By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
This Saturday, nine state championship games will kick off around the state of Kansas, and few are as steeped in narratives as the battle for Class 4A.
This final will pit Wamego, a school from a community of just over 4,500 people, against Bishop Miege, a school five miles outside of downtown KC, home to over 500,000.
As it has for decades it will pit the best team from the east, a side that has won the last eight 4A titles, against the best of the west, a side that will look to claim its first since 2013.
This game will pit public against private, it will pit rural against urban, but most importantly, it will pit one of 4A’s greatest dynasties against 4A’s team of destiny.
Since 2009, Bishop Miege has claimed seven state titles, winning six straight from 2014-2019.
The Stags have played in seven state finals in 11 years under head coach Jon Holmes and will be hungry to continue that run of dominance, and return their program to the top of Class 4A.
This season Miege cruised to 10-2, with their only two losses coming at the hands of St. Thomas Aquinas and 6A Blue Valley Northwest.
They steamrolled their way through the playoffs, knocking off Ottowa, Eudora, and KC Piper before avenging their loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the state semis.
Many around the state of Kansas are picking the heavy favorites from KC without giving Wamego much thought, but if there’s one team built to rise from the west and rewrite history, it might just be these Boom Town Raiders.
From the beginning, this Wamego team believed that they could get here, and that belief sparked something within the Raider locker room, aiding them to a perfect 12-0 start, and a first state championship appearance in program history.
“Our confidence has been incredible to see and our guys have really bought into what we’ve been preaching from day one,” Wamego head coach Weston Moody said. “We’ve taken things one day at a time and you worry sometimes about the lights being too bright for guys, especially under pressure but they’ve pushed through and handled everything with aggression and focus.”
That aggression and focus led the Red Raiders on a postseason tear that saw them dismantle Ulysses, Rose Hill, and Andover Central, before bouncing McPherson in their semifinal last week.
As the Raider’s playoff run has heated up, so has Army commit Hayden Oviatt, who has rushed for over 880 yards and 11 touchdowns in the five weeks since returning from a broken foot.
“Getting Hayden back is a great thing for us,” Moody said. “In some bad weather having someone that can run the ball like he can have made a big difference. I think people also forget that the dude can spin it.”
Oviatt’s return has perfectly complimented signal caller Colin Donahue, who has thrown for over 2,000 yards and 27 touchdowns in Hayden’s absence, continuing to lead the team throughout the postseason.
On the other side of the ball, the Wamego defense has been playing on another level since week one and has stated a very legitimate case to be named one of, if not the best unit in the state across all classifications.
The Wamego D allows the fewest points (6.9), yards (112), rushing yards (51.9), and passing yards (51.1) per game, while forcing 32 turnovers and pitching three shutouts this season.
This unit hasn’t surrendered more than 16 points in any game all year, helping Wamego win every single contest, including last week’s semifinal, by 17 or more.
“The defensive guys don’t get enough of the glory but our guys have been steadfast with the idea that we play as one on that side of the ball,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that defense wins championships and I feel great about what Coach Good has done breeding that 1-11 mentality into these guys.”
That defensive unit will need to stand tall one more time this week against an elite Miege offense led by senior quarterback Mac Armstrong.
Armstrong has completed 245 of his 327 passes this season for 3,495 yards and 36 touchdowns, while surrendering just four picks to complement an effective run game split between David Garcia and DeAndre Beasley.
“Miege is balanced on offense,” Moody said. “They can run it when they want to, they can sling it around, they average about 270 pounds up front and they have plenty of different threats at the skill positions. Their offense is explosive and we’re going to have our work cut out for us but we want that challenge.”
In order to stymie a Stag offense that averages over 40 points per game, the Raiders will need to win the turnover battle, something Wamego has done an excellent job of this season at +28.
“We need to be opportunistic,” he said. “We need to generate turnovers, we’ll have to run to the football and play assignment sound. We have to limit their explosive plays and put our offense in a position to make big plays ourselves.”
Despite all of the pregame narratives and hype, Wamego will need to block out all of the external noise and focus on what got them here, explosive offense, stifling defense, a fiery competitive spirit, and the confidence to know, not just to feel, that they belong here.
“We’re ready,” Moody said. “We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for so long and the guys are excited. We want to take it all in but we have to mentally prepare to make sure these lights don’t get too bright. You don’t get these opportunities very often and it’s taken a long time for us to get here, we want to make sure we enjoy this.”
Kickoff between the Raiders and Stags is set for 1 pm at Topeka-Hummer Sports Park Stadium with the winners being crowned 4A state champions.