Salina Stars Unite for Final High School Stage at Kansas Shrine Bowl

HUTCHINSON — Throughout their formative years, they grew up playing side-by-side, on rival teams or simply admired each other’s success from afar.

Now that their high school football careers are over, Salina Central’s Cooper Reves and Jesus Delgado, Salina South’s Jaxon Myers and Brody Chambers from Southeast of Saline, share the honor of playing for the West team in this weekend’s Kansas Shrine Bowl.

Perhaps just as important in their minds, they get to represent Salina for either the first or the last time wearing identical uniforms.

Jesus Delgado

“Us Salina guys are kind of sticking together, I like to say,” Delgado, an all-state linebacker on Central’s 2025 Class 5A state championship team, said Tuesday during the West training camp Tuesday at Hutchinson Community.

On Thursday, the East and West teams convened in Emporia, site of the 53rd annual Shrine Bowl, set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Emporia State’s Welch Stadium. But not before four days of intense practice at their respective camps in Hutch and Ottawa.

For the Salina contingent, the free time between workouts and meetings was an opportunity to connect, reconnect and reminisce.

Jaxon Myers

“We’re all from near each other, so we kind of know each other, or we’ve heard of each other,” said Myers, a standout wide receiver at South. “We’ve got some pretty good dudes in Salina.

“It’s not just us, but there’s a lot more that could have been here.”

While Reves, an all-state running back, and Delgado helped lead Central to a 12-1 record and its first state title since 2005, Myers was part of a struggling South team that suddenly caught fire in the playoffs after a 1-7 regular season. Road victories in the first two rounds led to the Cougars’ first postseason showdown with their crosstown rivals since 2004.

“That was one of the craziest football games I’ve been a part of in my entire life, just from the fan bases to everything building up to it,” Delgado said of Central’s 49-24 victory after trailing 17-14 at halftime. “But as of right now, it’s really just trying to soak everything in, going to college, and we’re all going on to different opportunities.”

“Some people are playing ball, some people are doing other things, but we’re really all just trying to get to know each other, build some connections and embrace it.”

While Myers’ memories of the playoff game aren’t as fond as those of his rivals, he said it spoke to the mutual respect the teams shared amid all the hoopla.

“It was fun, but not fun at the same time,” said Myers, who did catch a touchdown pass in the game. “You want to win those types of games and you want to keep the Cinderella story going, but they’re a tough team and they won state, so it’s not much you can do about that.”

“You’ve got to eat it from time to time, but this is a part of the game, and it’s all respect. We all respect each other.”

Myers, a Class 5A all-state selection by KSHSAA Covered, caught 45 passes for 871 yards and 10 touchdowns in just nine games for South as a senior. He will play at Garden City Community College this fall.

“Jaxon’s been killing it,” Reves said of Myers’ early West camp practices.

Cooper Reves

Reves, a KSHSAA Covered Top 11 selection and first team 5A pick, knows a little about killing it. As a senior, he rushed for 2,814 yards and 32 touchdowns, including 243 with four scores in the Mustangs’ 51-34 state championship victory over Basehor-Linwood.

Reves also caught 28 passes for 256 yards and another touchdown to finish with 3,070 total yards for the season.

Reves is not the only KSHSAA Covered Top 11 pick representing Salina. Chambers, a 6-foot-1, 285-pound lineman, helped Southeast of Saline to a Class 2A runner-up finish, one game shy of a second straight state championship. While also starting on the offensive line, he had 85 tackles, including 17 for loss, for the 12-1 Trojans.

And then there’s Delgado, the heart of Central’s defense, a first team 5A all-state selection, who had 145 tackles, 21.5 for loss, a sack and an interception in the Mustangs’ championship run.

Among the Salina players, there are several unique connections.

Cooper Reves and Jesus Delgado: One last game together

Delgado, who has signed with Butler Community College in El Dorado, will play his final game alongside Reves, who is headed to Northern Iowa on a wrestling scholarship after winning two state titles at Central.

“Having that state championship, there’s not really much like it,” Reves said. “I feel like me and Jesus were leaders, and we kind of felt like we’d take that role on this year.”

“Just having someone like that next to you the whole way and being able to bring each other up and be there for each other has been great.”

Good memories, indeed, Delgado agreed.

“Early on, when we got (to camp), we were kind of chatting about what it’s going to be like in a different environment,” he said. “We’ve been looking back on old memories, videos and things like that with the guys.

Jesus Delgado and Jaxon Myers: Teammates for just one game

For Delgado and Myers, their history as rivals also represents the future. After teaming up in the Shrine Bowl, they are headed back to rival camps in the Jayhawk Conference.

“He’s like, ‘Some things just never change.’ But right now, for one week, we’ll just let it slide,” Delgado said with a smile. “What some of the guys are doing is putting some of the other team’s decals on their helmets. It might be the only time I agree to put some of the other guys’ decals on.”

Myers, for his part, isn’t too worried about future rivalries.

“It’s fun not having to go against them just because of how good they are and seeing how hard they work,” he said. “It’s a lot different, but it’s fun watching them play.”

Appreciating success at different levels

While South and Central were doing their thing, including the historic playoff clash, they were not too busy to appreciate what Chambers, all-state running back Grady Gebhardt and Southeast of Saline were accomplishing just 15 miles away near Gypsum.

“They’ve been successful, and I think Brody’s been a big part of that,” Reves said. “He’s a good dude and amazing athlete.”

Chambers has something else in common with Reves as a two-time state wrestling champion, and he played both football and baseball with Delgado growing up.

Like his South and Central counterparts, Chambers kept an eye on their postseason successes.

Brody Chambers

“It was definitely fun to watch Central’s run to the state championship and winning it,” said Chambers, who will continue his football career at Grand View University, a high-level NAIA school. “We kind of came up short, unfortunately, but it was really cool that we had two Salina teams I the state championship.”

“We didn’t watch any of the games because we were still focused on us, but I did see a whole bunch of Facebook stuff about (the South-Central playoff game), and we were excited for them. We root for each other since we’re not in the same division.”

Proud to represent Salina in Shrine Bowl

When the final whistle blows at the Shrine Bowl on Saturday, Delgado, Reves, Myers and Chambers all will go their separate ways.

But not before proudly representing their hometown.

“It’s awesome to say that we have four guys from Salina be on this team when there’s only 40 guys from around the state,” Reves said. “So, that’s 10% of the team just from Salina.

“It says we have the right people doing the right things, and I think that’s pretty special.”