Olathe North will play for Kansas state football title; Mill Valley, Miege advance too

A nine-year drought between appearances in the state championship game might be negligible for most high school football programs in the area. For Olathe North, one of the most decorated programs in the state, it was an eternity.

Nine years was long enough. The Eagles utilized a trio of big plays and a stingy defense to beat Blue Valley 28-7 Friday night at the Olathe District Activity Center.

Olathe North (10-2) heads to the Kansas Class 6A state championship game for the first time since 2010. The Eagles will play defending state champion Derby next Saturday at Emporia State’s Welch Stadium, looking for their ninth state title in their 11th appearance.

Eagles coach Chris McCartney watched with a wide grin as his team celebrated its latest addition to a crowded trophy case, the pride impossible to hide.

“With all the opportunities the kids have to go to schools around here, and they open up a new school,” he said. “Here we are, still trying to maintain what we’ve got going on with football, I think it’s special. These kids, man.”

The evidence of Olathe North’s hard-nosed style was visible on the bloodied hand of quarterback Arland Bruce IV after the game.

“This meant a lot, because we kind of had a state championship drought,” Bruce said. “To bring it back after nine years is a great feeling.”

The Eagles jumped out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter on two consecutive plays. Jacob Parrish opened the scoring by running up the middle for a 28-yard touchdown. The next time Olathe North touched the ball, Bruce hit Dale Stout for a 45-yard strike.

“We were able to attack them early,” Bruce said. “We hit them with a pass early in the game, and they were expecting us to run all game.

“They loaded the box a couple times, so we just surprised them with the pass. That kind of got the defense going and got us some momentum.”

And defense ultimately put the game away. Sophomore defensive back Noah Palmer intercepted a Blue Valley pass in the second quarter and embarked on a 32-yard return that ended with him dragging a couple of Tigers players across the goal line.

Blue Valley (8-4) eventually started moving the ball a bit after a slow start, but the Tigers failed to capitalize. Some high-snap issues, a trio of interceptions and a failed fake field goal left Blue Valley with nothing to show for its yardage.

The Tigers finally got on the board with their special teams midway through the fourth quarter. Mason Richman blocked a punt and Beau Palmer had a short return for touchdown to cut the deficit to 14 points, 21-7, with 8:33 to go.

The Olathe North offense had failed to pick up a first down in the second half up to that point. The Eagles responded with a methodical 90-yard march, all on the ground, that Bruce punctuated with a 1-yard run.

“I told the offense to give it all they’ve got. We’ve been working since May 29th, is when we started. To be here and able to play (next week) is the best feeling ever,” Bruce said.

The last test for the Eagles is undefeated Derby, which has throttled every team on its schedule by at least 21 points in the Panthers’ quest for a second straight state championship.

The task is a big one, but Olathe North has one more week of practice to get ready.

“I’ve got a couple friends over there, so I know they’re going to be ready,” Bruce said. “We’ve got to prepare all week for this.”

Mill Valley 34, St. Thomas Aquinas 31: Tyler Green scored on a 6-yard run in overtime to lift the Jaguars to the third state-title game in school history. The host Saints scored first in OT on a field goal but could not hold back Mill Valley (9-3) at the end. The Jags will play Wichita Northwest (12-0), an 80-42 winner over Maize Friday night, for the Class 5A title next Saturday at Pittsburg.

Bishop Miege 48, Paola 14: The Stags returned to the Class 4A state-title game with a win at previously unbeaten Paola. Miege (10-2) will play Andover Central (11-1), a 7-0 winner over McPherson, for the 4A state championship next Saturday in Topeka. The Stags will be looking to bring home their sixth straight state football title.

This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 10:03 PM.