson, who was known for his passion for the football team and the South community as a whole.
“We all want to do this for him and make a statement for ourselves and have a great legacy leading up to the future of South football when we turn around this program and have a winning program,” Debaun said.
Johnson died suddenly on April 20, 2024. His death along with the challenges in the off-season getting carried into the season have been tough for the football team to work through.
“So, yeah, when you in a short period of time, five-six months, add all those things together, that can be a lot for anyone to manage and overcome, but especially teenagers,” Foster said.
The Raiders are looking to improve this year and emerge as potentially a team to be feared in the Sunflower League. With a favorable strength of schedule, the Raiders are looking to potentially host a playoff game for the first time since 2018 when they went 8-3 and lost to Blue Valley North in the state quarterfinals. BVN were the eventual state champions.
“Trying to be successful every Friday. You know, we obviously want to win every game that we play, but trying to have success no matter what the scoreboard says at the very end. Trying to focus less on the wins and losses and just play to the best of our ability, and understanding that everything that we want to accomplish is within our control,” Foster said.
