Previews of Saturday’s Kansas high school football finals

CLASS 6A

1 p.m. at Welch Stadium, Emporia

BLUE VALLEY (12-0)

Key stats: In his first year of starting, senior QB Matt Dercher has thrown for 2,919 yards and 34 TDs, his favorite target being Harrison Van Dyne (60 catches, 1,004 receiving yards, 11 TDs). Senior William Evans has been the team’s workhorse, rushing for 1,575 yards and 23 TDs. The defense, which is allowing an average of 16.7 points, is led by senior LB Michael Maffrey, who has 169 tackles.

Championships: 1991, 1998, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2013 (all 5A)

Coach Eric Driskell: “I think there are a lot of similarities when you look at both of the teams, for sure. They do a great job offensively and defensively and their coaches do a tremendous job. I think in a game like this, special teams could play a pretty key role in the game. I think it might come down to who is able to make more big plays in the special teams.”

DERBY (12-0)

Key stats: The offense is averaging more than 450 yards, as QB Dan Dawdy has thrown for 2,532 yards and 33 TDs and RB Brody Kooser has rushed for 1,525 yards and 30 TDs. Kenyon Tabor (60 catches, 1,129 yards, 11 TDs) has become Dawdy’s go-to target, although Michael Littleton and Kai Lemons have combined for 16 TDs as well. The defensive secondary, led by Cooper Welch and Tanner Igo, is allowing less than 70 passing yards, while Peerlus Walker and Tommy Carter speerhead a defense that has allowed 12.1 points.

Championships: 1994, 2013, 2015 (all 6A)

Coach Brandon Clark: “This is a very disciplined team we’re playing. They’re very well-coached. Coach (Driskell) and his staff do an amazing job. I think, No. 1, it’s going to be a close game no matter what. So if you’re going to win a close game, you’re going to have to do all of the little things right. You have to keep control of the ball, not turn it over, and create turnovers off your defense. I feel like we are both very disciplined, so it might come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes.”

Taylor Eldridge’s pick: Derby

CLASS 5A

1 p.m. at Smith Stadium, Pittsburg

MILL VALLEY (8-4)

Key stats: Brody Flaming has 2,497 passing yards, 1,175 rushing yards and 34 total TDs. Cameron Young has 1,493 rushing yards. Ben Hartman has 911 receiving yards and 12 TDs. Joel Donn has 177 tackles.

Championships: 2015 (5A)

Coach Joel Applebee: “Every year is different. Obviously, we want to draw from our experiences in the past. But we’ve already talked to our kids about it – last year really doesn’t have a factor on this game at all, other than we can draw from that experience. I think we’ve done that throughout these playoffs.”

GODDARD (11-1)

Key stats: Blake Sullivan has 1,550 passing yards, 1,254 rushing yards and 42 total TDs. Kody Gonzalez has 1,672 rushing yards. Owen Beason averages 38 yards per catch and has eight TDs. Ethan Wright has 102 tackles and 15 tackles for a loss.

Championships: None

Coach Scott Vang: “It’s all business. Our kids are just like they’ve always been. They’re a pretty loose group. They fly around in practice. There’s not a lot of pressure. They’re not showing that they’re under a lot of pressure right now. They’re looking forward to going and playing the game. They think it’s pretty cool.”

Eldridge’s pick: Goddard

CLASS 4A-I

1 p.m. at Hummer Park, Topeka

MIEGE (11-1)

Key stats: Carter Putz has 2,907 passing yards and 45 TDs. Landry Weber has 1,110 receiving yards and 19 TDs. Jafar Armstrong has 1,055 receiving yards and 18 TDs. Brison Cobbins has 792 rushing yards and 11 TDs.

Championships: 1972, 1975, 1977, 2009 (all 4A); 2014, 2015 (4A-I)

Coach Jon Holmes: “We haven’t had that down week where the kids come in and don’t think they have to practice hard. In Week 1, we got beat by Blue Valley, but we told them to stay the course and they’d be fine. Each week, we’ve been able to execute our game plan. … Buhler is physical on both sides of the ball, and their ends (Braden Rose and Brendan Webb) are explosive. We need to make sure those guys don’t disrupt the things that we want to do. We need to match their nastiness right when the game starts, not wait until the second or third quarter.”

BUHLER (11-1)

Key stats: Dalton Brown has 1,916 rushing yards and 26 TDs. Ethan White has 1,116 passing yards and 17 TDs. Dalton Smyres has 759 receiving yards and 12 TDs.

