By Blake Chadwick
Wichita Northwest has always had really good special teams play under head coach Steve Martin. Last year was no different as another former soccer player helped them separate themselves from the pack.
Junior Franklin Ekue was in charge of kickoffs and some punting last year for the Grizzlies. The then-sophomore was looking for anything to get on the field, and when the opportunity arose, he didn’t look back.
Ekue had 2,581 kickoff yards and nine touchbacks last season, which was ranked third most in class 6A helping him be named as a first-team all-city league kicker.
“I have a strong leg,” Ekue said. “I started playing football in seventh grade and played soccer until then. Soccer is the reason I started kicking.”
Now, the junior will be looking for a more significant role as he is competing for the starting running back and linebacker spots.
“I am a versatile player,” Ekue said. “I can play wherever coach Martin needs me, I run hard and go through people. It takes a lot more than just one person to take me down. And I have the speed to get away, good route running too because I played receiver last year.”
Ekue and the Grizzlies finished last season with a 7-3 record last year with two losses to Wichita East.
“We’ve had a very long process ever since last year when we got knocked out of the playoffs,” Ekue said. “We’ve worked through winter training, spring training, and now summer training to get to our main goal, which is the state championship. To win it would mean the world to us. It’d mean all this hard work my team and I have put in finally paid off.”
