Derby, Northwest and Andale all headed back to state championship football games
It hasn’t been often in the last decade when the Derby football program could play the underdog role.
Maybe the Panthers should have never been removed as the favorite to advance to the Class 6A championship game, although they seemed vulnerable this year when they lost a second regular-season game for the first time since 2011.
But that didn’t prevent Derby from doing what it does best once again: mowing through the 6A West field, courtesy of a 62-27 romp over Junction City on Friday, to play yet another state championship.
Derby conquered its three biggest obstacles — Gardner-Edgerton, No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Lawrence and Junction City — en route to its sixth straight championship game appearance. The Panthers (8-2) will play Blue Valley North (7-2) for their sixth title in the last eight years.
“I think our season flipped when we were able to do some more team-building that let the kids bond more,” Derby coach Brandon Clark said. “We’re doing a lot more off-the-field stuff and since we implemented it back into our program, I’ve seen the kids get so much tighter and things have turned back to, ‘We’re not just a football team, we’re a family.’ You can just see the difference in the way the kids are interacting with each other. That stuff really helps out.”
After losing to Maize, 36-35, on Oct. 16, Derby has been dominant. The Panthers topped Gardner-Edgerton, Lawrence and Junction City — the other top-ranked teams from the 6A West bracket — by a total of 150-75.
On Friday, Derby piled up 62 points and 697 yards of total offense, including 577 rushing yards, on Junction City. Senior quarterback Lem Wash ran for 265 yards and four touchdowns, then added 120 passing yards and another touchdown, while running back Dylan Edwards ran for 252 yards and four touchdowns.
“Lem and Dylan are like best buds back there,” Clark said. “Lem’s reads have been awesome. They know each other so well and what they’re going to do, especially in the option game. They’re doing a great job back there and the offensive line is doing a really good job. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The game was actually close heading into halftime, as Derby clung to a 20-14 lead. After a defensive stand in the final minute, it took Wash just 27 seconds to drive 43 yards and find Mercer Thatcher for a 7-yard touchdown with four seconds left to push Derby’s halftime lead to 27-14.
It was all Derby in the second half, as the Panthers will now face the same BV North program it played in the 2017 and 2018 state title games.
Northwest pulls away from Carroll to reach third straight 5A title game
Faced with a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter to a potent Bishop Carroll team, Northwest’s team, led by 25 seniors, didn’t flinch.
Instead, the Grizzlies kept their focus and rallied for a 41-21 victory on Friday to advance to their third straight Class 5A championship game. Northwest (11-0) will try to win its first state title in school history against Mill Valley in a rematch of last year’s 40-31 title-game loss.
“We’re not done yet. We’re sick of being the bridesmaid,” Northwest coach Steve Martin said. “To get there with every rollercoaster we’ve faced this year, it will probably hit me later tonight when everybody’s not around. I’m so proud of our seniors for them to get us back in this position. It’s amazing and it shows how resilient those guys are.”
Things looked bleak when Carroll drove the length of the field for a touchdown, forced a three-and-out, then scored against on a Hunter Trail touchdown run to go up 14-0 in the first quarter.
Looking for a spark, Northwest turned to a diminutive junior in Geremiah Moore (5 foot 9, 154 pounds) at quarterback. The switch worked, as Moore’s electric running ability proved too much for Carroll’s defense to stop since it also had to worry about senior running back Julius Bolden.
On its next three drives, Northwest scored touchdowns to rally for a 21-14 lead.
“Whenever you can put a running quarterback back there and the defense has to defend 11 guys, that’s huge,” Martin said. “Geremiah brings another wiggle to an already great backfield and he just compliments those guys so well.”
After Carroll’s Aiden Niedens found Matt Holthusen for a touchdown on a fourth-and-13 play to tie the score at 21-21 heading into halftime, Northwest’s offense with Moore at quarterback was too much to stop.
He broke a 54-yard touchdown run to break the tie in the third quarter, then Bolden broke two more long touchdown runs to secure the victory for the Grizzlies. Bolden finished with more than 200 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
“I feel like I had to pick us up,” Moore said “Every time I come in, I’ve got to turn it on and I feel like I can provide a spark to get us a lot of rushing yards.”
“Geremiah gave us that spark we needed to get back to Pittsburg,” Martin said.
Andale has chance for second straight undefeated 3A title
No team in Kansas has been more dominant than Andale the past two seasons.
The Indians continued their winning ways on Friday in a 49-0 victory over Collegiate in the Class 3A semifinals. Andale (11-0) won its 24th straight game and will have a chance to win its second straight undefeated 3A title next Saturday against Perry-Lecompton.
Andale has outscored its four playoff opponents 218-7.
“Obviously we have a lot of really good athletes, but these kids are tough and disciplined and coachable,” Andale coach Dylan Schmidt said. “I can’t say enough good things about this group. You add up all of those things together and it’s a recipe for success.”
Andale showed again on Friday how dominant it can be in all three phases of the game in the first quarter against Collegiate.
The Indians started with an early touchdown from the offense, as Eli Rowland scored on a short run and added a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. After a defensive stop, Rowland returned a punt 62 yards for a score on special teams. Before the quarter was over, Andale’s defense registered a safety.
The game was never in doubt after that, as Andale’s defense notched its third straight shutout and Rowland finished with 106 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Andale improved to 47-2 in Schmidt’s fourth season as coach. The Indians have outscored opponents by an average of 38 points (46.8-8.6) over that time-span.
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