School N ews
While his high school football season has ended — and he graduated from Parsons High School mid-semester — one game still remains for Chandler Hentzen.
Hentzen will play one final time in the Kansas Shrine Bowl, an honor his older brother Caleb also earned during his senior year.
“I’m more than enthusiastic about getting to play in the Shrine Bowl, one last game,” Hentzen said. “I think the Shrine Bowl is the highest honor you can get. All-State is cool — I’ve been All-State all four years — but being one of those 44 guys for the Shrine Bowl is different.”
He remembers watching the selection announcement at home.
“I was literally shaking,” he said. “I didn’t think I was going to make it. When I did, it was like, ‘Wow. This is crazy.’” The Kansas Shrine Bowl will be Chandler Hentzen’s last game, but it is hardly the most important part of his football story. That story is rooted in late starts, hard lessons, close relationships, and a program that helped shape who he became — on the field and off.
After his senior season, Hentzen knew football would not extend into college. Though he had opportunities, he chose to enlist in the Army, drawn to the structure, physical demands, and training opportunities it offers.
See LEGACY, Page 3.
Still, football mattered deeply.
“I just love the game so much,” he said. “I get really emotional before every game. I ended up crying in the locker room before every game.”
Injuries were a constant, reinforcing the reality that every game could be his last.
Hentzen didn’t grow up immersed in football and didn’t begin playing until middle school, after moving to the Labette County school district, which didn’t offer soccer. By the end of his freshman year, he planned to quit.
“I didn’t really love the game then,” he said. “A lot of the coaching made me hate playing.”
That changed after his family moved two blocks from Parsons High School and he transferred.
“I liked Coach Schibi and decided to play for him,” Hentzen said. “The coaching and mentorship from Kato, Schibi, and Devin helped me grow as a player and as a person.”
The relationships extended beyond football.
“I see them as family,” he said. “These are guys who’ll be part of my life long after football.”
That environment helped Hentzen mature emotionally.
“Football taught me how to control my emotions,” he said. “You have 10 other people relying on you. You can’t blow up on teammates. That builds character.”
Over four years, Hentzen played nearly every position on offense and defense. Senior year marked his first as the starting running back, after beginning the season at safety.
One of the most important lessons he learned was acceptance.
“You can’t control everything,” he said. “You make a big play, then something goes wrong. You just go get the ball back.”
His favorite season was his sophomore year, when Parsons won districts. His favorite moment came this year, when he tied the school record with five touchdowns in a game and broke two other school records.
“That was kind of the peak for me as a player,” he said.
Hentzen hopes he’s remembered most for his leadership, a role he grew into over time.
“My teammates pushed me into it,” he said. “This year, I was the only senior on varsity.”
He said a lot of guys were new, and he tried to help guide them.
“Chandler Hentzen has been a blessing to Parsons High School these last three years. He is a rare breed with an old school mentality when it comes to football. His rare blend of passion for the game, fierce competitiveness, athleticism, high football IQ and leadership skills are something that all coaches hope for in a high school football player,” Coach Schibi said. “Chandler was our captain and in all honesty, a football coach on the field for us. He shattered the school record for rushing yards in a single game. He likely would have shattered the single season rushing record but was injured on the fifth play of the game in Week 7 vs. Atchison, taking him out of that entire game plus severely limiting his ability in Week 8 vs. Columbus and the playoff game vs. Wellsville. Also, he now holds the all time career tackles at PHS with 243 career tackles.”
To younger players, his message is simple: improvement is possible.
“My freshman year I was 130 pounds,” he said. “By sophomore year, I’d put on muscle and gotten stronger because I listened and put in the work.”
In the end, Hentzen believes the impact matters more than the score.
“I’m extremely proud of Chandler and the legacy he will be leaving at PHS,” Schibi said. “This past season, we instilled ‘Viking Pride’ within our football team with the pillars being brotherhood, respect, accountability, commitment and effort to help mold young boys into men. He embodies all of those. Chandler Hentzen will be successful in life whatever he chooses to do because of his work ethic, grit and his relentless pursuit of greatness.”
“We are all so thrilled that Chandler Hentzen was selected to play in the 2026 Kansas Shrine Bowl,” Schibi said. “Chandler was absolutely dominant and the best player on the field the first 6 weeks of the season before the injury bug held him back Weeks 7-9. He will be an outstanding representative of Parsons Football.”
When he takes the field for the Shrine Bowl, it will mark the end of Hentzen’s playing days. But the discipline, relationships, and leadership he carries with him will extend far beyond football — into the next chapter he is already preparing to begin.
