The Big East League made its highly anticipated debut in 2024, and it lived up to the hype on the gridiron. The Nemaha Central Thunder were crowned the first ever league champions going undefeated in league play at 4-0. The Silver Lake Eagles finished second behind NC going 4-1 in league play with their lone loss at the hands of the Thunder 35-7. The Riley County Falcons won three of their four league games while Holton and St. Marys each finished 4-2 in the league. Royal Valley, Sabetha, and Perry-Lecompton each won three league games while Hiawatha went 1-4. Jefferson West and Rossville were the only two teams in the league unable to capture a league victory. Nemaha Central’s bid for the 2A three-peat fell short in the championship game as they lost to Southeast of Saline in heartbreaking fashion. Outside of the Thunder, it was Rossville and Perry-Lecompton who made deep runs in the postseason. Rossville in Class 1A got to the Sub-State title game but the season ended with a 22-9 loss against Centralia. They had two dominant wins against Wabaunsee and McLouth in the first two rounds and followed that with an incredible comeback win over Jackson Heights in the sectional round before the loss to the Panthers. Perry-Lecompton’s run in the 3A playoffs featured two impressive road wins at Santa Fe Trail and Frontenac, however the run for the Kaws would end on the road at Hayden in the sectional round. Silver Lake, Holton, St. Marys, and Sabetha also advanced into the second week of the playoffs. In eight of the last nine seasons, the Big East/Big 7 has had at least one team playing in a state championship game. Nemaha Central will be one of the favorites once again in 2A as they will look for their third championship in four years while plenty of other squads in the league will be in the hunt across their respective classifications. Buckle up and get ready because year two of the Big East league is ready to go.

Nemaha Central’s quest for a third straight Class 2A state championship in 2024 was cut short in the title game in Hutchinson with a 36-28 loss against Southeast of Saline. The Thunder had undefeated title runs in both 2022 and 2023 with last season starting with a week one loss against Marysville 16-8. NC wasted little time after that getting back on track as they would roll through the rest of their regular season schedule capturing both district and league titles. This will be one of the most motivated teams in the state going into the season and they have all the pieces to not only get back to a state championship game, but to win another state championship. Michael Glatczak enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Thunder and his resume in the last four seasons stacks up with anyone’s in the state. Glatczak has compiled a 44-5 record with the two state titles along with multiple league and district championships.

Silver Lake in 2024 posted a strong campaign in their first season in the Big East. The Eagles went into the second week of the playoffs finishing with a record of 7-3 with a 4-1 mark in league play which was good for solo second behind only Nemaha Central. After an impressive win against Council Grove in the regular season, the Eagles season ended to the Braves in the second round with a 30-8 loss. Silver Lake will continue their rich tradition in 2025 but will have to replace multiple starters on both sides of the ball. Logan Pegram enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Eagles and has compiled a 21-8 record in his first three seasons. Before taking the job at Silver Lake, Pegram was the head coach for two seasons at Anderson County.

The 2024 season was a challenging one for Holton, who had several opportunities but couldn’t quite put it all together. A pair of one-point losses to start the season, including blowing a 20-0 lead, set the tone. The Wildcats were a young squad with only seven seniors on the roster but put it together with an impressive 51-21 playoff win against Burlington. The win against Burlington was followed by one of the worst playoff losses in recent memory as they were shutout by Wellsville 49-0 which ended the season. Head coach Brooks Barta returns for year 29, now with a record of 269-69 after taking his team into the playoffs each of the past 26 seasons. Despite losing several key athlete positions, the Wildcats return a solid nucleus and anticipate a better second season in the Big East League.

It was a streaky 2024 season for St. Marys going 6-4 overall with a trip to the second round of the playoffs. The Bears started 3-0 with impressive wins over Perry-Lecompton, Jefferson West, and Rossville. The next three weeks featured a six point loss to Silver Lake, a one point loss to Riley County, and an eight point loss to Osage City to even the record at 3-3 through six weeks. They closed out the season with wins over Council Grove and Sabetha before dominating Central Heights in the first round of the playoffs before losing in a rematch to Osage City in the second round. Head coach CJ Marple enters his second season at the helm of the program and will look to continue to build what he and his coaches started last season. The Bears have a core group of seniors that will lead the charge in 2025.

