By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: TopSports.news has finished its tour of preseason football practices at all 10 Shawnee County high schools and will post preview stories over the coming days leading into the opening games of the 2025 season on Sept. 4 and 5.
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When former Washburn University standout Trey Parker was thrust into the position of interim coach at Topeka West for the final three games of the 2022 season, he knew there was a lot of work to be done.
Topeka West football coach Trey Parker begins his third full season as head coach this fall and is counting on the Chargers to take another step in their rebuilding process. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
After all, Parker was taking over a Charger program that hasn't produced a winning season since 2004.
But as Parker enters his third full season at West, he is proud of the progress the Chargers have made and thinks his team is ready to take another step forward this fall after three straight 1-8 campaigns.
"Everyone wants the big leaps in Year 1 and Year 2, but we understood that this was a multi-year process and we're starting to see the fruits of our labor,'' Parker said. "We've still got a long ways to go, but we're definitely way farther than where we were before, so we're excited about that.''
Parker will build this year's Charger team around a nucleus of players who have been with him since he got to West.
"Those are the guys that we're starting to lean on now,'' Parker said. "When I got them they were freshmen and sophomores and now they are juniors and seniors and they are leading our team.
"They understand what we expect day in and day out and now they're putting in the work in the offseason and during the season, so we're expecting big things from them.''
Parker knows that wins will still be hard to come by in the tough United Kansas Conference, but the West coach is confident that his Chargers will be able to compete.
"Being in one of the toughest leagues in Kansas, it's hard to compete right off the bat, so we understood it was going to take time for us to compete,'' Parker said. "But now we feel like we're starting to turn that corner where we can compete.
"We're going to compete in every game, and certain games we feel like we may be able to turn the tide and maybe be able to sneak out a win here or there. It's Year 3 now for us, so we feel like now we've got a little bit of momentum going.''
Top returners for Topeka West include senior lineman Logan Hunninghake, senior wide receiver Gad Munganga, junior lineman Dorian Rhoten Jr. and junior running back Damon Webb Jr.
Webb carried the ball 17 times for 192 yards and three touchdowns in last fall's 32-20 UKC win over Kansas City-Turner.
The Chargers also return sophomore quarterback Josiah Wilke, who took over as West's starter the second half of the 2024 season.
"He did great at the end of the year, he put in the work this whole offseason and I'm excited to see what he does and what steps he takes,'' Parker said. "We've kind of catered our offense around him because we knew what we had in him.
"We're going to lean on our offensive skill guys. We feel like Webb at running back is one of the best in the area, he just needs to get the opportunities, and then our receiving corps, we lost some guys last year, but we felt like the younger guys stepped up and had a great summer and we feel like they can produce just the same if not better as last year.''
Parker is also pleased with how the Chargers' numbers have grown.
"My first year we had 32 kids,'' he said. "Last year we got around 50, 55 and now we're touching 70, 80 kids and these kids are here all offseason.
"We're excited about the growth we're making. We're building those relationships and the kids trust us and want to be here.''
Topeka West will open its 2025 season on Sept. 5 against De Soto in a United Kansas Conference contest at Hummer Sports Park.
TOPEKA WEST
2025 football schedule
(Home games at Hummer Sports Park)
September -- 5 De Soto, 12 at Shawnee Heights, 19 Seaman, 25 Lansing.
October -- 3 at Basehor-Linwood, 10 at KC-Turner, 17 Leavenworth, 24 at Piper.
Next up: Washburn Rural.
