Dodge City Conquistadors head football coach Bob Majeski is faced with a dilemma that many coaches would find intriguing: How do you determine a starter between five players for the starting quarterback position?
But that’s the situation Majeski and the Conqs find themselves as they begin to set up preparations for the upcoming season between last year’s starter, a freshman with a little swagger, a red-shirt freshman, a sophomore transfer, and an in-state freshman all vying to try to be the signal caller.
“It’s a wide-open deal,” Majeski said Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Conference media luncheon at the Wichita Boathouse. “That’s the way we have to have it for someone to step up and get us going.”
The top two in the challenge for quarterback right now are former Haviland quarterback Lane Kendall – who started the last four games for Dodge City in the 2009 campaign – and Florida freshman standout Bryan Parnes.
“Lane did a great job making the adjustment from eight-man to 11-man last year, flipping from where you see the same schools across the line to players you may see in the NFL,” Majeski said. “He took his lumps, but he did a good job and had a good offseason.
“But we also expect some good things from Parnes. He has that swagger you see with a freshman who has had success in the high school level.”
Redshirt freshman Alex Munro of Virginia is also in the mix for the starting position, as is former South Gray quarterback Chet Skinner, a transfer from McPherson College, and true freshman Aaron Hansen, who led the Andover Trojans’ offense the past two seasons.
The Conqs were picked seventh in the preseason poll after a 1-8 campaign in 2009. Majeski said that’s about where his team should be ranked.
“We’ve got to be better in all aspects,” Majeski said. “We have a lack of returning players; but at 1-8, how many do you want back? That’s not to down those players from last year, but we have to have better quality.”
And Majeski feels the Conqs have gotten that improvement from in-state recruiting.
“We did great in recruiting in-state,” Majeski said. “We may not have any players who are playing in the Shrine Bowl (on Saturday in Pittsburg), but we have the kind of players who we want — those who work hard and who want to improve as quickly as they can.
“It’s our job to take them and develop them into the college game.”
Butler was picked to win the conference, a selection that surprised Grizzlies’ head coach Troy Morrell.
“We definitely are going to have to rely on a number of freshmen, especially on defense,” Morrell said. “(The coaches) just have to ask ourselves to do a little more.”
Fort Scott, the defending Jayhawk and regional champion, was picked second in the conference. Coffeyville was third, followed by Hutchinson, Garden City, Highland, Dodge City and Independence.
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Dodge City Conquistadors head football coach Bob Majeski is faced with a dilemma that many coaches would find intriguing: How do you determine a starter between five players for the starting quarterback position?
But that’s the situation Majeski and the Conqs find themselves as they begin to set up preparations for the upcoming season between last year’s starter, a freshman with a little swagger, a red-shirt freshman, a sophomore transfer, and an in-state freshman all vying to try to be the signal caller.
“It’s a wide-open deal,” Majeski said Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Conference media luncheon at the Wichita Boathouse. “That’s the way we have to have it for someone to step up and get us going.”
The top two in the challenge for quarterback right now are former Haviland quarterback Lane Kendall – who started the last four games for Dodge City in the 2009 campaign – and Florida freshman standout Bryan Parnes.
“Lane did a great job making the adjustment from eight-man to 11-man last year, flipping from where you see the same schools across the line to players you may see in the NFL,” Majeski said. “He took his lumps, but he did a good job and had a good offseason.
“But we also expect some good things from Parnes. He has that swagger you see with a freshman who has had success in the high school level.”
Redshirt freshman Alex Munro of Virginia is also in the mix for the starting position, as is former South Gray quarterback Chet Skinner, a transfer from McPherson College, and true freshman Aaron Hansen, who led the Andover Trojans’ offense the past two seasons.
The Conqs were picked seventh in the preseason poll after a 1-8 campaign in 2009. Majeski said that’s about where his team should be ranked.
“We’ve got to be better in all aspects,” Majeski said. “We have a lack of returning players; but at 1-8, how many do you want back? That’s not to down those players from last year, but we have to have better quality.”
And Majeski feels the Conqs have gotten that improvement from in-state recruiting.
“We did great in recruiting in-state,” Majeski said. “We may not have any players who are playing in the Shrine Bowl (on Saturday in Pittsburg), but we have the kind of players who we want — those who work hard and who want to improve as quickly as they can.
“It’s our job to take them and develop them into the college game.”
Butler was picked to win the conference, a selection that surprised Grizzlies’ head coach Troy Morrell.
“We definitely are going to have to rely on a number of freshmen, especially on defense,” Morrell said. “(The coaches) just have to ask ourselves to do a little more.”
Fort Scott, the defending Jayhawk and regional champion, was picked second in the conference. Coffeyville was third, followed by Hutchinson, Garden City, Highland, Dodge City and Independence.
