Conway Springs won the Class 1A state championship in 2023, the first title for the storied program in 12 years. Conway Springs then graduated Brayden Kunz, the consensus top player in the classification and among the all-time Cardinal greats. Kunz, a Northwest Missouri State signing, rushed for 2,806 yards and paced the defense with 106 stops. He set Conway’s all-time single season rushing record and finished fourth all-time with 271 tackles.
However, Conway Springs opened No. 1 in the classification last fall and posted a 13-0 mark and another state title. Senior Cade Howell, a running back/linebacker, filled Kunz’s production on defense and helped Conwy Springs’ single-wing run-heavy offense to another big year. Conway Springs enters 2025 on a 24-game winning streak, Kansas’ second-longest active run behind Axtell’s 52, an eight-man state record.
Additionally, Howell was an excellent leader and mentor in the Conway Springs community and school and earned the annual Kpreps’ Dylan Meier - Get Busy Livin’ Player of the Year Award. The award honors Dylan Meier, a former All-State quarterback at Pittsburg High and starter at Kansas State University who died in a hiking accident in 2010 at the age of 26.
Howell, the 1A Defensive Player of the Year, finished with 106 tackles – the same number that Kunz delivered the previous year. His 258 tackles rank fourth in Conway Springs history. Kunz and Howell have the most career tackles by any Cardinals in 20-plus years. Conway Springs improved to 166-30 under head coach Matt Biehler and had its first perfect season since ’04.
Howell delivered 16 tackles for loss, three fumble recoveries, three sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception. A four-year starter, Howell earned Central Plains League defensive MVP. Howell played his freshman year at defensive line and three years at linebacker.
“The leader of the Cardinal defense,” Biehler said.
The offensive numbers were nearly identical to ’23, while the defensive marks were stronger. In ’23, Conway Springs finished fifth in 1A in scoring offense (37.9 points per game) and ninth in scoring defense with 17 points allowed a game, per the Sunflower Sports Solutions database. Last year, Conway Springs tallied 38.8 points per contest, fifth in the classification, and was third in scoring defense with 11.8 points allowed a contest.
In the 41-6 state championship win against Centralia, Conway Springs limited the Panthers to 2 of 12 on third down and 243 total yards. Howell’s 14 tackles paced the Cardinals. That capped a career that finished with 40 tackles for loss, six sacks, five fumble recoveries and a pick-six.
The Dylan Meier – GBL Award goes to someone who has not only shown excellence on the field but also demonstrated the values that Dylan embodied and GBL strives to promote: adventure, fitness, curiosity, and daily zest for life experiences.
Howell volunteered with clubs and organizations and worked with youth and the elderly in town. Cade is an avid hunter and fisherman. He spent hours coyote hunting, sitting in the tree for whitetail deer and fishing for catfish.
Howell participated all four years in the Conway Springs’ OWLs (Outdoor Wildlife Site), a fully functioning outdoor learning site. Howell also served four years with city wide clean-up, snow shoveling for the elderly, furniture moving at estate sales, and Cram the Van, which raises food and money for the local mission mart. He has served as a volunteer at the funeral home, a flag football referee, Little League football and baseball coach, student council vice president and worked with the penny drive for Children with Cancer.
In the classroom, Howell posted a 3.8 grade-point average and student council president. He collected all-league baseball honors at designated hitter.
“Cade is extremely involved in his community outside of his school schedule,” Biehler said.
Kpreps Dylan Meier - Get Busy Livin Player of the Year -- 2024 Finalists
(listed alphabetically by last name)
Mencali En, Wichita West
Will Hanen, Buhler
Colter Oldham, Lakin
J.T. Prusa, South Central
T.J. Wesley, Pittsburg
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Dylan Meier – Get Busy Livin’ Player of the Year Award
The award is in honor of Dylan Meier, a former All-State quarterback at Pittsburg High School and starter at Kansas State University who died in a hiking accident in 2010 at the age of 26.
The award goes out to one Kansas high school senior who not only has shown excellence on the field but also has demonstrated the values that Dylan embodied and Get Busy Livin’ (GBL) strives to promote: adventure, fitness, curiosity and a daily zest for life experiences.
The award is made possible by the Get Busy Livin’ Foundation and Kpreps.com.
Past award winners include:
2023 – Dawson Kindler, Gardner-Edgerton
2022 – Nolan Freund, Kingman
2021 – Jaren Kanak, Hays
2020 – No award named
2019 – Tyler Green, Mill Valley
2018 – Jace Friesen, Basehor-Linwood
2017 – Carter Putz, Bishop Miege
2016 – Will Schneider, Shawnee Mission North
2015 – Tucker Horak, Rossville
2014 – Denzel Goolsby, Bishop Carroll
2013 – Austin Chambers, Shawnee Mission West
2012 – Brad Strauss, Lawrence
2011 – Kole Schankie, Madison
ABOUT DYLAN MEIER & THE GET BUSY LIVIN’ FOUNDATION
Dylan Meier, a 2002 graduate of Pittsburg High School, was a two-time All-State quarterback for the Purple Dragons. He continued his football career at Kansas State University and started 11 games from 2004-06 as the Wildcats’ signal caller.
On April 19, 2010, Meier died at the age of 26 in an accident while hiking with family in Arkansas.
In addition to his time in Kansas, Dylan played professional football in Germany and Italy, served as a bodyguard for Italian fashion models, worked in a vineyard overseas, ran with the bulls in Spain and went skydiving in the Alps. His next plans included coaching football in Europe, teaching English in Korea and possibly a return to Kansas State as a graduate assistant.
“He had a real zest for life,” Merle Clark, Dylan’s high school coach and family friend said days after the accident. “He lived a lot in his 26 years.”
That zest for life is the basis of the Get Busy Livin’ Foundation that was established in Dylan’s honor. The mission is to provide support for individuals and groups that embody the values that Dylan pursued: adventure, fitness, curiosity, generosity and a daily zest for life experiences.
The GBL Foundation is determined to break down the boundaries that keep people from living life to the fullest, whether those boundaries are social, economic or imaginary.
GBL uses donations to promote these values in the following ways: student/athletic scholarships, sport camp sponsorships, student travel abroad scholarships, community service needs and other activities that inspire and build character.
For more information, please visit http://getbusylivin.org.
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