High School Football Previews: Cheney Cardinals

CHENEY, Kan. (KSNW) — The defending 3A state champion Cheney Cardinals are now prepping for a new season filled with a rebuilding team.

In 2023, the Cardinals finished 13-0, taking down Topeka Hayden in the snow for the state title. This year, they return 14 seniors, who now have valuable championship experience under their belt, including quarterback Josh Burdick.

But there are still gaps to fill on the field. One of those is receiver Jackson Voth, who is playing for Kansas State this fall, so the Cardinals are now looking to grow their receiver core with many younger players stepping up to fill those roles.

“It’s all work,” explained head coach Shelby Wehrman. “They’re focused and guys are dedicated, committed to putting in the time. And I think in the work that it’s going to take to be successful on the field. I told the guys and the parents that our meeting is my goal is never to win a state championship. It’s just simply to help these guys become the best team that they can be. And we’re going to worry about ourselves and take one day at a time and work to get better every day. And hopefully the end product is something that, you know, I’ll be really excited about, it’s awesome.”

After making history as the first team in school history to win state, the players are eager to go back to back. The upperclassmen have stepped up as leaders, helping the younger players learn concepts and plays.

“Aiden Kane has been amazing,” Kolton Rohloff said. “Sophomore coming out. No wonder he’s going to be huge. Dietrick and Daniel Colter’s brother, is going to be a great part of this team too. Chemistry is already starting off like really well, great competitiveness in these couple of practices we’ve had.”

So far, the players feel like they’ve made good progress, but they know they still have a lot of work to put in to reach their postseason goals.

“Winning a state title is a big deal,” explained senior running back Levi Self. “It definitely puts a big target on our back for sure, but I think we’re ready to face the challenges ahead of us. We know we have a lot of teams gunning out to get us this year. We don’t deserve any award yet. I mean, we have to work. We have to go through a whole season of hardships before we can get there.”

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