Sabetha graduated 23 seniors after the 2023 season and still managed to win six games and go 3-3 in league play last season. The season would end in the second round as they would see Nemaha Central for a second time and the Thunder would win 21-0. Last season provided valuable experience for so many underclassmen and that should bode well going into year two with Kaleb Moeller as the head coach. In total, the Bluejays are having to replace 13 letterwinners from last season but have the luxury of returning 16 letterwinners. Head coach Kaleb Moeller says they will have to play there brand of football, which is tough, physical, disciplined, and consistent.

Royal Valley secured a two-game improvement between 2023 and 2024 as they finished last season 5-4 overall and 3-3 in league play. The Panthers would battle Sabetha in the first round of the playoffs with the Bluejays pulling out a 16-14 win to end Royal Valley’s season. David Boucher enters his fifth season as the head coach and his 11^th season overall with the school. Last season was one of the best statistical seasons in school history with the rushing numbers along with overall defensive numbers and that will certainly be hard to replicate in 2025. But, they have so many important players back on both sides of the ball who contributed in major ways and that will make the Panthers very competitive.

For Riley County, the 2024 season was quality against league opponents but not so much against district opponents. The Falcons went 3-1 in the league but went just 1-3 in district play which kept them out of the playoffs. They finished 5-4 overall and wrapped it up with a week nine non-playoff game against Oskaloosa in which they dominated winning 63-0. Riley County will have multiple positions to replace in 2025 including all-league players lost to graduation in Eli Harmison, Sam Allen, Jace Woodard, and Brett Hopper. Erik Willimon enters his fourth season as head coach and will have 25 returning letterwinners this season which includes five returning starters on offense and seven returning starters on defense.

Perry-Lecompton made a surprising deep run in the postseason in 2024 making it all the way to the Sectional round before losing to Hayden 56-6 to end their season. After the win against Hiawatha, the Kaws won at Santa Fe Trail 35-0 in the first round of the playoffs and followed that with a 28-22 win at Frontenac before the loss to Hayden in the Sectional round. Mike Paramore is back once again to lead the Kaws program as he is entering his 25^th season as the head coach. The Kaws will have to replace a solid senior class but bring back plenty of starters on both sides of the ball. Regardless of previous success or disappointments, the standard and expectations for the Kaws remain the same.

Rossville kept their winning tradition intact last season, winning eight games and making a run to the sub-state championship game. The opened the season with three straight losses against Silver Lake, St. Marys, and Nemaha Central by a combined 15 points. After a forfeit win against Maranatha for the first win of the season, Rossville would get hot going on to win seven straight games before losing 22-9 to Centralia in the sub-state championship game. Derick Hammes enters his 13^th season as the head coach at Rossville. His career coaching record is 143-83 and he’s led the Bulldogs program to state championships in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, and 2021 with five Mid-East league championships.

For Hiawatha, they finished the 2024 season with a 2-7 record which included a 1-4 mark in Big East league play. The Redhawks will be looking to gather a few more wins in 2025 but the schedule is going to provide a different challenge each week. Fortunately, the Redhawks have more returning letterwinners this season with six returning starters on offense and seven returning starters on defense. Head coach Wyatt Jiru is entering his second season leading the program and will look for a good jump with improvement from year one to year two.

Jefferson West will look to rebound this season after going 2-7 last season and 0-6 in league games. The Tigers started 0-6 before winning two of their last three games which included a regular season win against Atchison County and St. Marys Academy in a week nine non-playoff game. Injuries to Crayton Holman and Tristan Strawn early in the season did not help the cause but getting a lot of underclassmen valuable playing time should bode well for the Tigers in 2025. Jefferson West will turn the page to a new regime this season with Jeff Schwinn taking over as the new head coach.