KAW VALLEY Football League (Original): 1925-1937                  Return to AREA FB     HOME                Update: November 12, 2011

KAW VALLEY Football League (Current): 1983-Present

       The original Kaw Valley League was formed in 1924 and held competition in the 1924-25 school year in basketball. The first football competition in the league took place in the fall of 1925 with the following participants: DE SOTO, EUDORA, LINWOOD, BONNER SPRINGS and SHAWNEE MISSION. Some of the original reports about this group use the name Kaw Valley Athletic Association - but that reference quickly disappears and various newspapers of the day all use the name KAW VALLEY LEAGUE from 1925 till the disbanding after the 1936-37 school year.

         Welborn (name changed to WASHINGTON-K.C. in 1931) joined the league in 1926. SHAWNEE MISSION dropped out in 1927. In that same season, TONGANOXIE was approved for participation. LINWOOD struggled to compete in football - they sat out the 1929 season then came back in play for the 1930, 1931 and 1933 seasons before dropping football membership in the KVL. TURNER-K.C. was recruited in 1933 bringing a peak to membership at seven teams.

         A league of smaller schools was started in 1936 called the LITTLE FIVE. EUDORA and DE SOTO belonged to this league as well as the KVL in 1936. EUDORA continued that dual membership in 1937. DE SOTO discontinued football in 1937 and joined the TRI-COUNTY League (non-football league) . The new EKL took WASHINGTON-K.C., BONNER SPRINGS and TURNER-K.C. out of the KVL. EUDORA played on in the LITTLE FIVE and TONGANOXIE played as an INDEPENDENT.

 

                                                                                                                      1925                                                       1937

Bonner Springs                          
De Soto * * * * * * *            
Eudora                         *
Linwood                          
Shawnee Mission    
Washington-K.C.                   *      
Tonganoxie               * *   * *  
Turner-K.C.       *    

                                                                             YEAR       TEAM                   League       All               Coach

1925 DeSoto (3-1-0) (6-3-0) H.A.W. Kesler
1926 DeSoto * (5-0-0) (7-0-2) H.A.W. Kesler
1927 DeSoto (4-0-0) (8-2-0) H.A.W. Kesler
1928 DeSoto (5-0-0) (7-2-0) H.A.W. Kesler
1929 Desoto (4-0-0) (8-0-1) H.A.W. Kesler
1930 Desoto (5-0-0) (7-0-1) Cliff Breithaupt
1931 DeSoto (4-0-1)   Cliff Breithaupt
1932 Tonganoxie (3-0-1) (3-3-3) Allen Beatty
1933 Tonganoxie (6-0-0) (8-0-1) Allen Beatty
1934 Washington-K.C. (5-0-0) (8-0-0) Claude Huyck
1935 Tonganoxie (4-1-0) (7-1-1) J.D. Fink
  Turner-K.C (4-1-0) (7-0-1) Chet Davenport
1936 Tonganoxie (4-0-1) (8-0-1) J.D. Fink
1937 Eudora ** (4-0-0) (6-1-1) Cliff Olander

 

                                                                        * Shawnee Mission won the championship - but had to forfeit all their wins due to ineligible player.

                                                                                              ** Eudora won the KAW VALLEY but finished 2nd in the LITTLE FIVE.

 

    KAW VALLEY LEAGUE (Current Version): 1983 - Present

               This league revived the name used by the association of 1925. The charter members came mainly from three leagues that ended in 1982.  TONGANOXIE, LANSING and DE SOTO were from the PIONEER League - BASEHOR, EUDORA and PIPER-K.C. came in from the JAYHAWK II - PERRY-LECOMPTON had been a member of the JEFFERSON COUNTY League. The last member of the group, IMMACULATA-LEAVENWORTH, left the BIG 7 for the new league.

                   EUDORA withdrew in 1985 and joined the FRONTIER League. Basehor merger with Linwood to form BASEHOR-LINWOOD in 1988. Other than that, the league membership stayed the same until 1991. SANTA FE TRAIL was admitted that year after growing too large for the MID-EAST League. The membership was increased when a new school MILL VALLEY-Shawnee was admitted in 2000.

