<table> </table> The anxious St. Thomas Aquinas players started the countdown at 12 minutes. For head coach Kevin Kopecky, the countdown&#8217;s been much longer, like 12 long years. But the wait was worth it because on the other side of that 17-12 final score, history waited for Aquinas on a freezing Friday night.</p><p>Through the final quarter of their Kansas Class 5A semifinal football game, several Saints players cheered every expiring minute illuminated on the Gardner Edgerton scoreboard, watching it as if it were the big ball at Times Square.</p><p>When the Saints blew up a Gardner Edgerton red zone fourth-and-3 run&#8230;</p><p>&#8220;Eleven minutes to Emporia.&#8221;</p><p>When senior Alex Charlton intercepted a pass on his own 2, once again foiling a Trailblazer fourth-down attempt&#8230;</p><p>&#8220;Five minutes to Emporia.&#8221;</p><p>And when the Saints recovered the onside kick, Gardner&#8217;s absolutely last chance to come back&#8230;</p><p>One minute to Emporia!</p><p>Ever so effectively summed up in the jubilant scream by junior lineman Michael Feuerborn: &#8220;We&#8217;re going to state!&#8221;</p><p>Yes, Aquinas won its first berth to a state football championship game, beating Gardner Edgerton for a trip to the state title game next Saturday in Emporia. Kopecky, repeating the words that many will be saying today, &#8220;finally,&#8221; has surpassed the tripping point in his career known as the state semifinals. So it&#8217;s no wonder that Kopecky leaped at the shock of water doused on his head and then went about stealing hugs from everyone in sight as soon as the countdown ended.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a great relief,&#8221; Kopecky said. &#8220;I&#8217;m so proud of this football team and for the (past) players who have played for Aquinas.&#8221;</p><p>Aquinas, 11-1, won without much playing time from starting quarterback Ricky Nachbar, who ran for a first-quarter score and later threw an 18-yard touchdown to senior Zach Bourquin in the second. Nachbar had some stinging pain in his knee, so Aquinas had to go to Beau Bourquin through many of the plays before and after halftime. Yet the Saints remained resilient in keeping Gardner Edgerton at bay. So while enduring some wild moments in the fourth quarter, the history of heartbreak was not lost on players. Only the countdown to redemption would satisfy their wants.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never felt better in my life,&#8221; Charlton said. &#8220;This is first time we&#8217;ve ever made it to state. We&#8217;re 0-7 and the first time we got that monkey off our back.&#8221;</p><p>When relayed that the monkey&#8217;s now gone, Kopecky said that &#8220;my wife hates that saying.&#8221;</p><p>But with all due respect to Mrs. Kopecky and her hatred for sports clich&#233;s, her husband was burdened by a vicious monkey named Substate. And it bit, too. Seven times in all. That&#8217;s the total of substate games Kopecky had lost in his 12 years at Aquinas. Seven times he&#8217;s watched somebody else celebrate. Handing out seven of the most difficult postgame handshakes in his life.</p><p>This time, Gardner Edgerton coach Marvin Diener played the good sport, congratulating the victor.</p><p>&#8220;I think we have established ourselves as one of the elite programs in 5A,&#8221; Diener said but added, &#8220;We&#8217;re close, but we&#8217;re still not quite there.&#8221;</p><p>But finally, St. Thomas Aquinas is there.