How Gardner Edgerton took down Manhattan for Kansas Class 6A football championship
.jpg "Senior quarterback Bravin Powell rushed for three touchdowns as Gardner Edgerton beat Manhattan 36-33 in the state championship game for Kansas Class 6A state high school football at Welch Stadium on the Emporia State University campus in Emporia, Kan., on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.")
Gardner Edgerton ended Manhattan’s perfect season and claimed its second straight football title with a thrilling 36-33 victory in Friday afternoon’s Kansas Class 6A state championship game at Emporia State University.
It was a back-and-forth contest from start to finish at Welch Stadium in Emporia. And the outcome exacted a measure of revenge.
Two years ago — also in this game, also against Manhattan — Gardner Edgerton fell just short on a two-point conversion attempt on the game’s final play. Manhattan won that day, 21-20.
“I’m happy for our seniors,” Trailblazers coach Jesse Owen said, “because as sophomores, they got beat here in double-overtime.
“For us to have the resolve we’ve had the last two seasons and motivation to come back here, it’s just a great group of kids who listened to how we coached them.”
This is the second title in the history of the Gardner Edgerton program. It comes in the Trailblazers’ fourth title-game appearance, three of which have come in the last three seasons under Owen.
Manhattan (12-1) found the end zone first on Friday. Senior quarterback Carter Aslin took a keeper right and went mostly untouched to the end zone. GE then blocked the extra-point kick.
The defending state champion Trailblazers (12-1) scored their first touchdown and took a 7-6 lead with 1 minute, 34 seconds left in the opening quarter. Senior QB Bravin Powell carried the ball up the middle for a short TD run behind a good push from the GE O-line.
That’s how it went throughout Friday’s game: one team would pull ahead, the other would answer. Gardner Edgerton fell behind 19-7 but scored its second TD on a 12-yard pass from Powell to senior tight end Lucas Wilson.
Powell then found junior running back Porter Swaim for a 29-yard scoring strike just before halftime. The Trailblazers’ third TD of the afternoon — on one of Powell’s two pass completions Friday — gave Gardner Edgerton a 22-19 advantage at intermission.
Manhattan went ahead in the third quarter, but Powell again kept the ball to finish off a Trailblazers march that covered 80 yards in nine plays. That TD, a 23-yard rush toward the very end of the penultimate period, made it 29-26 GE.
The seesaw showdown spilled into the fourth quarter. On fourth and 2, senior running back Jaydin Hudley ran for a 33-yard touchdown — his second TD of the game — to make it 33-29 Manhattan. Hudley finished with a game-high 178 rushing yards.
The Trailblazers got the ball back after forcing a three-and-out. Powell had precious little time with which to work but engineered an efficient drive and scored the game-winner on a second-and-goal plunge with 10 seconds left.
GE’s Syre Padilla finished with 180 rushing yards, including a critical long gain late in the game. Powell ran for 129 yards and three TDs.
Falling behind 19-7 did not prove to be insurmountable for this Gardner Edgerton team. The Trailblazers had trailed by that score in two playoff games before Friday.
They rallied for the win, again, and claimed a repeat championship.
“I’m so thankful to play for Coach O (Owen) and to be a Blazer,” Powell said. “I’m so ecstatic to go back-to-back with this group of guys.”
Here’s the complete schedule for Saturday’s title games in Kansas:
Kansas state championship games
CLASS 6A STATE FINAL
Friday: Gardner Edgerton 36, Manhattan 33
CLASS 5A STATE FINAL
St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Hays, 7 p.m. Saturday
Site: Welch Stadium in Emporia
CLASS 4A STATE FINAL
Andover Central vs. Bishop Miege, 1 p.m. Saturday
Site: Welch Stadium in Emporia
CLASS 3A STATE FINAL
Andale vs. Topeka Hayden, noon Saturday
Site: Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson
CLASS 2A STATE FINAL
Friday: Southeast of Saline 36, Nemaha Central 28
CLASS 1A STATE FINAL
Conway Springs vs. Centralia, 5 p.m. Saturday
Site: Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson
8-MAN DIVISION I STATE FINAL
Central Plains vs. Hoxie, 7 p.m. Saturday
Site: Kiowa County HS, Greensburg
8-MAN DIVISION II STATE FINAL
Victoria vs. Axtell, 11 a.m. Saturday
Site: Kiowa County High School
6-MAN STATE FINAL
Cunningham vs. Weskan, 3 p.m. Saturday
Site: Kiowa County HS, Greensburg
For stats, recaps, online broadcasts and more, visit 810Varsity.com.
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 4:43 PM.