Bishop Miege beats Goddard for fifth straight state football championship
Not many high school football teams can say their community expects them to win state championships. But such are the standards at Bishop Miege.
On Saturday at Topeka’s Hummer Sports Park, the Stags added a fifth straight Class 4A championship to their trophy case with a 69-31 defeat of Goddard.
Bishop Miege has now won eight state titles overall.
“It means a lot to us. It’s hard to do each year, especially when there’s a target on your back and everybody expects you to do it,” Miege coach Jon Holmes said. “This team came in this week with one goal: to win a state championship. And they were able to do that today.”
Sam Pedrotti paced the Stags’ attack by completing 20 of 27 passes for 358 yards and five touchdowns; he also ran for a score. Teammate Brison Cobbins ran for 132 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
Two Miege receivers eclipsed 100 yards in the game: Hudson Bentley racked up 167 on seven catches and Phillipe Wesley tallied 118 on four.
The defense did its part, too, forcing Goddard’s quarterbacks into four interceptions and six total turnovers.
Miege hit the ground running. After Goddard fumbled on the kickoff, the Stags scored the first touchdown of the game on their ensuing possession. Pedrotti scampered 18 yards to the end zone.
“Starting on the opening kickoff and scoring two plays after that, that was big,” Holmes said. “There’s a lot of nerves going around for games like this and I think that calmed our nerves a little bit. After that, our guys relaxed and made plays.”
The Stags built their first-quarter lead to 28-0. Goddard got half of that back on a pair of touchdowns, including a contested 11-yard Kyler Semrad pass that receiver Jake Shope was able to corral for six points.
But the Stags were unstoppable. By halftime, Miege had a 49-24 lead. And they scored on their first possession of the second half, too.
Miege finished with a stout 575 yards of total offense to 271 for Goddard.
“Goddard was one of the better teams we’ve seen defensively,” Holmes said. “Goddard is a really talented team. You don’t make it to state without having talent.”
Although the outcome was not what Goddard coach Tommy Beason wanted, he’s hopeful his team, which finishes the season 10-3, will view Saturday as a learning experience.
“Coming out here and losing the game to a worthy opponent, it hurts, but the lessons that we hope we are teaching our program are much greater than wins and losses on a big stage,” Beason said. “We’re hoping that’s something they can take with them.”
Miege (11-2) lost just two games this year, both to larger private schools: St. Thomas Aquinas, which won the Kansas 5A title Saturday, and Rockhurst, which played for a Missouri state championship later Saturday night in Columbia, Mo.
This story was originally published November 24, 2018 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Bishop Miege beats Goddard for fifth straight state football championship."