The key to Gardner Edgerton’s chances of successfully bidding for a three-peat in the Class 6A football sub-state championship Friday night at the District Activity Center was not to allow early success by the Olathe Northwest Ravens.
But the Ravens (9-3) thwarted the Trailblazers’ defensive strategy by scoring on each of their first four possessions to open up the game.
A strong finish then enabled the Ravens to reach the Kansas Class 6A state championship for the first time in school history with a 42-28 win over the two-time defending champ Blazers (9-3).
“I’m so proud of them,” said Olathe Northwest head coach Lorne Clark. “The hard work, the time and the dedication that they put in, it’s amazing.”
“Big-time playmakers” lead the way for Northwest
A 16-yard touchdown run by senior running back Bryce Randall gave the Ravens the lead for good at the 11:07 mark of the second quarter, 28-21, the first of his two scores in the game. He also had a 41-yard touchdown burst later in the game.
In the fourth quarter, Randall helped the Ravens seal the win as they effectively moved the ball on the ground and ate up precious time on the clock. Most importantly, it kept the ball out of the Blazers’ hands.
“We were trying to finish them up, put the nail in the coffin,” said Randall, who accounted for 53 rushing yards on the Ravens’ final scoring drive. “Then get up out of here and go to (the) state (championship.”
After Randall handled the bulk of the load on the Ravens’ final drive, quarterback Brody Comfort capped the game’s scoring with 1:08 left in the game on a bootleg run for a 4-yard touchdown.
“This is what we’re really built to do, running the football,” said Clark. “But we also have big-time playmakers as well.”
The Ravens will play Manhattan at Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University next Saturday, Nov. 29, at 1 p.m., with a chance to win the program’s first Kansas football title.
Gardner Edgerton running back puts up valiant effort in defeat
The explosiveness of Blazers running back Syre Padilla kept them in the game.
That was evident in the game’s third play from scrimmage. Padilla powered his way to the end zone on a 69-yard run to give the Blazers the early lead.
By halftime, Padilla had already rushed for 194 yards on eleven carries. He entered the game with an average of 235 yards per game and became the Blazers’ all-time single-season record holder for rushing.
At the end of the first half, Padilla’s 48-yard touchdown run made it a one-score game going into halftime, with the Ravens up 28-21.
“Our goal was to slow him down and gang tackle him,” said Clark, the Northwest coach. “Obviously, he got out a couple times, but we were able to match them score for score.”
Padilla also demonstrated his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.
His fourth-quarter touchdown reception for 47 yards kept the Blazers within striking distance, 35-28, at the 7:43 mark before the Ravens pulled away for good.
“You can’t count us now”
The magic number for the Ravens is 30. In all of their wins this season, they’ve topped the 30-point mark. In each of their three losses, they failed to reach 30.
But two years after a disappointing sub-state loss to the Blazers, it’s the Ravens who are blazing a new trail to the state championship game.
“We had to show them (the Blazers) who we are because everybody had us counted out,” said Randall. “You can’t count us out now.”
