Miege dominates Andover Central to defend 4A-I football championship

Long after their state championship hopes had faded Saturday afternoon, Andover Central running back Jordan Birch wove his way through Bishop Miege defenders toward the end zone.

As he neared the goal line, Birch lunged on his way to the turf. The football popped loose and into the waiting arms of Miege’s Landry Weber.

It was established during a 48-point first-half blitz by defending champion Miege that it wasn’t the Jaguars’ day. Birch’s fourth-quarter fumble – Central’s fifth turnover – only reaffirmed it as Miege rolled to a 68-12 victory in the Class 4A-I championship at Hummer Sports Park.

Miege (12-1), fueled by 231 rushing yards and six touchdowns by halfback Dawson Downing, claimed its sixth state football title in bone-chilling rain. Andover Central, making its first state championship game appearance, finished 10-3.

“We played like we were playing in the state championship instead of just needing to go out and beat somebody,” Andover Central coach Tom Audley said.

Audley sensed some wide-eyed anxiety in his players before the game. Against Miege, which returned key players from its undefeated 2014 championship team, it was quickly exposed.

Downing, a 210-pound senior, capped the Stags’ opening drive with a 20-yard touchdown run. After Weber halted Central’s first drive by intercepting Peyton Huslig’s pass and returning it 41 yards, Downing followed with a 22-yard touchdown.

Downing completed a trifecta – three carries, three touchdowns – with a 79-yard dash that made it 21-0 midway through the first quarter.

Miege, which entered the contest averaging 56.2 points, was well on its way to another high-scoring day.

“When we get on a roll, we’re tough to stop, and it’s a lot of fun,” said Downing, who did his work on 26 rushing attempts.

Miege pulled away with three touchdows in a span of 25 seconds in the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Carter Putz scored on a 4-yard run. Then Central’s Darraja Parnell fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which Miege senior Ray Vaca scooped and scored on a 20-yard return.

Two plays later, Vaca picked up a Birch fumble and ran 26 yards to make it 41-0.

“I just pick the ball up,” Vaca said. “I don’t create the fumbles. That’s what we’ve got big guys for.

“They hit hard and put us in a position to make plays.”

Miege rolled up 323 of its 531 yards in the first half. Downing’s fourth first-half touchdown gave the Stags 48 consecutive points.

“He does a great job of staying on his feet, and if you could stay on your feet out there … it was a skating rink,” Audley said.

Andover Central, which reached the title game with a dominating performance against Topeka Hayden the previous week, scored before halftime on a fourth-down pass from Huslig to Parnell. Birch, who finished with 23 carries for 136 yards, added the Jaguars’ other points on a 17-yard run with 1:48 remaining.

It was a difficult finish for a team that celebrated its achievement earlier in the week by inviting former players to one of its practices.

“It was like one thing after another went wrong for us,” Central senior lineman Alex Menke said. “It just snowballed into something bad.

“It’s still been amazing playing with these guys – 15-plus seniors who are all buds of mine. I wouldn’t trade this season for any other.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Miege dominates Andover Central to defend 4A-I football championship."