The Humboldt High School Cubs face an uphill battle this football season as they come into the year as the least-populated team in Class 2A.
Of the 40 2A programs across Kansas, the Cubs — who went 3-6 in 2025 — ranked last in student population with 124 students from grades 9-11.
The rankings, released by the Kansas State High School Activities Association, are based on 2023 school enrollments (but do not include the 2023 graduating class).
Humboldt’s student population was 57 students fewer than top-ranked Marysville.
The disparity is not as wide with Humboldt’s District 2 opponents.
Neodesha, which sported a 5-4 record in 2025, reported 175 students. Fredonia (1-8) had 153 students, followed by Central Heights (2-7) with 138 and Jayhawk-Linn (5-4), who had one more student than Humboldt with 125 students.
AFTER years of wavering between Kansas’ smallest 4A program or the Wheat State’s largest 3A program, the Iola Mustangs (2-7) are now right in the middle as far as student population. Of the 40 3A programs, the Mustangs sit tied with District 1 rival Frontenac (8-2) for 17th with227 enrolled students from 2023. They are 90 students behind top-ranked Baldwin (5-4) but 43 students ahead of last-ranked Cheney (7-4).
Those 227 students placed Iola second among District 1 foes. Parsons (3-6) reported a student enrollment of 305. Girard (6-4) sits just behind Iola 18th with 222 students and Columbus (2-7) sits at 25th with 207 students.
The Yates Center Wildcats (2-7) are the area’s only Division I eight-man program. They come into the season ranked 17th in Eight Man-I with 88 students, while District I foes Oswego (7-3) and eight-man newcomer Southeast (3-6) come in ranked first and third in the class, with 104 and 101, respectively. District foe West Elk (2-7) comes into the season tied for sixth with 96 students. Another eight-man football newcomer in Erie (0-9) ranks 23rd with 81 students.
In DII eight-man football, of the 50 member schools, Marmaton Valley (8-2) ranks 30th with a student enrollment of 52. The Wildcats edged out Crest (1-8), which ranked 33rd, at 50 students.
Of their District I opponents, only St. Paul (3-6) ranks lower than Crest and Marmaton Valley at 39th with 48 students. District 1 foe Sedan (4-5) ranks third in DII eight-man football with 69 students, followed by Flinthills (5-5) at fourth with 68 students.
Southern Coffey County (1-8), the area’s only six-man football team, ranks 17th among 28 competing programs. The Titans enrolled 32 students in 2023. Most of the Titans’ District 1 foes ranked above them with Peabody-Burns (7-3) fifth with 46 students, followed by Lost Springs at seventh with 45 students. Altoona-Midway (1-7) edged SCC at 12th place with 36 students. Marais Des Cygnes Valley (5-3) ranked 19th with 30 students and Chetopa (3-6) ranked 22nd with 26 students.
