Saints aim to break state semifinal losing streak

By TEREZ A. PAYLOR

The Kansas City Star

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Well, St. Thomas Aquinas is in the state semifinals again.

That is nothing new. If you follow East Kansas League football, you probably know about the Saints’ 0-7 record in the state semifinals over the last 11 years.

And during that period, Aquinas coach Kevin Kopecky has tried everything to improve his team’s luck, from wearing green practice jerseys to putting pride stickers on the players’ helmets for the big game.

This season, Kopecky has nothing up his sleeve. Instead, he’s going to rely on his seniors when they head to Gardner on Friday in a rematch of last year’s 5A state quarterfinal game.

“We’ve got some good football players, and we’re just going to play the game,” Kopecky said. “It’s that senior leadership. We’ve got such a big senior class, 41 seniors and two managers, and they have so much chemistry.”

A victory for the Saints over the Trailblazers would send Aquinas to the state championship game for the first time in school history.

“The goal is to win state, but we’ve never gotten past this point before so our main goal right now is to win this game,” said linebacker Ryan Nelson, a senior captain.

However, beating Gardner Edgerton will be tough. The Trailblazers, 10-1, should be motivated after the Saints dealt them their only loss of the season, 12-6 in district play on Oct. 24.

Posted on Tue, Nov. 18, 2008 10:15 PM

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