We have reached championship week of the 2012 Kansas high school football season as all 11-Man classifications will crown winners on Saturday, November 24th. Both divisions of 8-Man football in the state now have new champions as state title games were held in Newton on November 17th.
In Class 6A, top-ranked Hutchinson will take on No. 2 Shawnee Mission West in the state championship game at Yager Stadium on the campus of Washburn University in Topeka. The Salthawks escaped with a 29-28 win over No. 3 Derby thanks to a touchdown and two-point conversion with under a minute left to play in the game. SM West blasted No. 4 Lawrence Free State 48-21 behind three touchdowns directly resulting from special team’s plays. The Vikings are in the 6A title game for the first time since 2006 when they fell to Hutchinson, 21-14.
Class 5A’s title game will be played at Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University, and it will feature two teams highly thought of when the season began. Bishop Carroll was the preseason No. 1 and has remained in that spot all season, while Bishop Miege began the season ranked third, and climbed to No. 2 before several close losses plagued the Stags. Carroll advanced with a 45-21 win over No. 3 Salina South in which the Eagles scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away. Miege slipped by No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas 9-7 in a defensive battle. The Stags avenged a Week 9 loss to the Saints 27-24. While Bishop Miege brings a 7-5 record into the state title game, all five of the Stags losses came to playoff teams and four of those were by a touchdown or less.
Top-ranked Holton remains atop the Class 4A poll after a dominating 28-6 road-win over Mulvane. The Wildcats will take on No. 2 Eudora in the 4A state title game to be played in Salina. Eudora bested KC Piper 21-7 to advance to their second straight 4A championship game. McPherson, Mulvane, and Andale round out the top five in Class 4A this week.
The two top teams in Class 3A all season long will meet at Gowan’s Stadium in Hutchinson to decide the state championship. Top-ranked Silver Lake used a defensive and a special team’s touchdown to knock out rival Rossville 35-14 in advancing to their ninth championship game in the past ten seasons. The Eagles will take on No. 2 Scott City which beat No. 3 Beloit 42-26 despite trailing 18-14 at halftime. The Beavers are in the state title round for the first time since 1994 when they were runners-up in Class 4A.
There is a new No. 1 in Class 2-1A as Meade handled previously top-ranked La Crosse 34-12 to take over the top spot. The Buffaloes will take on defending champion and No. 2-ranked Centralia which defeated No. 4 Lyndon 34-14 on Friday night. The Panthers and Buffaloes have combined to win the past three 2-1A state championship titles with Centralia winning in 2009 and 2011, and Meade claiming the 2010 crown.
Ness City won the 8-Man, Division-I state championship with a 40-8 victory over No. 2 Mankato-Rock Hills in Newton on Saturday. The Eagles used a suffocating defensive performance to compliment a ground game that rushed for more than 270 yards. Dalton Gantz rushed for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and caught a touchdown pass from Koltyn Ratliff. Ratliff was also key on the defensive side in picking off two passes; one of which he returned for a touchdown.
Top-ranked Baileyville B&B completed a perfect season and won the rematch of last season’s Division II state title game by beating Thunder Ridge 28-6. The Falcons silented the Longhorn rushing attack with a strong defensive performance and two early touchdowns. Quarterback Dustin Rottinghaus contributed 200 yards of total offense and two touchdowns to lead the Falcons to victory. The title marks the third for Baileyville B&B in the past five seasons.
Click the Rankings tab on the main page to view the Top 5 for each class.
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