Hayden football using 2023 state championship loss as fuel in 2024

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Hayden football's season ended in heartbreak in 2023, but that heartbreak can only last for so long before turning into motivation.

Last fall, the Wildcats' undefeated season ended with a loss to Cheney, who was also undefeated, in the 3A state title game. 2024 brings a new season with new faces, but Hayden's mission is to get back to that championship game.

"If you don't have that goal I don't know what you're doing going out there going through the motions," Hayden head coach Bill Arnold said. "We expect to be in the playoffs and our expectations year in and year out is to win a state championship. And sometimes it doesn't happen, but we're not going to change our goals."

Every season brings a different assortment of players, and opponents, so Coach Arnold is focused on getting his team game-ready for now. He says his players have been making the most of their time on the practice field, and are itching to face someone in a different jersey.

In addition to longtime head coach Bill Arnold, this year's team of Wildcats is led by 10 seniors. Hayden lost a handful of starting seniors, but returns quite a few experienced guys, too. As for the upperclassmen, avenging last year's state title lost is in in the back of their minds.

"We were so close, and just not to get that achievement, it's such a drive for us," senior center Hunter Diederich said. "Especially for us seniors. It's our last opportunity for us to get it."

"He's always talking about state, where we need to be to get there, and how hard we're going to have to work to get there," senior wide receiver/ defensive back Jensen Schrickel said of his head coach.

Hayden opens its 2024 campaign against Eudora on Sept. 6.