Most Wichita and surrounding area football teams and fans are getting ramped up for their first game this week. 

But not Derby.

Football coach Brandon Clark and athletic director Russell Baldwin have been working for months hard to try to schedule a first week game for Friday

“We have made contact with 32 schools in eight different states since February,” Baldwin said. “Each of those schools had an open date for (Sept. 3 or Sept. 4).” 

Derby’s first game is Sept. 10 at home against Newton.

Newcastle, a high school in Oklahoma, was under a two-year contract to play Derby in 2020 and 2021, but weren’t able to in 2020 due to Covid-19. Derby found an opponent, opening 2020 with a loss at Mill Valley.

The Panthers went on to win its third straight Class 6A title and fifth in six seasons.

Still, Derby expected to play Newcastle this season.

“They decided to break the contract for this year, but didn’t let us know until late January,” Baldwin wrote in an email. 

“… The process has been very frustrating because we feel that Newcastle lacked integrity. They decided to not play us because they were ‘not ready’ like they thought they would be.”

Many schools have turned down a football date with Derby for various reasons. Many automatically said no, while others pursued further discussions with Derby.

  All these discussions, still no takers. 

“The seven-eight schools of 1,800-plus students that have turned us down has upset us because they are too afraid to take a loss, especially from a Kansas school. They would start discussions, but then realize how good we are and just say no,” Baldwin said. “We have even offered to split the gate with a school if we could host. But no takers so far.”

Baldwin and Clark have decided to try until Wednesday then move their focus to future games.