Class 4A-I football semifinal: Topeka Hayden at Andover Central

The chance to play for a 4A-I football title comes down to Friday’s semifinals.

Here’s a closer look at the game:

Class 4A-I

Topeka Hayden (10-1) at Andover Central (9-2)

Topeka Hayden

Top players: RB Connor Schumacher, sr.; LB Brooks Peavler, sr.; OL Will Stringer, ; DT Jake Heit, jr.; WR Mason Dodd, sr.; RB Daniel Gaito, sr.; QB Dallas Crittenden, jr.

Key stats: Gaito has 759 rushing yards and Schumacher has 910. Crittenden has 1,335 passing yards, and Heit has a team-hig six sacks. Peavler has 62 solo tackles and 60 assists.

Wildcats coach Bill Arnold

Reaction to being in the semifinals: “I’m exited about it. It’s a tribute to our kids and our coaches. We lost a lot of good kids from our team a year ago. I don’t think a lot of people, even in our own Hayden community, thought that we’d have an opportunity to get thi far this year.”

What has gotten you here: “They think they belong.…We came into this season with a lot of guys who hadn’t had much of an opportunity to get much varsity time. We had a really big senior class a year ago. There were a few of the juniors who were filtered in there along with them. But these guys had never really stood out on their own before.”

What will it take to win: “I’ve been coaching for 25 years and I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation where we played a team twice in the same year. I think it’s difficult enough to beat someone once.… The first time we played Andover Central, everything just kind of fell into place that night. We were able to run the ball so well and keep their offense off the field.”

What fans should know about your team: “We have a lot of kids that believe in the system that we’re in and really want to play for each other and for themselves.”

Andover Central

Top players: QB-DB Peyton Huslig, sr.; WR-DB Darraja Parnell, sr.; RB-DB Jordan Birch; FB-LB-K-P Clark Schoonover, so.; WR-DB Cole Taylor, jr.; C-DT Xavier Krumm, jr.; RT Alex Menke, sr.

Key stats: Huslig has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,869 yards. Birch has 1,512 rushing yards. Parnell has 42 catches for 1,192 yards, a 28.4-yard average. The Jaguars average 42.8 points.

Jaguars coach Tom Audley

Reaction to being in the semifinals: “After last year, we won at Augusta, and it was our first playoff win (since 2008). Every stinking kid took a selfie with the trophy, and they got happy. After we won at Independence this year … I reminded them of our mentality a year ago — ‘We ought to turn this into getting a bigger trophy, a more important trophy.’ ”

What has gotten you here: “Defense has gotten some stops, but our offense can explode.… When you’re putting up those kinds of numbers, you’ve got a chance to win. Our defense has gotten better. I found the game play for our first Hayden game. Our kids have made a lot of progress since then.”

What will it take to win: “We’ve got to minimize any turnovers. They’re too good a team. We had two turnovers in the first game (against Hayden) and both of them led to a score. We’ve got to be enthused and get off to an early start.”

What fans should know about your team: “On offense, we mix the ball up pretty well as far as the run and pass. We have a very quality tailback in Jordan. He’s got five 200-yard games. Part of that means our offensive line is doing a better job. Peyton has cleaned up mostly because he’s getting better protection and getting rid of it quicker. We spread the ball out with our receivers, and we’ve got some playmakers.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Class 4A-I football semifinal: Topeka Hayden at Andover Central."