Class 2-1A football championship: Troy vs. Phillipsburg
Class 2-1A
TROY (10-1)
Top players: WR-DB Cuttar Huss, jr.; OL-DE Wil Smith, jr.; QB Reid Greaser, jr.; WR-LB Chris Winkel, sr.; OL-DL Luke Smith, sr.; OL-DL Tucker Morris, sr.
Key stats: Four running backs have more than 500 rushing yards. Greaser has 1,506 passing yards and 21 touchdowns. Wil Smith has 71 tackles and 6 1/2 sacks.
Championships: None
Trojans coach Derek Jasper
What has gotten you here: “We don’t have a lot of superstars, but it’s a good, 11-person type of team. All 11 guys are solid players, whether they’re 11 on offense or 11 on defense. They’re a very humble and unselfish group. They do not care who scores or who gets their name in the paper.”
What will it take to win: “They’re huge. We’ll have to use a little of our quickness and athleticism to counter some of their enormous size. We’ll have to do what we can defensively to slow them down.… Offensively we hope we can balance the run and pass well. Hopefully a 50-50 mix of run and pass will keep them on their heels.”
PHILLIPSBURG (10-2)
Top players: OL-DL Jace Gordon, sr.; FB-Lb Brock Means, sr.; QB-DB Trey Sides, fr.; LB John Gower, so.; RB-LB Kirk Coomes, so.; RB-DB Mark Coomes, jr.
Key stats: Mark Coomes has 1,181 rushing yards. Gower has 82 tackles and five fumble recoveries.
Championships: None
Panthers coach JB Covington
What has gotten you here: “Our big motivating factor was how we went out last year. We fumbled the football on the one-foot line, fourth down, 17 seconds left (in the semifinals). They are very determined. A big part of it for us this year is the kids have understood their roles. We had to move some guys around, and they accepted their new roles.”
What will it take to win: “We’re going to do what we do well. We hang our hats on playing great defense, running the football and controlling the ball offensively. If we do those two things, we should be in good shape.”
Joanna Chadwick’s pick: Phillipsburg
Joanna Chadwick: 316-268-6270, @joannachadwick
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Class 2-1A football championship: Troy vs. Phillipsburg."