Class 4A-I football championship: Andover Central vs. Miege

Class 4A-I

MIEGE (11-1)

Top players: RB Dawson Downing, sr.; WR Jafar Armstrong, jr.; QB Carter Putz, so.; DL Kaelin Key, sr.; OL Colin Grunhard, jr.; LB Joe Watskey, so.

Key stats: Downing has 1,673 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns. Putz has 3,056 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and five interceptions. Armstrong has 1,232 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. The Stags have averaged 58.7 points in three-playoff games

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

Stags coach Jon Holmes

What has gotten you here: “Our kids know what our expectations are as a team and as a program. Each year we want to play for a state title. Last year, winning it helped this group see what it took. After we lost in Week 3, all the seniors had a meeting: ‘We’re not going to lose again.’ And now we’re looking to win our second title in a row.”

What will it take to win: “Their three guys on offense are difference makers and very active on defense. What they did to (Topeka) Hayden on defense, holding them basically scoreless, opened our eyes.… Having guys like Dawson Downing, Jafar Armstrong and Carter Putz puts pressures on different defenses. We’ve seen all different looks.… On defense, Kaelin Key is a four-year starter. When he’s on, we’re very hard to move the ball against.”

ANDOVER CENTRAL (10-2)

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: Birch has 1,700 rushing yards. Huslig has 2,029 passing yards, throwing 47 times to Darraja Parnell, who has 1,273 receiving yards. Jaguars are averaging 41.6 points.

Championships: None

Jaguars coach Tom Audley

What has gotten you here: “We’ve been making a ton of improvements in the last month. We just need to get better this week. At certain positions, we’ll match up very well. They’re very good. They score a ton of points. We also have those capabilities. Our defense has to continue to improve. It was lights out the other night against Hayden.”

What will it take to win: “I’m not talking about winning a state championship; I’m not putting that pressure on them. They’re used to trying to win another game, so that’s what we’ll try to do.… Since we got beat by Hayden in our first game of districts, we decided that we’ve got to get better. We’ve had 12 playoff practices, and they’ve been our best 12 practices of the year.”

Joanna Chadwick’s pick: Miege

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 12:28 PM with the headline "Class 4A-I football championship: Andover Central vs. Miege."