By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Abilene Cowboys found themselves in a bit of a reloading season in 2024, experiencing growing pains at several key positions throughout a 3-6 campaign that left many, including those in the locker room, wanting more.
With those challenges behind them, and a slew of returning stars on both sides of the ball, the Cowboys are primed and ready to return to their winning ways in 2025, with a senior-heavy roster and a clearer path to success.
“I love the progression that we’ve made over the offseason,” Abilene head coach Brad Nicks said. “We have 14 great seniors who have been staples in this program since they were freshmen, and all of them should play a big role in the season ahead.”
That colossal senior class begins with quarterback Taygen Funston, whose dual-threat abilities posed a real challenge for opposing defenses.
Several of Funston’s favorite targets return to this offense as well, including Levi Evans, Heath and Lane Hoekman, Jaxon Cuba and Noah Wilkins.
The backfield will be familiar to Abilene fans, led by the tandem of Lane Hoekman and Davyn Cuba, but running behind a mostly new offensive line.
“Line play for us is where everything starts,” Nicks said. “You don’t replace guys like the ones we lost easily, but I feel really good about the guys we have who are stepping into those roles.”
Those newcomers include a familiar name in Cael Casteel, who joins his brother Pierce on the line, and a fresh senior in Bradyn Blake, who set a new standard in the weight room with a squat max of over 500 pounds.
On defense, the veteran presence is even more pronounced, with Taygen Funston, Lane Hoekman, Kayden Thrower, and Levi Evans reprising their roles in the secondary, and Jaxon Cuba, Kash Hargrave, and Ethan Evans all returning to fill out the linebacking corps.
Even on a D-Line that lost Devin Alvarez and Tyler Holloway, a pair of returners in Heath Hoekman and Jaxon Cuba bookend a unit that includes more veterans like Pierce Casteel and Jaelin Robinson on the interior.
“Our defensive strength is in our line,” Nicks said. “When you have bookends like Heath Hoekman and Jaxon Cuba, that’s a heck of a thing to anchor to, and we’ve got guys behind them that look really strong.”
While the 2024 season came with a learning curve, 2025 has been much smoother in preseason, something the Cowboys are confident will translate to the field in their first few weeks of the season.
“It’s been great to have so many guys back who know our systems,” he said. “Things have been very seamless with so many guys who played big roles for us. That’s allowed us to push beyond where we were a year ago, and it’s helped us push everyone on our roster from top to bottom.”
Many around the state have tempered their expectations for Abilene in 2025, but inside the locker room, standards remain high despite the gauntlet ahead.
“The kids have set the goal to be 7-1, and we still want to host a home playoff game. We’re trying to get back to where we were a few years back,” Nicks said. “We feel like we were two plays away from being 5-3 last season. Our kids are hungry, and I think we have good goals to chase this year.”
The Cowboys will have a chance to make a statement and begin the year with a bang when they host Clay Center this Friday, looking for their first win over the Tigers since 2018.
Full 2025 Football Schedule
9/5 - vs. Clay Center
9/12 - at Chapman
9/19 - at Concordia
9/26 - vs. Rock Creek
10/3 - at Marysville
10/10 - at Augusta
10/17 - vs. El Dorado
10/24 - vs. Wamego