The Class 4A state championship game could be over early.
It isn’t that a blowout is anticipated, but rather because two power running teams with premier defenses will square off for the 4A crown.
Top-ranked Louisburg (13-0) will take on tradition-rich Holton (11-2) in an all-Wildcat final at 1 p.m. Saturday at Salina Central High School Stadium.
The clock isn’t expected to stand still very often.
Under the direction of head coach Brooks Barta, the Holton Wildcats have perfected their wishbone offense to the tune of more than 4,700 rushing yards this season. The Wildcats average nearly 370 yards on the ground.
Barta, in his 15th season as Holton’s coach, has used that formula to post a 151-27 record including state titles in 2003 and 2005. Saturday will mark Holton’s fifth state championship game appearance in school history, all coming under Barta’s reign.
“You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out what they’re going to do,” Louisburg head coach Gary Griffin said. “But that doesn’t make it easy to stop it.”
This year’s Holton attack features a balanced group of rushers led by senior Gunnar McKenna, who has rushed for more than 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns.
He’s joined in the backfield by seniors Drake Lovvorn and Brentt Donaldson, as well as juniors Jay Morris and Rob Riederer. Lovvorn is second on the team with 828 yards, while Donaldson, Morris, and Riederer have added 553, 530, and 355 yards respectively.
“They’re probably going to be one of the best running teams we’ve faced this year,” Griffin said. “With a lot of teams if you stop the running game early, they’ll go to something else. Holton will stick with it. If you stay with the same defense, Coach Barta will find something that works.”
Senior Bryce Barnett directs the Wildcat wishbone from under center. Barnett (6-4, 195) has rushed for 285 yards and seven touchdowns, while 10 of his 13 completions on the season have gone for touchdowns.
Despite the limited numbers, Barta said he’s confident in Barnett’s ability to throw the ball with success.
“We feel like we’re strong in the passing game, but we’ve been in the situations a lot this season where we want to protect the lead,” Barta said. “Our quarterback has probably caught a bad break in that we don’t throw the ball more, stat-wise. We use the running game to set up the pass. Everything in our passing game is built around play-action.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Holton has allowed just 14 points per game against a schedule that included Topeka High, Topeka Hayden, Rose Hill, Andale, Ulysses, and Buhler.
The Wildcat ‘D’ was most impressive in last week’s 42-7 semifinal thrashing of Buhler in holding the state’s leading rusher Tanner Fisher to just 19 yards on 10 carries.
The defense has played so well that Barta said it ranks up there with Holton’s great teams of the past.
“I think we’re as good defensively as we’ve been,” he said. “It all starts with our front seven. That allows our secondary a little more freedom.”
Like Holton, Griffin has built up the Louisburg program around the running game and defense. Griffin has guided Louisburg to an 81-22 record over eight seasons and hopes to give the school its first state football championship after the team posted runner-up finishes in 1997 and 2007.
The Louisburg defense has been nothing short of spectacular this season. The Wildcats have surrendered 126 points in 13 games this season, including only 64 during the regular season. Only three opponents have scored in double digits on Louisburg thus far.
“The defense is the strength of our team,” Griffin said. “We had only three returning starters on defense going into this season, but we had a lot of kids with experience. There are no weak links on defense. We’ve given up less than 10 points a game.”
The Louisburg defense is led by senior Tyler Ewy (6-3, 285); a dominating defensive lineman with ability to run down plays from sideline-to-sideline. He’s joined up front by senior Ross Dvorak (6-3, 255). Their jobs are to free up Garrett Griffin (6-4, 210) and Alex Gentges (6-0, 225) on both sides of the ball.
Griffin, son of the head coach, and Gentges also star in the Louisburg backfield. Griffin has been the workhorse for the Wildcats this season. The junior has rushed for 1,450 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. Gentges has added more than 600 yards and 13 scores from his fullback position.
The Louisburg offense is directed by senior Kody Cook. Cook has returned from missing the entire 2009 season with a torn ACL to throw for more than 1,100 yards and 12 scores, while adding more than 500 yards on the ground.
“Having Kody back has been huge,” Griffin said. “We like to run the football, but he gives us another dimension.”
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