Friday Night Highlight: Lions use leadership, work ethic to end 25-game skid

Sep. 16—BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — It can take a toll on a competitive person when losing a game.

It can be even more difficult losing a series of games.

What about 25 consecutive games?

Baxter Springs was on such a stretch dating back to the beginning of the 2019 campaign. The Lions had not won a game since Oct. 25, 2018, to end the season.

"It was difficult, as you may guess," Baxter Springs head coach Russell Burr said. "What you're afraid of when you go through something like that is the emotional state of the players.

"You're hoping they think they can win. But then you think, 'Well, maybe they think there's nothing we can do to get this turned around.' Then you start worrying about the program in general. Are we going to start losing kids because we aren't winning?"

One of Burr's senior leaders this year recalls the struggles of the program's past three seasons.

"It's not fun to go out there and work all the time and then not have anything to show for it," left guard and defensive tackle Michael Colbert said.

Obviously, anyone with a competitive nature wants to win every chance they get. That just hadn't been in the cards for Baxter Springs heading into the 2022 season. Burr and the rest of the program were ready to change that.

"The one thing you don't want to see is that the kids give up," Burr said. "If they're going out and just going through the motions during the game ... if you get to that point, you've got more problems than just losing games."

In the midst of a rough patch, one thing a coach may always ask of his guys is to just keep working and never give up.

"That was one of the things we really tried to stress. No matter what the score is, we're not going to quit, we're not going to give up," Burr said.

He mentioned seeing that consistent effort from his guys despite dropping each game last year by multiple scores and four of them by 35 points or more.

Then, coach Burr watched that effort throughout last season turn into a summer full of hard work.

"Our attendance was great during the summer and you could tell they (the players) were tired of it," Burr said. "There comes a time where enough is enough. When you've had enough and you're not going to take it anymore, and we had reached that point."

Some of that may have been sparked by some signs hanging in the weight room that the Baxter Springs football team uses.

"I had some signs made with 25 on them and I had them put up in the weight room as a reminder of where we were," Burr said. "I said, 'We're going to end that this year. The streak's going to end.'"

The Lions opened the year on the road against the Southeast Lancers.

There's no telling if it was the signs, the work put in during the offseason or just a new year, but Baxter Springs rolled to a 42-0 victory on Sept. 2 — 1,408 days and three full seasons after their previous win.

"It feels good," Colbert said. "I'm glad we're winning games but ... we can't go into a game thinking we're going to win because then we won't.

"Last year, and the first game this year, people asked, 'Should I even come? Is it worth going?'"

Proving it was no accident, the Lions went back out in Week 2 for homecoming and took it to Uniontown in a 51-27 final.

Colbert added: "Everyone's enjoyed it. I don't think anybody really expected it. Everyone still asks 'are you going to win this week?' People are getting on board now so it's a little better. ... People finally figured out that we're actually going to play and we're actually going to win games."

Recently, the team actually took down the signs and had what coach Burr considered "a little ceremony" to burn those reminders of that 25-game skid.

"It's kind of a monkey off your back," Burr said. "I know the kids feel great about it, and they should."

Burr also mentioned preaching the word "work" to his boys in the offseason, telling them that nothing in life will come easy. If you want something, you have to work for it.

And his players answered the bell this summer showing up to weights and putting in work.

Some of those players were the team's four captains, Logan and Lane Fisher, Hayden Parkison and Michael Colbert. He mentioned the four of them not missing a single day of workouts throughout the offseason, adding that it "makes it easier" for him to do his job with "leadership like that."

Burr discussed keeping players optimistic throughout a stretch of losing.

"There has to be a common theme among the team of 'we are in this together.' Our mantra, slogan, motto, whatever you want to call it is 'brotherhood.' So we kind of built on that. The only ones that can change it are us. Officials aren't going to change it for us. We have to do it."

Excitement seems to be in the air at this southeast Kansas school as the football team has flipped the script.

With football being at the beginning of the school year, it is one of the first sports to kick off the year. That can be used as a driving force to getting the student body and community to rally around the school and all of its sports teams.

"I think that was a big deal winning these first two games," Burr said. "It got everybody interested and excited. We had our game last Friday here at home. Huge crowd. That's important because the players see that so they know they're doing something that's getting everyone on board."

As for dishing out credit for this turnaround, coach Burr wants to be at the bottom of your list.

"The least amount of credit goes to me," Burr said. "People don't realize sometimes how much time coaches put in to prepare during the summer and of course during the season. and my assistant coaches put in a lot of time. They've done a great job.

"The kids especially, you could see it, these guys were committed to getting this thing turned around. I don't block or tackle anybody. They're the ones who go out and do it so they deserve the most credit.

He also mentioned former players making an impact:

"I try to tell the seniors (in the past). 'You were here when the program needed you the most. We're not going to forget that. You were here doing the very best you could under very difficult circumstances and you really can't put a price on that.'

"I tried to tell those seniors, 'Even though things aren't easy, you still are an example.'"

ABOUT THE GAME

Baxter Springs heads to Afton, Oklahoma, for its Week 3 game. Afton enters play at 0-2 with losses to Fairland (Okla.) and Columbus (Kan.).

The Lions and Eagles will kickoff at 7 p.m.

So far this year, Burr mentioned top offensive play coming from new quarterback Payton Gaines, skill players Jacob Grant, Javen Alexander, Logan Gess and freshman Sam Weaver.

For the rest of the season, Burr wants to see his guys compete and know they have a chance.

"We play some really good teams left on our schedule. ... It'll be a challenge."