TOPEKA -- For the Wichita Heights Falcons and the Olathe North Eagles, Saturday was a reversal of fortunes.
A year ago, then-senior James Franklin rushed for 269 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles soared to a 37-3 victory in the Class 6A state championship.
This time, it was Wichita Heights senior running back Dreamius Smith running for 286 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Falcons to a 48-14 win and the title of 6A state champions Saturday at Yager Stadium in Topeka.
“This was real special,” Smith said. “We worked hard. At practice, our last run was for redemption. We said we wanted to get it back after last year.”
It many ways, Saturday’s state championship game was the exact opposite of the 2009 version.
Heights dominated on the ground early, scoring on their first three possessions to take a 21-0 lead at the 2:53 mark of the first quarter.
Smith ran for 43 yards on the Falcons’ first play from scrimmage to set up a 18-yard touchdown run by quarterback Matt Reed four plays later.
On Heights’ second possession, Smith appeared to be stopped behind the line of scrimmage on an inside run. Then Smith ran to the right sideline, hesitated and then exploded behind a block for an 85-yard touchdown run and a 14-0 Falcons lead.
“I just wanted to run hard,” said Smith, who has committed to play football for the Kansas Jayhawks. “It was supposed to be an inside run, but there wasn’t anything there. So I took it outside and let my speed take care of the rest.”
After the score, Heights took advantage of a short kickoff by David Hoyer. Olathe North‘s up-backs didn‘t cover the football, and Heights recovered it as an onside kick on the Eagles‘ 23-yard line.
Five plays later, Matt Reed threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Deshazer to give the Falcons a 21-0 lead.\
“It was no surprise that we were going to run the football,” Wichita Heights coach Rick Wheeler said. “I also thought we had a couple of completions early that helped us open up the running game.”
Heights ran for 499 yards as a team and limited the usually run-happy Eagles to 110 rushing yards, including only 30 yards on 19 carries in the first half.
In addition to Smith, Reed rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns for the Falcons. Quarterback Victor Simmons led Olathe North with 53 yards rushing on 23 carried. He also completed 5-of-7 passes for 138 yards.
It was Wheeler’s first state championship as a coach, and the first state title win in football for a Wichita city school in quite some time.
“It’s something special when you work real hard and win the whole thing,” Wheeler said. “These guys certainly wanted to represent the city in a positive way, and they did that. I believe they did that last year as well even though it was a loss.
“Now, we’re going to enjoy this for a few weeks. Maybe in 364 days, we’ll be back here against Olathe North for the rubber match.”
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