FIELD KINDLEY GOLDEN TORNADO

By Keegan McCullick, Staff Writer

In year three of his tenure at Field Kindley High School in Coffeyville, head coach Deonta Wade managed to lead the Golden Tornado to their first season above .500 since 2013. Wade’s first two years with the program were full of growing pains, winning just four games total with no shortage of blowout losses, but 2022 saw a major step forward with a 6-4 record and second round playoff berth.

“It has been the acceptance of working hard,” Wade said. “It’s cliche but embracing the hard work; ‘welcoming the suck,’ so to speak. Nothing worth having comes easy. Our program has embraced that and bought-in. We still haven’t reached where we want to be, however we continue to make progress in the right direction. Top to bottom everyone has had a workmanlike approach. We are trying to change the way Coffeyville football is viewed. Nothing flashy, just hard-nosed, smashmouth football.”

The Golden Tornado started the season with a 4-0 record last fall before facing a brutal stretch including matchups with state runner-up Wamego and a loaded Chanute team, games Field Kindley lost, but kept far more respectable than years past – their 14 point loss to Chanute was the closest of the Comets nine wins.

Back from that team are seven defensive and six offensive starters, including one of the most productive defensive linemen in the state last season, senior Kainen White.

The 6-1, 277 pound All-Stater was a terror for opposing backfields, recording 74 tackles, 25 tackles-for-loss, six sacks, and seven forced fumbles, and has earned a scholarship offer from Bethel with interest from other programs all the way up to Division I.

“The key takeaway for last season for me was mentally we need to be stronger and have trust in our teammates,” White said.

Coach Wade doubled-down on White’s observation.

“It’s all about trust in football,” Wade said. “Trusting the player next to you, trusting your coaches and coaching. Being mentally tough comes to having to play a ton of snaps. Kainen knows we are going to ask a lot of him and he is embracing it. The entire team needs to embrace this. Playing their role to the best of their ability. This is what the consistently good programs do. And that’s where we are trying to get to is consistently good.”

Others back for the defense include senior linebackers Joseph Neuenschwander (46 tkls., 9 TFLs, 3 sacks) and Brayson Voss (86 tkls., 13 TFLs, 3 sacks), while the defensive backfield will feature Amanie Luten (51 tkls., 6 TFLs), Amir Luten (INT), and juniors Keyshawn

Hayes (INT) and Aaron Tunstall (INT). “Balance and defense will be the keys to our success this season,” Wade said. “Making people defend 53.3 yards, and we have to play defense on our terms: Flying around, making plays, and arriving with bad intentions.”

Offensively the Golden Tornado get back White and Voss on the line to lead the way for a group of skill players that will welcome some new faces thanks to the transfer of LaMarcus Allen to Independence and returning 1,000-yard rusher Jeremy Colbert Jr. likely to miss the season this fall. Tunstall (38 car., 357 yds., 4 TDs), Hayes (5 rec., 44 yds.), and Amir (8 rec., 137 yds., TD) and Amanie Luten (5 rec., 44 yds., 1 TD), will all be expected to carry a heavier load offensively this fall. Neuenschwander will also add to the offense from the tight end position while juniors Joshua Shobe and De’Ontay Galindo will factor in the offense in a variety of ways and junior quarterback Axel Erne will be asked to take on a leadership role and distribute the ball to a variety of playmakers.

Offensive lineman Keiton Jones is a name to know as well from Coffeyville. The junior has the size (6-5, 300) and strength (600 pound squat, 320 pound bench) to emerge as a high level college football prospect. White did sustain an injury in the offseason that will keep him off the field for potentially the first month of the season, but he is optimistic he can return just in time to help Wade and company take another step forward.