After finishing last season 3-7, Flowing Wells wasn’t at the top of any list at the start of the 2018 season.
But the underestimated Caballeros are not only 4-1, they’re now ranked No. 4 in the Class 5A power rankings. Flowing Wells will start the region portion of its schedule Friday at Empire.
Coach Mark Brunenkant admits he didn’t think the team would be in this position before the season started. And when he went to check the rankings on Tuesday, he thought the Caballeros would come in at No. 10 or 11.
He and the team were surprised when they saw themselves near the top of the 5A list. Brunenkant wants to see how the team handles itself following the news.
“I think our coaches were surprised, because a lot of our coaches have not been in that situation,” Brunenkant said. “So, we have to practice and present ourselves like we belong there and take it week by week and take it with a grain of salt.”
Flowing Wells coach Mark Brunenkant says he feels “like they’re going to be taking us more seriously from here on out.”
Flowing Wells could have been 5-0, but it fell just short against California’s Palm Desert. A missed field goal in the last three minutes of play resulted in a 9-7 loss.
Of course, the closeness cuts both ways. The team beat both Canyon del Oro and Walden Grove by a single point, and topped Paradise Valley in a one-score game.
In what Brunenkant considers their worst game of the season, the Caballeros routed Amphitheater 40-12.
“I think, most of the teams probably took us lightly coming in,” Brunenkant said. “Our worst game that we played this year was Amphi, and we won by 28 points. All the other games were just great high school football games. Just real exciting high school football games.”
The last time the Caballeros were in this position was three years ago. Flowing Wells finished the 2015 regular season with a 9-1 record and lost in the first round of the state tournament. But even then, they were given a No. 9 ranking.
But the team slowly got worse over the next two seasons. The team still made it to the first round of playoffs in 2016, but finished with a 6-4 regular-season record. Last year’s team won just three games.
Senior lineman Wesley Kavathas said he believes last year’s performance is what led to people’s lowered expectations of the team this season. Instead, it’s motivated the team.
“I don’t know what happened last year. I was part of that team, but for some reason we didn’t click as well,” Kavathas said. “But people pointing to us and saying we’re going to lose, really lit a fire under us and made us get after it more. That was a big part of it.”
Senior Mitchell Effing echoed the same sentiment. The players took it personally when they heard they were expected to be routed in their first game against CDO.
“We’ve been motivated since Week 0 when we were told we were going to lose by 20 points,” Effing said. “We’ve just been keeping that mentality throughout the season.”
But after the way the Caballeros performed in the first half of the season, they will no longer be entering games as the underdogs. Brunenkant said now the team will be favored to win entering region play.
“Hopefully they’re going to see the value which we have here,” Kavathas said. “Fourth in the state – it’s hard to argue with that. So, I feel like they’re going to be taking us more seriously from here on out.”
