2026 Small School Kansas Prospects With Breakout Seasons

As the 2025 High School football season wraps up in Kansas we turn our attention fully back to recruiting. In this scouting update I'll showcase five small school prospects who had big senior seasons and should be garnering higher levels of interest from college programs.   I was blessed to be able to watch many of the top 8-Man and 1A/2A prospects this past fall in person or on film. Here are the five to keep your eyes on that definitely caught my attention.    The 6-foot-0, 175-pound Anderson had a absolutely stellar senior season where he broke numerous school records. He set multiple school passing records and finished with 115 career passing touchdowns.   The dual-threat quarterback he threw for 1,753 yards and had 26 touchdowns. On the ground he rushed for 714 yards and 17 additional scores.   Frankfort came up short in the 8-Man II playoffs to Twin Valley League rival Axtell 60-14 to close out his gridiron career. In the playoff game before the Axtell lose, he had a night to remember in a 84-74 shootout win over Marmaton Valley. He went 24-29 passing for 286 yards and six touchdowns and added 189 yards rushing with four more scores   He has been a multiple All-State selection in football and also a standout performer in basketball and track & field. This past week he scored his 1,000 career point on the hardwood in a 26 point outing.       Krone is one of the those athletes that brings a excellent height/weight ratio with his 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame. He stared at both quarterback and defensive end for the Cardinals.   Krone and his Ell-Saline teammates fell in a heartbreaker to Lincoln in the 8-Man I state semifinals 46-44.   On the season he was 80-131 passing for 1,234 yards and 22 touchdowns through the air. One glaring stat he had in the passing game was the fact he threw no interceptions this past fall.   He is also a very effective bruiser as a ball carrier from his quarterback position. Krone rushed for 365 yards on 70 carries and an additional 12 touchdowns on the ground.   On the defensive side of the ball he used his length and athletic ability to registar 45 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks from his defensive end position. He also hauled in two interceptions with one of them being a pick-6.     Through the years Rossville has been blessed with some tremendous dual-threat quarterbacks and Mitchell was an chip off the old block for the Dawgs. Having grown up being the ball boy for numerous years where the Horak brothers had record setting quarterback seasons, this season was his big opportunity.   The 6-foot-1, 165-pound athlete had a big senior season and led the Bulldawgs to an state-runners up finish after a bitter 35-34 loss to Sterling in the 1A state title game.   On the season he was 123-184 for 1,771 yards passing and 19 touchdowns through the air with only one interception. When it came to using his ever effective legs, he rushed for 1,162 yards and pitched in an additional 21 scores. Overall he completed nearly 65% of his passes on the season.   Mitchell is one of those quarterbacks that should become even more effective once he fills out his body further on this 6-foot-1 frame.     Much like Canaan Mitchell, Johnson was a huge part of Rossville's success this past season. The well built 6-foot-0, 210-pound Johnson played both running back and linebacker for the Dawgs.   It was the defensive side of the ball he saw his biggest success as he was named Sports in Kansas 1A Defensive Player of the Year this past fall.   Offensively he had nearly 500 total offensive yards and 13 touchdowns. It is on the defensive side of the ball where he was most effective where he had a staggering 133 tackles from his linebacker position. He had back-to-back seasons with over 100 tackles for Rossville. Johnson also had 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks and 1.0 interceptions defensively.   He was selected to play in the Native All-American Football Game, where he represented the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. He has picked up some NAIA offers already and his seen his recruitment really start to pick up since the season has ended.     Much like [player_tooltip player_id='780342' first='Wes' last='Anderson'] from Frankfort, Lord is a dynamic dual-threat quarterback that can destroy with either his arm or legs. The 6-foot-0, 155-pound may be the biggest quarterback out there but he made the best of his God given abilities.   This past season he threw for 94-157 passing for 1,466 yards and 24 touchdowns through the air to only five interceptions. On the ground he rushed for 1,225 yards on 104 carries and 25 more scores.   He also had an very impressive season on the defensive side of the ball where he had six interceptions, 45 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss from the secondary.   Lord his his teammates lost in the 8-Man I playoffs to Anderson and his Frankfort ball squad in a epic 84-74 shoot-out. In that game Lord was 24-34 passing for 392 yards and seven touchdowns. He also rushed for 215 yards on 34 carries and yet another seven scores. What a way to close out ones high school career!    Be on the look-out for more recruiting and scouting articles on namely 2026 and 2027 prospects throughout the off-season as we lead up to signing day.

As the 2025 High School football season wraps up in Kansas we turn our attention fully back to recruiting. In this scouting update I'll showcase five small school prospects who had big senior seasons and should be garnering higher levels of interest from college programs.