Dodge City claims fifth straight WAC crown
Martinez earns POY; Hernandez repeats COY award
From the time Saul Hernandez returned to his high school alma mater to coach the team he once played for, things have never been quite the same in the Western Athletic Conference for boys’ soccer.
In each of the nine seasons that he has guided the Red Demons’ program every fall, the Demons have either won the WAC title or contended for it. Only once have they come up short of capturing the championship that is contested with a double round-robin format.
Much like the popular late 1960s song, “The Beat Goes On” which was written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and sung by the popular duo of Sonny and Cher, this is exactly what the Demons have been able to do against their conference opponents.
In the just completed 2023 season, the Demons captured their fifth consecutive title and eighth in the nine years of the Hernandez era.
“I think the boys got better as the season progressed and that is the main goal we focus on,” said Hernandez, who also earned his fifth straight Coach of the Year award. His latest star player – senior Aron Martinez – won the WAC Player of the Year award (see story below). Again, it was the fifth straight time for a DCHS player to capture the individual honor.
“We just try and enjoy the process from off-season, preseason to the entire regular season,” Hernandez said. “That’s what really matters. You’re building relationships, you’re building teamwork and building character.”
That philosophy has worked beyond most people’s wildest dreams when considering the general lack of postseason success in Kansas’ largest classification for team sports – volleyball, soccer, football, basketball, baseball, softball.
Hernandez has had his team capture a pair of Class 6A state titles, in 2016 and 2020, and they have been in the final four teams on nearly a yearly basis for the past eight seasons.
Entering the 2023 season, the Demons were returning eight of the 11 starters from the 2022 team that finished 20-1-0 and placed third at the state championship.
As expected, the Demons won another WAC crown with a 7-1-0 record, seeing its 38-game conference winning streak ended with a 4-2 loss to rival Liberal in the final regular season match in Liberal.
“At the end of the day, the loss was good for us,” Hernandez said. “The team was cruising at the time we played them (unbeaten) and I think we got complacent. It was a wake-up call and made the boys hungry again.”
That setback to Liberal was the motivating force as the postseason got underway in mid-October where the Demons blitzed three opponents – Junction City, Wichita Southeast and a rematch with Liberal – by a combined 23-0 margin. The win over Liberal was especially satisfying, coming on a 7-0 triumph to advance to the 6A state semifinals.
Only in Topeka did the Demons fall short of their final goal as they lost a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime decision to Olathe East, a team they had beaten in Dodge City just the month before; and then fell 2-1 to Topeka-Washburn Rural in the third-place match to complete an 18-3-0 season.
“It didn’t end the way we wanted, but I’ll still say this was a successful season,” Hernandez said. “We set a team record for scoring (130 goals) and beat the previous record by 20 goals. Our defense was strong all year and the boys really played well together and supported each other.”
One item that Hernandez believes has helped his team compete statewide is that he schedules a trip to the eastern portion of Kansas to begin the season and then invites two of the top teams from that area to visit Dodge City in the middle of the season for a showcase that also includes Liberal.
It was that mid-season event where Dodge defeated Olathe East, 4-1, and Blue Valley, 8-0. The start of the season included wins over 5A Wichita power Bishop Carroll, and then over St. Thomas Aquinas and Lee’s Summit (West), Mo., on the road.
“Playing those teams exposes our weaknesses so we know what to work on and improve,” Hernandez said. “Also, I believe the WAC is a much stronger conference than it gets credit for across the state.”
Indeed, this year’s WAC produced three of the final eight teams in Class 6A to reach the quarterfinals – Dodge, Liberal and Garden City. Garden City lost just once all season to a non-WAC team and that came on the road in the quarterfinals against Washburn Rural in an overtime battle.
“We play each other twice and I think when you do that, you always have to make adjustments in how you play the second time around,” Hernandez said. “We’ve got excellent coaches; terrific players and you must adjust your style because you know they’re not always going to play you the same way. You just must come up with different schemes and tactics.”
The Demons did win the WAC by having three more wins than runner-up Liberal, but the remainder of the schools went 4-2-2 (Liberal), 4-3-1 (Hays) and 3-4-1 (Garden City). Only Great Bend failed to win a conference match. The top four WAC schools were 32-10-2 against non-conference opponents.
On the 11-player all-WAC first team were three Red Demons, three from Liberal, two each from Hays and Garden City and one from Great Bend. This reflects the overall balance of the conference. On the second team, it was three for Dodge City, and two each from the remaining four schools. (See List Below).
Senior Martinez keeps the Dodge City honors rolling along
When he was an eighth grader and developing his early soccer skills, Aron Martinez was aware of some of the outstanding Red Demon high school players.
He watched Alan Lopez win back-to-back Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors in 2019 and 2020. Then, as a freshman and sophomore, he played on the same team as two-time POY Irwin Macias.
The 2023 fall season was the curtain call for Martinez’ high school career and the Red Demon right-winger made the most of it.
By season’s end, he had been an integral part of the Demons’ fifth straight WAC team championship, another trip to the Class 6A state finals and was rewarded with being voted as the WAC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches.
He scored 41 goals in 21 matches while also contributing 17 assists. His team scored 130 goals, thus he accounted for 45 percent of the goals by the Red Demons.
In receiving notification of his WAC honor, Martinez said it came as a surprise, but felt nice.
“Everything we accomplished, or any award is due to my teammates and coaches,” Martinez said. “Competing in the WAC is great because there are some outstanding players. My objective is to help provide goals for the team and from our set pieces just be sure to involve other teammates.”
Martinez said that the success enjoyed by the Demons comes from the team chemistry that is developed year-round.
“We know each other, and we know what to do,” Martinez said. “We have a lot of trust in each other and that comes from Coach Hernandez and his assistants. He (Hernandez) is great and does some uncommon things on and off the field.”
Martinez said he felt this year’s team improved dramatically on the defensive end of the pitch, complementing the strong offense that he and his attackers provided.
The Dodge City standout says he hopes to play at the collegiate level, but thus far it is too early to determine what schools might express an interest in the recruiting process. He hopes to pursue a degree in business and/or accounting.
“I’m just going to wait and see what comes my way,” Martinez said of his plans. “It’s a little sad to have the high school career come to an end, but it will always be something I remember from a lot of happy moments.”
WAC All-Conference Boys Soccer
First Team
| PLAYER | SCHOOL | CLASS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aron Martinez | Dodge City | 12 | |
| Angel Lopez | Dodge City | 12 | |
| David Garcia | Dodge City | 12 | |
| Suain Moncayo | Liberal | 11 | |
| Glezi Gonzalez | Liberal | 11 | |
| George Tejeda | Liberal | 12 | |
| Joshua Negron | Garden City | 12 | |
| Victor Adame | Garden City | 12 | |
| Brantlee Staab | Hays | 12 | |
| Edwin Muller | Hays | 12 | |
| Gustavo Alvarado | Great Bend | 12 |
Coach of the Year – Saul Hernandez
Second Team
| PLAYER | SCHOOL | CLASS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Olivares | Dodge City | 11 | |
| Cody Vasquez | Dodge City | 12 | |
| Yair Vasquez | Dodge City | 11 | |
| Seth Michel | Liberal | 12 | |
| Joshua Garcia | Liberal | 10 | |
| Aidan Parra | Garden City | 12 | |
| Ezayen Deatherage | Garden City | 11 | |
| Kyzer Fox | Hays | 12 | |
| Cooper Johnson | Hays | 11 | |
| Ramiro Rocha | Great Bend | 12 | |
| Pedro Enriquez | Great Bend | 12 |
