Immaculate Indians: Andale wins state title to clinch historic undefeated season
For years, the Andale seniors have heard defensive coordinator Tim Fairchild talk about the best defense in school history, the 2006 Indians who won the school’s first football state championship.
Saturday, the Indians left little doubt as to who the best was.
Andale beat Perry-Lecompton 35-7 in Class 3A to win its first Kansas high school football state championship since 2014 and clinch its fourth undefeated season the program had ever seen. The Indians allowed 95 points through 13 games, about 7.31 points a night.
In 2006, Andale gave up 103 points in 14 games, about 7.36 a game. The Indians won the state-title game by the same score against Paola.
Andale gave up more than 12 points twice this season, and one of those games was a running clock against Cheney in its state semifinal. The Indians finished the season giving up single digits in seven of their 13 games.
But Andale’s defensive prowess goes beyond school history. Coming into Saturday, the Indians needed to hold Perry-Lecompton to single digits to become the best Class 3A defensive unit since 2000, topping Conway Springs’ 2003 team that won state by giving up 99 points for the season.
“Fairchild never really gloats about any other teams; it’s mostly about the 2006 team,” senior cornerback Scotti Easter said. “Two weeks ago, he told us he thinks we are the best defense he has ever coached.”
Fairchild’s son, Mason, was a senior at Andale last season. He was a Top 11 selection and now plays at Kansas. When Mason graduated, Easter said he was worried the Indians would lose their defensive coordinator, too.
“We were really scared,” Easter said. “He didn’t put up with any crap this year. He didn’t have to be there, but we are so thankful he was.”
.JPG "_MG_3711 (2).JPG")
The Andale seniors started playing football together in third grade. Easter’s dad was a coach then, and he preached winning a state championship from a young age.
As the Indians crawled through the ranks of Andale football, they became one of the most successful classes in school history. They entered this season with the sixth-best winning percentage in Kansas over the past five years.
But the seniors had nothing to show for it besides a runner-up trophy to Bishop Miege in 2017.
“We didn’t want that again,” Easter said. “They had never seen a defense like us.”
Andale senior lineman Carson Fair said he thought Saturday’s game was over after one play. Junior running back Eli Rowland took the game’s opening snap 72 yards for a touchdown. One more point would have won the game by the end, but Perry-Lecompton stuck in.
The Kaws allowed just 14 points in the first half, tied for a season-low for Andale. The Indians were held to 77 yards in the first two quarters after Rowland’s touchdown.
But the Andale defense forced six punts on six drives in the first half, and Perry-Lecompton didn’t score until early in the fourth quarter as junior quarterback William Welch hit senior James Grant Roush in the back of the end zone.
Sixty-seven seconds later, Andale answered as senior quarterback Easton Hunter hit senior receiver Cole Landers wide open down the left sideline for a 60-yard touchdown. Another touchdown from Rowland, this one from 17-yards out, sealed it two minutes later.
But perhaps Andale’s most impressive play came late in the fourth quarter. As the Indians milked the clock, senior Dawson Chavez took a handoff up the middle. He was stacked up at the line of scrimmage, but almost every player on the field swarmed around him.
Perry-Lecompton had several players standing taller than 6 feet and many more who weighed over 200 pounds. Andale, whose offensive line averaged 199 pounds, pushed Chavez 13 yards for a first down.
Hunter, who handed Chavez the ball, stood behind the crowd, looked to the sideline and nodded his head.
“Pound for pound, it doesn’t matter how big you are,” Hunter said. “It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight.”
Andale coach Dylan Schmidt won his first state championship as a coach with the victory Saturday. He said he wasn’t comfortable until the clock hit zeroes.
.JPG "_MG_3622 (2).JPG")
“It’s unbelievable,” Schmidt said. “All the hard work everybody has put in, the community, the parents, the kids, the coaches, to have it pay off and reach the pinnacle of the profession or for the kids to be able to celebrate this is unbelievable. So proud of our guys.”
Andale won its five playoff games by an average of 43 points. The Indians trailed only Derby, the Class 6A champion, and Bishop Miege, the 4A champion, in that department.
Andale allowed just 34 points throughout the postseason, the fewest by any state champion in Kansas this year by 19 points.
Fair, the Indians’ senior defensive tackle, put it simplest.
“We’re amazing,” Fair said. “The best.”
.jpg "Image from iOS (3).jpg")
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 5:17 PM.