Learn all you need to know about the Wichita area’s state championship opponents
The Wichita area hasn’t had multiple state championships in one season since 2014, but it has a shot at four in 2019.
Here’s some information on the Wichita area teams’ opponents heading into championship Saturday.
Olathe North, 1 p.m. Saturday at Emporia State
Olathe North went through the entire postseason without playing a team better than the No. 5 seed in Class 6A East.
The Eagles faced No. 6 Blue Valley West in the quarterfinal round after BV West beat No. 3 Shawnee Mission Northwest. They beat West 35-34 in overtime after a missed PAT.
They faced No. 5 Blue Valley to go to state. Blue Valley drew Blue Valley North, which beat No. 1 Gardner-Edgerton in the regional round. Olathe North swarmed on Blue Valley 28-7.
Olathe North is a solid team. The Eagles have beaten two teams out of the Eastern Kansas League and went 6-1 in the Sunflower League, arguably the next-toughest league in the state.
Olathe North’s only losses this season came via a 35-10 defeat to Lawrence in Week 7 and 24-21 against Columbine, one of the best teams in Colorado.
The Eagles are making their first state title game appearance since 2010 but their 11th since 1996. Before Hutchinson and Derby took hold of 6A, it was Olathe North that ruled the show. The Eagles won seven titles in eight years from 1996-2003.
This year’s team revolves around one of the most promising players in Kansas: junior running back Arland Bruce IV, who has the fourth-most rushing yards in Kansas with 2,359.
He is the son of Arland Bruce III, who was named the Gatorade Player of the Year out of Olathe North, rushing for 1,696 yards before going to Hutchinson Community College and eventually Minnesota. Dad was signed by the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs after his college career.
“The kids have watched the film, and they see what we have in front of us,” Derby coach Brandon Clark said. “They’re by far the most complete, best team we’ve seen with how talented they are on offense and fast they flow on defense.”
No. 2 Olathe North’s Class 6A East postseason run:
Week 9 - Olathe North 55, No. 15 Olathe Northwest 19
Regional - Olathe North 56, No. 7 KC Wyandotte 13
Sectional - Olathe North 35, No. 6 Blue Valley West 34 (OT)
Sub-state - Olathe North 28, No. 5 Blue Valley 7
Wichita Northwest vs. Mill Valley, 1 p.m. Saturday at Pitt State
A lot of people expected St. Thomas Aquinas to get off the bus again.
Instead, Mill Valley beat Aquinas 34-31 in overtime in a Class 5A sub-state game. Aquinas beat Mill Valley 28-21 in Week 4 of the regular season. The Jaguars had four turnovers in that game and still had a chance to win.
The loss clinched a 1-3 start for Mill Valley, which had hopes of improving off a state quarterfinal appearance last year. It didn’t look to be on the cards just then, but all of the Jaguars’ losses were by one score to teams that finished with at least seven wins.
Mill Valley beat the No. 1 seed out of Class 5A East, De Soto, 18-7 to set up the rematch with Aquinas, and the Jags took advantage.
Now Mill Valley will play in its third state championship game in school history and third since 2015, when it beat Wichita Northwest’s rival Bishop Carroll.
Since the school’s opening in 2000, Mill Valley has played three games against teams from the Wichita area. Its only loss was to Derby in 2014 when the Jags finished the season 5-5.
Northwest coach Steve Martin said Mill Valley is a well-coached team under Joel Applebee, cousin of Derby coach Brandon Clark.
“I believe with us and Mill Valley, you look in a mirror,” Martin said. “We run a similar offense to each other. Defensively, we have a lot of same philosophies except they’re in a four-man front, and we’re in a three-man front.”
No. 4 Mill Valley’s Class 5A East postseason run:
Week 9 - Mill Valley 52, No. 13 Topeka West 0
Regional - Mill Valley 42, No. 5 Olathe West 6
Sectional - Mill Valley 18, No. 1 De Soto 7
Sub-state - Mill Valley 34, No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas 31 (OT)
Andover Central vs. Bishop Miege, 1 p.m. Saturday at Topeka
There are enough stats explaining Bishop Miege’s dominance to fill a short novel.
The Stags are going for state championship No. 10 and their sixth straight. They have won their title games since 2014 against Topeka Hayden, Andover Central, Buhler, Andale and Goddard.
And they have dominated those games by an average of more than 34 points, including a seven-point win over Hayden.
Meige’s 2019 season has been fairly typical. The Stags had two regular-season losses playing in the Eastern Kansas League, the toughest league in Kansas. Miege is the only 4A team in the EKL.
The Stags played against four 6A teams, including Blue Valley North, runner-up at state last year. They played three 5A teams, including Mill Valley, which will play for a title Saturday in Pittsburg. They even played Rockhurst, traditionally one of the best teams in Missouri.
Miege’s only losses came to St. James Academy and St. Thomas Aquinas (by a point). Aquinas won the 5A title last year and lost in the semifinal round this season.
Miege’s top offensive weapons include senior running back Brison Cobbins, junior quarterback Timothy Dorsey and Dorsey’s favorite receivers, Daniel Jackson and Phillippe Wesley.
The only previous meeting between Andover Central and Miege came in the 2015 title game. Miege won 68-12. The Stags have lost to a team presently in Class 4A since the 2008 playoffs.
No. 4 Bishop Miege’s Class 4A East postseason run:
Week 9 - Bishop Miege 67, No. 13 Labette County 13
Regional - Bishop Miege 57, No. 5 Bonner Springs 16
Sectional - Bishop Miege 54, No. 1 Tonganoxie 10
Sub-state - Bishop Miege 48, No. 2 Paola 14
Andale vs. Perry-Lecompton, 1 p.m. Saturday at Hutchinson
Perry-Lecompton started 1-2 and hasn’t ever won a state football championship.
The Kaws beat one-win Royal Valley in their season opener. In the following two weeks, they lost to Horton (7-3) by a score and Sabetha (6-3) by 20.
They didn’t look like a state title contender.
Then Perry-Lecompton went 2-1 in its next three games, including an 8-3 loss to Jefferson West. But it was a home game against Topeka Hayden that spurred the Kaws’ season to great heights.
They beat Hayden 21-20 in overtime. The game was scoreless at halftime.
Hayden entered the game undefeated and hadn’t allowed double-digit points to any opponent, including against two 5A opponents and a 6A foe.
After that win, Perry-Lecompton won six straight, including another win over Hayden in its Class 3A semifinal. The Kaws didn’t even win their district, coming second to Hayden on point differential, but they pose a size problem to Andale.
“They’re big,” Andale coach Dylan Schmidt said. “They’re defensive tackle is 6-foot-2, 290 (pounds). They have a kid at 6-7, 220 that plays defensive tackle. They have a defensive end at 6-0, 240. They have a linebacker at 6-2, 220.
“But in the secondary, they have some guys that can run. You go back through and look at their track results, and you see that guy ran in the 4x100 or that guy was a long jumper at state.”
No. 2 Perry-Lecompton’s Class 3A postseason run:
Week 9 - Perry-Lecompton 38, No. 3 Wamego 21
Regional - Perry-Lecompton 35, No. 1 Holton 21
Sectional - Perry-Lecompton 30, No. 1 Prairie View 6
Sub-state - Perry-Lecompton 35, No. 1 Topeka Hayden 27
This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 5:00 AM.