EMPORIA, Kan. – On a warm, sun-splashed Saturday afternoon, the Blue Valley Tigers entered Welch Stadium with one goal in mind. Like their counterparts across the field, they avenged a regular season loss in a Kansas Class 5A semifinal game to get at least this far, but this wasn’t far enough.
The goal was accomplished with a 35-14 win over the Bishop Carroll Golden Eagles, and now, the Tigers will be hauling some prestigious hardware north on I-35.
“The kids had great resolve,” Blue Valley head coach Eric Driskell said of his team not letting down after defeating Gardner-Edgerton 45-42 last week in the semis in what could be the game of the year in Kansas City. “Like we talked about it earlier in the week, this was their goal, to win a state title, and it would be hard for me to see these kids denied.”
It all started with the quarterback play of Kyle Zimmerman who was 18 of 32 for 251 yards and three touchdowns. He hit P.J. DeBey and Jacob McDermott all game long to keep the pressure on the Eagles defense.
“Our coaching staff has done a wonderful job all season of preparing us for big games,” DeBey said of keeping the intensity up for a second consecutive week. “It’s a credit to our coaching staff.”
But it was the Tigers defense that held the Eagles to 171 total yards in the game, with a paltry 78 coming through the air.
“The offense puts the butts in the seats, but the defense wins championships, and that was so true today,” DeBey added of his team’s performance.
Ironically, it all started with the special teams for Blue Valley, 12-1. Field goals of 32 and 34 yards in the first quarter from Austin Johnson got the Tigers off and running, but it was the second quarter where they blew the game wide open, posting 22 more points before the intermission.
“The second quarter was huge for us,” Driskell said. “Bishop Carroll is a great team, and they made some great plays. We just had some kids make some extra special plays, and that got us a little lead.”
A little lead, 28-7, that they never relinquished.
Both teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, but Bishop Carroll, 10-2, could never get anything really going offensively with a high-pressure Tiger defense in their face all game.
“Our offense played pretty well, and our defense did a great job of giving us a short field, getting us some takeaways,” Driskell said. “The special teams came through. It was just a great team win.”
DeBey finished with seven catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns, McDermott nabbed five for 82 yards, and running back Justin Fulks added another four for 73 yards and a score. Fulks also ran for 76 yards and a score.
“The kids get to live with this win, and that’s their legacy being a part of Blue Valley football,” Driskell said of the Tigers win. “They’re not just a great team, they are state champions, and no one can ever take that away from them.”
BLUE VALLEY 6 22 7 0 - 35
BISHOP CARROLL 0 7 7 0 - 14
Scoring
First quarter
BV – Austin Johnson 32 field goal, 6:49.
BV – Johnson 34 field goal, 1:43.
Second quarter
BV – Justin Fulks 8 pass from Kyle Zimmerman (Zimmerman to Matthew Hamblin), 10:53.
BV – Fulks 7 run (Johnson kick), 6:33.
BC – Daniel Crippen 13 pass from Tyler Nance (Alex Louthan kick), 1:18.
BV – P.J. DeBey 5 pass from Zimmerman (Johnson kick), :09.
Third quarter
BV – DeBey 9 pass from Zimmerman (Johnson kick), 9:53.
BC – Shane Brittain 11 pass from Nance (Louthan kick), 5:37.
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