1994 State Championship Team

Derby didn't wait for spring. The pads came off after the 1993 title game and Coach Tom Young had his team back in the building almost immediately.

"We turned in pads after that game and [shortly after] Coach Young had us coming in early doing plyometric training," Draney said. "We added new training to our workouts, extending those out in the morning. We had first-hour strength and conditioning and we were doing extra workouts during zero hour."

They had reason to believe. With very few exceptions, this group grew up in Derby — Derby Junior Football together, middle school together, and then, after losing the first game of their eighth-grade year, they simply stopped losing. Not on the freshman team. Not on the sophomore team. Not on JV. And not as seniors.

"While many of us participated in that 1993 season, we knew that our year was coming," said captain and center Doug Simpler. "We had a really strong rapport with each other."

Young — still the only coach in Kansas history to win state championships in three different classifications, at Hanover, Wellington and Derby — never let his team look past a soul.

"We'd get into playing some of the Wichita teams in districts like a Wichita South and it would be 2-6 or so," Draney said. "He'd say something like, 'it's the best 2-6 team I've ever seen.' We had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but by Thursday of each game week, we'd have janitors or teachers telling us we'd kill these teams and we'd repeat [Coach Young's words]. You bought into that so early for every game."

1994 was also Bill Shaw's first season as defensive coordinator, replacing Ted Easter. The handoff was seamless. Shaw and Young, longtime friends, built what many still consider the best defense in Panther history — nine of twelve opponents held to single digits.

"He took to the team really fast and everyone was really excited to play for him," co-captain Tyson Malik said. "We prided ourselves on defense for sure … we weren't as big as the 1993 team, but were really hard hitters and fast players."

Paul Evans, who coached 25 years of Derby football, sat in the locker room after a 27-6 opener against McPherson that nobody was thrilled with, and still knew what he had.

"That team had every quality it needed to be a state champion," said Evans, who coached receivers and special teams. "They were outstanding football players and were also team-oriented. They cared about each other and loved each other and were very easy to coach … just refused to lose."

The closest call came in districts against Wichita West. Derby held the Pioneers to seven points in regulation, then survived 17 more across four overtimes to win 31-24. Under the district format of the era, a loss there could have ended the season before the playoffs ever started.

Instead it opened the door to one of the great postseason runs in Kansas history.

Wichita Northwest, 31-0. Then Dodge City — a program that had ended Derby's season two years earlier, ranked No. 1 in Class 6A by the Topeka Capital Journal while Derby held the same spot in the Wichita Eagle. The Red Demons were led by former Kansas State running back Brian Goolsby, whose son DeAndre would later play at Derby.

"They were hungry and they were big," Simpler said. "They scored 55 points against Junction City the week before. Their coach was quoted in the newspapers saying, 'we're going to make a quick stop in Derby on the way up to Lawrence.' That's pretty motivating to a bunch of 17-year-olds."

Dodge City had scored 40-plus in five straight games. They left Derby with a zero — 19-0. Substate champions.

"We felt like Dodge City was one of the best teams in the state," Malik said. "After beating them and just having seen them on tape and seeing them run over everyone they played against … we felt pretty confident after that."

Derby brought its town with it. Pep rallies filled the Wal-Mart parking lot. Fans filled the stadium as early as 3:00 p.m. And in Lawrence, in the defending champion's own building, the green outnumbered the black and red.

"When we played in the state championship game against Lawrence in Lawrence … we brought more fans than they did," Simpler said. "It blows my mind … I don't know many people that were involved with the school or the athletic department that didn't make the trip that day. It was incredible and overwhelming."

Derby led 7-0 at halftime and nobody exhaled — not after watching a three-touchdown lead evaporate the year before. Late in the game, Draney was pulled from the huddle and jogged confused toward offensive line coach Steve Wilson.

"I get about five steps from the sideline and he gives me the biggest bear hug," Draney said. "He tells me, 'we did it!' I asked him what he meant and at that point, I finally looked up at the clock and saw we were up 21-0 and there was 1:27 left … Until that point, I hadn't even thought we were in the final two minutes of that game."

21-0. Four straight playoff shutouts. Playoff opponents outscored 71-0 — something never accomplished before or since in the history of Kansas football playoffs. Players carried Tom Young onto the field.

"I remember that euphoria of it," Malik said. "Without a doubt, it was the craziest feeling I had ever had. I was surprised by the emotions that overcame us when you realized you were the first to win a title and we had done everything we had set out to do."

The 1994 Panthers never really left. Members of this team came back to coach, teach, and motivate at Derby High School. Many stayed local, and their children attended Derby, played at Derby, and filled the same stands their fathers once played in front of.

Today they are doctors, lawyers, business executives, engineers, mechanics, nurses, entrepreneurs, parents, spouses, brothers, sons and friends — spread across the country and still thick in Derby. Different roles, different zip codes, one shared thing.

"We are all unique in our roles, responsibilities, and locations," they say of themselves, "but we are united by our Derby Football experience."