Demons return to playoffs, travel to Wichita to face 8-1 Heights

After a regular season that started with a whimper and ended with elated cries at the reclamation of the hatchet, the Dodge City High School Red Demon football team isn't ready for the upward momentum to end just yet.
    Heck, Friday's first-round playoff matchup with the Wichita Heights Falcons (8-1) is a 14-year high for the Red Demon football program after a lengthy postseason absence that has left Dodge fans restless.
    The Demons (4-5) enter Friday's matchup in Wichita as severe underdogs for the ninth time in 10 games this season. Heights beat the Demons' week 1 opponent, the Southeast Golden Buffaloes, 37-14 and beat the Great Bend Panthers, another of the Demons' losses, 51-9.
    The two teams do have a common loss to Wichita East, which was left out of the 6A state playoffs at 6-3. The Falcons lost to the Aces 28-21, while the Demons suffered a 46-7 loss to the same team in week 2.
    "It makes us huge underdogs," said Demon coach Justin Burke. "But you could probably say that about all our games. It's like night and day where we are as a team now and where we were at the beginning of the year."
    Ever since installing the 3-4 defense in preparation for the Demons' week 6 win at Hays, Burke's team has gone 3-1 to finish out the season, surprising the Indians, the Maize Eagles and the Garden City Buffaloes on the way to an unlikely playoff run.
    "Ever since we switched to that 3-4, we've really helped our defense stay away from giving up the big play," Burke said. "It was a big turning point for us."
    Heights coach Rick Wheeler agreed.
    "They've made some good positive adjustments after switching to the 3-4," Wheeler said. "They've made dramatic improvements in their games most recently. It comes with getting some kids back from injury, and he's (Burke) been playing some young kids who are starting to become more experienced players."
    Wheeler brought Burke on as defensive coordinator at Wichita Heights in 2004. After a year on the job, Burke took the position as head coach in Dodge City for the 2005 football season.
    "He was a great young coach and when he came here, we knew we wouldn't have him very long," Wheeler said. "We talked about the only time we'd probably coach against each other would be in the playoffs. That's a good situation to be in because it means we're both still playing."
    Burke added: "I knew if we were playing Heights, we were doing something right here in Dodge."
    Mike Schartz, a former Dodge coach, is now in Burke's old position as defensive coordinator for the Falcons. How neatly fate has placed the Demons in their first playoff opportunity in 14 years.

Seizing the opportunity
    To make a game of what looks like a blowout on paper, the Demons will have to erase a speed deficit that plagued them earlier in the season against City League opponents. The shifty Falcon offense moves the ball well in the option, led by senior quarterback Chris Boyd.
    "He runs their offense well as far as delivering the ball in the option," Burke said.
    The Falcon lines on both side of the ball also outweigh the Demons.
    "Speed is definitely one of our positive attributes, especially on defense," Wheeler said. "It's no secret that the heart and soul of our team is defense. I think we may have an advantage a little bit up front as well."
    Burke said that to erase the speed deficit and all the physical advantages that the Falcons may bring to the game, the Demons must take responsibility on defense, load up on special teams and hit the open receiver on offense.
    "If we are there at the line of scrimmage and are filling out responsibilities, that speed deficit won't show," Burke said of his newly revamped defense. "It's when their skill players get out into open space that it comes into play."
    Getting to the playoffs gives Burke and his staff a hint of vindication as they repave the road to a winning football tradition in Dodge City. But make no mistake, neither the coaching staff nor the team is satisfied.
    "We haven't barged in just yet," Burke said. "But we keep knocking at the door, and if we keep knocking, sometime we're going to get in. We're going down there to win, not just to show."