SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
BUHLER, Kan. — The Buhler Crusaders football team once again has high expectations heading into the 2024 season under veteran head coach Steve Warner.
Warner is in his 19th season as the head coach at Buhler and has a record of 155-51 in the first 18 years. All together, Warner has 37 years under his belt as a head football coach, compiling 275 wins and 112 losses. Overall, Warner is in his 41st year as a coach.
The Crusaders will have a new signal caller this fall, as Jeffrey Neill graduated this past spring.
"Brendan Scripsick and Jacob Miller are battling for the quarterback position," Warner said. "They're very even right now and both bring a lot of good things to the table."
Buhler will have several key pieces back from the offense, including Ben Clouse in the backfield, and guys like Bodey Redenbaugh and Tanner Brown on the line for Clouse to run behind.
"Ben had over 1,000 yards last year and should have another outstanding year as a junior," Warner said. "Bodey is 6-3, 290, and is very powerful and a very explosive lineman. Tanner is another senior that is 6-4, 265, and he's going to have another great year for us."
Another strong piece to the offense will be senior fullback Nick Gazaway.
"Nick Gazaway has had an amazing summer," Warner said. "He's a two-way starter that will start at middle linebacker and also at fullback. I'm expecting great things from Nick this year."
The defense that Warner will put out there every Friday night is something most coaches dream of, having nearly everyone back from a season ago.
"We return eight guys that started and played all the time," Warner said. "We return three guys that played 2/3 of the time. We feel really good about the defense. I've never been in a situation where we have 11 kids back that basically have a lot of playing time, so we're really excited about our defense."
Warner was pleased with the Crusaders' summer workouts.
"We had great attendance and our seniors were really good leaders," Warner said. "We had large numbers, and we asked a lot of the kids. We go five days a week, and we go two and a half hours a day until about the middle of July and then we back off to three days a week. I really appreciate the parents and the support they've given us to make sure the kids are there. It takes all of us to have a successful program."
Buhler will open the season at home on Friday, Sept. 6 against Mulvane.
"Mulvane always plays us tough," Warner said. "They're always well coached, they play hard no matter what their record is, they play hard, they always do. They blitz a lot, so for your first game it's a concern offensively."
Buhler will host a intersquad scrimmage on Friday, Aug. 30 at Crusader Stadium.
"Not every position is going to be solidified at that point," Warner said. "We want kids to be assignment sound, we want them to have good fundamentals."
The Crusaders have home games with Mulvane, Circle, Wamego, Winfield and McPherson, while traveling to Augusta, Great Bend, and El Dorado.
According to coach Warner, the Crusaders began practice on Monday with 76 total players out.
BUHLER HIGH SCHOOL
9/6 MULVANE
9/13 at Augusta
9/20 at Great Bend
9/27 CIRCLE
10/4 WAMEGO
10/11 at El Dorado
10/18 WINFIELD
10/25 McPHERSON
