Wichita Northwest football wants to be the bully in playoff rematch with No. 1 Manhattan

The Wichita Northwest football program has built its brand on being the tougher team in the trenches.

Toughness has been the backbone to an unprecedented run of success under coach Steven Martin. Martin has led the Grizzlies to four straight Class 5A state championship games from 2017-20 and has them back in the quarterfinals of the Kansas high school football state playoffs for the seventh straight season — with a road showdown against No. 1-ranked, undefeated Manhattan upcoming on Friday.

That’s why some eyebrows were raised at Tyler and 13th this week when Wichita Northwest players and coaches read in The Manhattan Mercury that a Manhattan football player said “we’re just trying to bully-ball them” ahead of a Week 8 meeting earlier this year that Manhattan won, 56-28.

“Our kids read that about how they’re going to play bully ball, and that’s what we’re known for,” Martin said. “We’re known for being the bullies and running the ball and overwhelming you. I think that lit a fire when they read that, so we’re definitely excited to go up there and get a chance to avenge a loss and take on one of the best teams in the state of Kansas.”

Martin’s up-tempo offense once again has Northwest (8-2) rated as the No. 1 offense in the class, averaging 523.4 total yards and 47 points per game. Northwest also has its typical dynamic one-two punch at running back, as senior L.J. Phillips (1,312 yards, 18 touchdowns) and junior Cencere Thompson (1,212 yards, 17 touchdowns) have thrived this season, while junior quarterback Jayce Glasper has excelled in his first year as a starter.

Although the 28-point loss to Manhattan was a major letdown to the Grizzlies, their unique style of play did produce 28 points against Manhattan’s defense — a season-high in points allowed.

Martin thinks the game will again be decided at the point of attack and has challenged the Northwest offensive line of Jacob Lamb, Nathan Davis, Connor Armstrong, Alex Herrera, Braxton Hopper and Dalton Schraeder to rise to the occasion.

“Our O-line has done a really good job. No one has held us under 450 yards all season and that’s a credit to them,” Martin said. “But we made some inopportune mistakes at the wrong times (against Manhattan). Some kids would start to panic if that happened in Week 8, but our kids have responded and attacked every practice since then. We had a litmus test against Manhattan and they showed us some things personnel-wise and schematically that we needed to fix. We feel like we’ve addressed those and I think we’re ready for this challenge.”

Class 6A quarterfinal schedule

Wichita Northwest (8-2) at Manhattan (10-0)

Washburn Rural (8-2) at Derby (8-2)

Blue Valley West (5-5) at Gardner-Edgerton (7-3)

Olathe Northwest (7-3) at Olathe West (8-2)

Class 5A quarterfinal schedule

Hutchinson (8-2) at Maize (10-0)

Salina Central (8-2) at Hays (9-1)

Pittsburg (7-3) at Mill Valley (9-1)

Blue Valley Southwest (5-5) at De Soto (9-1)

Class 4A quarterfinal schedule

Andover Central (7-3) at Wamego (10-0)

Circle (8-2) at McPherson (9-1)

Kansas City Piper (7-3) at Bishop Miege (8-2)

St. James Academy (6-4) at St. Thomas Aquinas (8-2)

Class 3A quarterfinal schedule

Andale (10-0) at Rock Creek (9-1)

Cheney (8-2) at Clay Center (7-3)

Holton (9-1) at Girard (10-0)

Topeka Hayden (9-1) at Columbus (5-5)

Class 2A quarterfinal schedule

Hoisington (8-2) at Southeast-Saline (10-0)

Kingman (10-0) at Beloit (8-2)

Caney Valley (8-2) at Sabetha (8-2)

Nemaha Central (10-0) at Humboldt (8-2)

Class 1A quarterfinal schedule

Wabaunsee (9-1) at Conway Springs (7-3)

Smith Center (8-2) at Inman (9-1)

St. Marys (8-2) at Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan (9-1)

Olpe (8-2) at Centralia (10-0)

8-man Division 1 quarterfinal schedule

Burlingame (9-1) at Lyndon (8-2)

Little River (9-1) at Chase County (9-1)

Hill City (9-1) at Meade (9-1)

Wichita County (10-0) at Rawlins County (8-2)

8-man Division 2 quarterfinal schedule

Lebo (8-2) at Canton-Galva (10-0)

Axtell (10-0) at Osborne (9-1)

Thunder Ridge (9-1) at Victoria (10-0)

Dighton (10-0) at Wallace County (7-3)

6-man quarterfinal schedule

Tescott (9-1) at Waverly (10-0)

Wetmore (8-2) at Cunningham (10-0)

Northern Valley (8-2) at Ashland (8-1)

Ingalls (7-2) at Cheylin (9-1)