Friday’s football game didn’t just mark the varsity team’s first win of the season, but also the first win for new head coach Drew Hudgins at Staley High School. On the road game matchup against Park Hill High School, the team earned a 21-19 victory against the 2-0 Trojans.
Hudgins said he planned for many more wins under his direction this season, bringing beneficial changes to the program.
“We’re trying to take it day by day, enjoying working with the coaches and players and just trying to build and instill the habits we need to be successful day in and day out to build habits within a group of people,” Hudgins said.
The team had an impressive showing during the win, with another rushing attack with juniors Lance Holsted and Nick Ballew who filled in for junior running back Draivyn Colvin who was recovering from an injury. The running game went for 190 yards and two touchdowns, while senior quarterback T.J. Shanks threw for 143 yards on 13 attempts, including a touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Andrew Genova.
The defense allowed 19 points and stopped the game-tying two point conversion at the end to come out with their first win of the season. Junior Kyran Thompson made a play on the ball in the endzone to shut down the game.
“It felt like an inspiring moment to know that we don’t have to go through another 12 minutes or so for an overtime game and let my team rest and go home on the W,” Thompson said.
Hudgins came to Staley from the dominant football program of Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kansas, a school that won the Kansas 5A state championship seven times, including five state wins in a row from 2019 to 2023. Staley, on the other hand, had a rough stretch last season, showing growing pains since making the jump to Missouri 6A in 2022, after winning two state titles in 2011 and 2017 in Missouri 5A. The program is still 16 years young and still has plenty of potential in program growth.
“We have a lot of potential as long as we execute well, and work as a team,” Thompson said. “Against Park Hill we worked as a team, and we used a lot of communication and we were fast to the ball, and it was a good-paced team, so we were making sure we were well conditioned beforehand.”
Hudgins said he has plans to change the school’s football culture, not just making better athletes but building better people.
“We’re trying to give them all the tools they need to build high character,” Hudgins said. “For them to have the character to be positive husbands, fathers and role models for the next generation.”
After meeting new faces, becoming a head coach at a new program is often challenging, not just for the coaches but the players, too.
“We just focus on each day,” Hudgins said. “We talk about trying to squeeze the most out of every time we’re together, whether that’s film or lifting and practice.”
After the Park Hill victory, the team will look to take on Blue Springs High School at home. It will be varsity’s first opportunity to get their first home win of the season and even out their record to 2-2.
“As long as we work, we can make it anywhere we want to make it,” Thompson said
The team will work to continue the routine of practicing and film study as the team stays hungry for their second win and prove they can be a dangerous football program.
“We’re trying to build off of last week, we had a really good Monday through Thursday in terms of practice and prep, and we’re trying to double down this week,” Hudgins said.
With plenty of games left in the season, the team will still keep the same routine every week, and work with each other to win football games.