                  In 2002 the league was divided into a Upper and Lower division. BONNER SPRINGS (formerly HURON League) joined MILL VALLEY, TONGANOXIE, LANSING and BASEHOR-LINWOOD in the Upper Division. SANTA FE TRAIL, PIPER-K.C., PERRY-LECOMPTON, DE SOTO and IMMACULATA comprised the Lower Division. There is only one trophy awarded for the league championship in football. The championship is awarded to the team with the best winning percentage in league games regardless of division. There are split titles for basketball. Other recent membership changes:  2003 DE SOTO dropped out and joined the FRONTIER League. 2004 WARD-K.C. joined the league after the HURON League folded.  Update: IMMACULATA left the league after the 2006-07 school year. TURNER-KC became a new member in 2009. PERRY-LECOMPTON and SANTA FE TRAIL will be joining the BIG 7 in 2010. 

                  

 

  

1983 Tonganoxie (7-0) (8-1) Marvin Moles
1984 Piper-K.C. (7-0) (7-2) Laurel Hobick
1985 DeSoto (5-1) (5-4) Ron Blackwood
1986 DeSoto (5-1) (7-2) Ron Blackwood
  Piper-K.C. (5-1) (7-4) Laurel Hobick
1987 DeSoto (6-0) (9-1) Ron Blackwood
1988 DeSoto (5-1) (7-2) Jon Krug
  Lansing (5-1) (6-3) Rick Hodam
1989 Perry-Lecompton (6-0) (7-2) Armin Landis
1990 Immaculata (Leavenworth) (6-0) (10-1) Pat Patterson
1991 Immaculata (Leavenworth) (5-1) (8-2) Pat Patterson
  Perry-Lecompton (5-1) (7-2) Armin Landis
  Tonganoxie (5-1) (8-2) Steve Hughes
1992 Piper-K.C. (7-0) (8-2) Laurel Hobick
1993 Piper-K.C. (6-1) (8-2) Laurel Hobick
1994 Santa Fe Trail (Carbondale) (6-0) (11-1) Bob Von Stein
1995 Immaculata (Leavenworth) (5-1) (9-2) Todd Leonard
1996 Santa Fe Trail (Carbondale) (6-0) (10-2) Bob Von Stein
1997 Santa Fe Trail (Carbondale) (6-0) (8-1) Bob Von Stein
1998 Immaculata (Leavenworth) (6-0) (7-2) Todd Leonard
  Lansing (6-0) (7-2) Rick Hodam
1999 Perry-Lecompton (6-1) (8-2) Charlie Golder
  Santa Fe Trail (Carbondale) (5-1) (7-2) Bob Von Stein
2000 Basehor-Linwood                 (6-0) (6-4) Paul Brown
  Immaculata (Leavenworth) (6-0) (6-3) Todd Leonard
2001 Basehor-Linwood                 (5-1) (5-5) Paul Brown
2002 Mill Valley (Shawnee) (6-0) (8-1) George Radell
Santa Fe Trail (Carbondale) (7-0) (7-2) Bob Von Stein
2003 Piper-K.C. (8-1) (8-1) Dick Tatro
2004 Mill Valley (Shawnee) (5-0) (6-4) George Radell
2005 Lansing (7-1) (9-2) Bill Pekarek
Tonganoxie (7-1) (9-2) Mark Elston
  Perry-Lecompton * (6-1) (8-2) Mike Paramore
2006 Tonganoxie (7-0) (8-2) Mark Elston
2007 Perry-Lecompton  (6-1) (8-2) Mike Paramore
  Bonner Springs (5-1) (8-2) Lew Kasselman
  Lansing (5-1) (8-2) Bill Pekarek
2008 Mill Valley (Shawnee) (5-0) (9-2) George Radell
2009 Basehor-Linwood (7-1) (8-2) Steve Hopkins
2010 Basehor-Linwood (7-0) (9-1) Steve Hopkins
2011 Basehor-Linwood (7-0) (10-1) Steve Hopkins

                               * Pat Winchester of Perry-Lecompton informed me that this team shared the crown in 2005. Their district schedule did not allow them to play 8 league games.