Blue Valley Northwest football tops BV West for trip to Kansas 6A state-title game
A public-address announcement at the end of Friday night’s Class 6A substate showdown between Blue Valley Northwest and Blue Valley West warned that students rushing the field at the final whistle might not be allowed to attend next week’s state-title game.
So BV Northwest’s players came up with a solution. First, the Huskies completed the customary post-game handshake line after a dominant 35-7 victory. Then they brought the celebration to their classmates, sprinting to the fence behind the south sideline to officially start the party.
A journey that started with a winless campaign when the current seniors were freshmen is now officially the best year in school history. The Huskies are 11-1 and will face perennial power Derby — a 62-28 winner over Lawrence Friday — on Saturday, Nov. 27, in Emporia for the 6A championship.
“It’s a range of people who have helped bring this program to where it is right now. We’ve got former players here who maybe didn’t see this come to full fruition, and I’m so proud of them,” BV Northwest coach Clint Rider said.
Senior quarterback Mikey Pauley ran for four touchdowns and more than 160 yards on Friday. He and the other seniors have been front and center for this turnaround.
“Five years ago we were 0-9, everyone was down,” Pauley said. “Then this freshman class stayed together, got better, put in the work, and where we are now really proves what Coach Rider is doing here and how hard we’re working. We’re in the spot where we should be.”
BV West (7-5) hadn’t lost since its last meeting with BV Northwest, a 21-0 defeat on Oct. 22. And the Jaguars were resilient during their playoff run, twice overcoming two-touchdown deficits to earn a rematch with BV Northwest.
Gage Roach found Jack Schneider for a 44-yard score late in the second quarter after missing his first six attempts. BV West trailed just 14-7 at halftime, a perfectly comfortable position.
But BV Northwest had seen its intra-district rival come back against two previous opponents and didn’t let that scenario repeat itself. Pauley’s 51-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the second half set the tone.
The BV Northwest defense ended the Jaguars’ next two drives with interceptions, and the BV Northwest offense converted those turnovers into touchdowns shortly thereafter.
“Offensively, we got a couple big play-action passes, and our defense has been unbelievable,” Rider said. “They don’t get enough credit, and the turnovers played a huge role in helping us build the momentum for the lead.”
The second-half surge that BV West had relied upon to advance to the substate round never came Friday night, and the Jaguars ended their season as one of just four teams in school history to advance to the semifinals.
“We put a drive together and made a couple of mistakes and couldn’t quite finish the drive,” BV West coach Steve Koerkenmeier said. “Hats off to them. They’re a great football team and played really well on both sides of the ball, and we never got that momentum.”
When Pauley scored for the fourth time early in the fourth quarter, the Huskies could start to dream about that championship showdown with Derby, winner of three straight state titles and five of the last six.
As the celebration continued after the plaque presentation, the student section’s chant turned to wanting Derby. BV Northwest is in unfamiliar territory now, but it’s playing with house money.
“We have no regrets and nothing to lose,” Pauley said. “We’re going to play freely. We’re going to play loose, we’re not going to play tight, and Derby’s not going to know what hit them.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 11:17 PM.