Championships: 2013 (4A)

Coach Steve Warner: “We’re playing our best football of the season without a doubt. We had some low points and the kids just responded. Since the second half of the Augusta game, we’ve played really well. … Miege just has a lot of speed at every position on offense and defense. They have big linemen, but they run very well. There are all kinds of upsets all the time. It’s not like it’s the craziest thing in the world for us to believe we can win. We’ll have to alleviate their big plays and do what we like to do, which is go on long, sustained drives.”

Eldridge’s pick: Miege

CLASS 4A-II

1 p.m. at Salina District Stadium

TOPEKA HAYDEN (8-4)

Key stats: Tomas Stringer has rushed for 1,023 yards on 168 carries and 18 scores. Sampson Huston has completed 64 of 119 passes for 732 yards and nine TDs.

Championships: 1998, 2004, 2008 (all 4A)

Coach Bill Arnold: “We have just continued to get better all year long. It’s a group of kids that don’t ever give up. I think when it’s all said and done and you look at the state championship game, it’s probably two teams that mirror each other quite a bit. Pratt is a very good team, they have many weapons on offense and I don’t think you can stop them and slow them down. The preparation that we’ve had through the course of the week is going to be very vital. We’re going to have to tackle and make sure we wrap up, because they do have some very special backs.”

PRATT (11-1)

Key stats: Travis Theis has rushed for 1,705 yards and 20 TDs. Hunter Kaufman has run the ball for 890 yards and 20 scores as a senior. Senior Logan Baird leads the team with 81 tackles.

Championships: 1995 (4A)

Coach Jamie Cruce: “I think that if we play well, then we have a pretty good chance of taking home that trophy. I think anyone playing this weekend feels that way and we’re just hoping we’re one of the six teams going home state champions. We know we’re playing against a very talented Hayden team, a team that is use to playing against high-level opponents and they do a lot offensively. We switched to a flexbone offense three years ago and we felt like it was the best thing for the team we had. We have some very talented guys in the backfield and we have multiple reads and options to run out of our flexbone offense. It makes it hard for opposing teams to stop.”

Eldridge’s pick: Topeka Hayden

CLASS 3A

1 p.m. at Gowans Stadium, Hutchinson

ROSSVILLE (12-1)

Key stats: Jacob Bradshaw has completed 110 of 153 passes for 1,627 yards and 22 TDs and rushed for 2,453 yards and 29 scores for Rossville, a two-time defending 3A champion that has won eight straight games. Perry Foster has rushed for 704 yards and nine TDs, and Dawson Hammes has 480 yards and 12 TDs. Cole Schumacher has 1,024 receiving yards and 18 of Rossville’s 22 receiving TDs. Hammes has a team-leading 156 tackles.

Championships: 2014, 2015 (3A)

Coach Derick Hammes: “The 1992 (championship) game between Hesston and Rossville ended 3-0. I’m betting it won’t be that way this year. We’ve faced a lot of adversity early in the year. We lost a starting offensive lineman in Jackson Reeves and running back-linebacker Dawson Hammes for games 2-3-4. Once we were able to get back together, we didn’t let the mistakes we made against Silver Lake (the Bulldogs’ only loss) beat us. … There’s some similarities with us and Hesston. We’re both playing our best football at the end as well as with the offense and on defense, where we use multiple sets.”

HESSTON (10-3)

Key stats: Zach Esau has rushed for 962 yards and 19 TDs as well as completing 158 of 261 passes for 2,688 yards and 28 TDs for Hesston, on a nine-game winning streak. Parker Roth has carried 177 times for 1,135 yards and 19 TDs. Zach Vogt has 903 receiving yards and 10 TDs, and Tanner Bachman has 465 receiving yards and six TDs, and Cameron Cox has 741 receiving yards and five scores.

Championships: 1992

Coach Clint Rider: “Zach (Esau) has been a really good leader for our offense. He’s got a great arm and makes great decisions. His being a threat to run allows us to be pretty diverse on offense. … (Rossville) has experience in this game. Recently, either Rossville or Silver Lake seems to be in this title game from the east. (But) we feel like we’re a different team from the last time we lost. It’s going to be a tough one.”

Eldridge’s pick: Rossville

Saturday’s other championship

Class 2-1A: Troy (12-0) vs. Plainville (11-1), 1 p.m. at Lewis Field, Hays

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Previews of Saturday’s Kansas high school football finals."