KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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In late August, Osawatomie High School administrators canceled the 2024 varsity football season due to a lack of returning upperclassmen.
In prior reporting by KSHB 41, the district said it was prioritizing player safety by forcing leaders to choose between varsity or JV — but not both.
"I think people were a little disappointed," said Blaine Flanagan, Osawatomie sophomore. "Not being able to have Friday night lights, I think people were still happy to ring the bell when we scored. What really mattered to them was being able to watch us play, score, and succeed as a team and program.”
Osawatomie High School determined a JV program was the best option for student success.
"It really was a blessing," explained head football coach Eddie Minor. "I'm not saying playing JV was a cop-out ... [but] it really gives us a chance to start from the ground up."
Minor is in his first year at the helm. Previously, he has led programs in various communities across Kansas and Missouri.
Now, he's working diligently to regain interest in the student body, prioritizing strength training and rebuilding culture.
"These people live and breathe Friday night football. This place has been extremely successful in the past, and they want that back," Minor said. "They have a community behind them, one that is based on success and hard work. You put those two things together, and the sky is the limit.”
The football program is aware of the impact the 2024 season had on the entire community.
Minor is implementing a new award symbolizing Osawatomie's rich football tradition and Trojan values.
"I've always wanted to make this football team the greatest it can possibly be," said Colton Smith, Osawatomie sophomore. "I’ve always wanted to make [it] go past that.”
Rebuilding a program to its former glory begins with looking at the past to understand the present.
Osawatomie's football past revolves around the 1966 Kansas state championship team led by Green Bay Packers quarterback Lynn Dickey.
"It feels like you kind of have to do what they did," Flanagan said about Dickey's legacy.
Osawatomie football players feel connected to local legends, such as late Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders tight end Derrick Jensen, more than they can explain.
"It feels kind of like you have to prove yourself to them. They've gone so far that you know it’s possible for you to go, too," Smith said.
Less than half a mile from the football field, a walk down memory lane awaits in David French's man cave.
French, an Osawatomie resident of 40 years, married a former Trojan cheerleader. The couple then raised OHS athletes.
KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa met with French as he flipped through his wife's yearbook, identifying lasting memories.
"I didn't graduate from here," French said. "But I've made a life here ..."
French mentors Osawatomie athletes at the OZone fitness center adjacent to the high school campus. He also has a beat on rural America.
"In small-town rural America, we center our lives around this," he said of high school football. "The boys are our boys. They're our sons ... They'll go out to battle on football gridiron, but they represent us as a whole in our community as our finest.”
French began coaching in Osawatomie in the 1980s during the transformation of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and State Hospital.
"We could draw more from those classes of athletes, some of their fathers and mothers that were tied into the railroad," French explained. "We had good numbers of athletes back then. I feel like as time has passed by, we're not the only community impacted by a change in industry."
The railroad entered Osawatomie in 1879. Later in 1910, the railroad brought President Theodore Roosevelt and 30,000 spectators to town.
The community also played a pivotal role in transporting troops in World War II.
In 1982, the Missouri Pacific Railroad began merging with the Union Pacific Railroad, causing local operations to gradually close and move to Kansas City.
KSHB 41reported on the impact of the railroad merger earlier this year.
Challenges in rural Miami County are a glimpse into the struggles faced in rural America.
Changes from the town's past are catching up with its present growth.
"In all of America, and especially in rural America, industry is a concern," French said. "But there is infrastructure being built in our community, the potential for new business to come, and the new homes that are being built might give opportunities to families that want to move here. With more families, we get more of a pool of young men and women that want to be out for athletics."
KSHB 41 has followed up on multiple infrastructure and industry improvements in Osawatomie.
The city council accepted $48 million in federal loans and grants to build a new water treatment facility, P.E.R.K Coffee Shop is creating entrepreneurial opportunities for local students, and the city is finalizing major downtown 6th Street roadway improvements.
“It’s an us against the world kind of mentality,” French said.
French believes an increase in the amount of activities American youth are involved with is creating burnout.
But despite a lack of involvement in football this year, Osawatomie sophomore football leaders are actively recruiting new players to help establish a new culture.
“I want people to look up to that day every single week,” Smith said.
Coach Minor said it’s up to the current batch of JV sophomores to determine the outcome of the program.
“I feel the Osawatomie Trojans are the real Trojans,” Flanagan said. “We can be the reason we go back to a championship … The Trojans will always have their community to back them up.”
Football in Osawatomie will return to a normal varsity format in the summer.