When the Dodge City Red Demons football season came to an end in 2018, with a second-round playoff loss to the Campus Colts, all head coach David Foster could think about was getting prepared for the 2019 campaign.
Fast forward a year later and when the eight-game regular season came to a close on Oct. 25, Foster could proudly look at the results of his veteran team – an 8-0 record, spotless 4-0 mark in the Western Athletic Conference to claim the Demons’ first league crown in five seasons.
“It’s been a crazy ride the entire season,” Foster said a few days after finishing off the WAC slate with a 45-6 romp over Liberal. “We’ve had some close games that were competitive, but we’ve found a way to win those this year.”
Early in the season, the Demons had to use a 49-yard field goal in the closing seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime before slipping past Wichita Heights, 24-21.
They (seniors) took their lumps their sophomore season, and have hung in there and now we see the fruits of the hard work they’ve put in.
Head Coach, Dave Foster
“It’s a tribute to the senior class and the leadership that they’ve provided,” Foster said of his upper class group. “We graduated some good ones from a year ago, but everybody’s stepped up this season and I think they’ve successfully completed the expectations they had of themselves.”
Since the WAC was formed in 1984, the Demons now have won a total of 11 football titles, more than any other school. And Foster is the first to admit, league crowns don’t come easily.
“There’s a lot of really good coaches in the league,” Foster said of Hays, Great Bend, Liberal and Garden City. “They’re always well prepared, and it seems like all the WAC games we are a dogfight.”
Indeed, the 2019 campaign was no exception as the Demons survived a 24-21 scare from Great Bend after holding an early 21-0 lead on the Panthers. Then, in the annual big Hatchet Game against Garden City on the road, the Demons overcame a 7-3 deficit early in the fourth quarter to score two TDs and finish with a 17-7 triumph that virtually locked up the league title.
“We were able to separate from Liberal, but the Great Bend and Garden City games could have gone the other direction,” said Foster, completing his 10th season at the helm. “This group has found ways to win games where when they were sophomores and juniors, we might have lost a couple of those.”
Completing the regular season at 8-0 and earning a No. 2 overall seed in the Class 6A playoffs, which will get under way on Friday, Nov. 1, Foster said the season has been gratifying but looks ahead to a deeper run in the postseason.
“Everybody wants to be playing in late November,” he said. “There will be a time to sit back and appreciate what we’ve done during the eight weeks. The experience we brought back has paid dividends. They don’t hit the panic button when we’ve been behind. They took their lumps their sophomore season, and have hung in there and now we see the fruits of the hard work they’ve put in.”
2019 WAC Football Results
Sept. 13: Great Bend 46, Hays 30
Sept. 20: Hays 13, Liberal 12 (OT)
Sept. 27: Dodge City 24, Great Bend 21; Garden City 35, Hays 32
Oct. 4: Garden City 26, Liberal 12
Oct. 11: Dodge City 40, Hays 21
Oct. 18: Dodge City 17, Garden City 7; Great Bend 49, Liberal 20
Oct. 25: Great Bend 27, Garden City 7; Dodge City 45, Liberal 6
