Andover Central denies Bishop Miege in football battle for 4A state championship
Senior running back Maddox Archibald rushed for 341 yards and four touchdowns Saturday as the Andover Central Jaguars beat the Bishop Miege Stags 49-42 for the Kansas Class 4A state high school football championship.
Archibald’s eye-popping performance offset a four-touchdown day by Miege senior wide receiver Teryn Jackson in a game played at Emporia State University’s Welch Stadium in Emporia.
Bidding for their first title since 2022 and 12th overall, the Stags opened the scoring about halfway through the first quarter on senior quarterback Marco Rodriguez’s 58-yard touchdown pass to Jackson.
Andover Central answered with Archibald’s first TD of the day, and the trading of scores was on. Senior Jaguars QB Jace Jefferson hit senior wideout Brandt Stupka for another TD and then Miege countered.
Jackson scored his second TD on a 29-yard reception from sophomore signal-caller Michael Blount. His third TD of the opening half, covering 36 yards on another pass from Rodriguez, made it 21-14.
Jefferson ran in a short TD with 7 seconds remaining and it was 21-all at halftime.
The Stags took a 28-21 lead late in the third quarter on a 5-yard TD run by sophomore running back Vinny George ... matched not long after by Archibald’s second TD. That made it 28-28 through three quarters.
Early in the final period, with Miege at the Jags’ 2-yard line, Rodriguez and Jackson connected for a 35-28 Stags lead. But Jefferson evened things up again on a short TD toss to senior tight end Logan Taggart.
Archibald’s third TD made it 42-35 with 3 minutes to go. The Stags failed to convert a fourth-and-13, turned it over, and Archibald tacked on his fourth with about a minute remaining.
The Stags’ scored their final TD on a pass from Rodriguez to junior receiver Jeremiah Johnson.
Earlier Saturday, Andale beat Topeka Hayden 36-19 for the 3A championship and Axtell blanked Victoria 50-0 for the 8-Man Division II title. It’s Axtell’s fourth consecutive championship and 52nd straight win.
On Friday, Gardner Edgerton beat Manhattan 36-33 for the 6A title.
Kansas’ smaller schools — 8-Man Divisions I and II, as well as 6-man — played their state finals at Kiowa County High in Greensburg. The largest schools’ finals took place at Emporia State, while the Class 1A, 2A and 3A finals were contested at Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson.
Kansas state championship games
CLASS 6A STATE FINAL
Friday: Gardner Edgerton 36, Manhattan 33
CLASS 5A STATE FINAL
Saturday: St. Thomas Aquinas 35, Hays 13
CLASS 4A STATE FINAL
Saturday: Andover Central 49, Bishop Miege 42
CLASS 3A STATE FINAL
Saturday: Andale 36, Topeka Hayden 19
CLASS 2A STATE FINAL
Friday: Southeast of Saline 36, Nemaha Central 28
CLASS 1A STATE FINAL
Saturday: Conway Springs 41, Centralia 6
8-MAN DIVISION I STATE FINAL
Saturday: Hoxie 46, Central Plains 0
8-MAN DIVISION II STATE FINAL
Saturday: Axtell 50, Victoria 0
6-MAN STATE FINAL
Saturday: Weskan 49, Cunningham 48
For stats, recaps, online broadcasts and more, visit 810Varsity.com.
This story was originally published November 30, 2024 at 3:54 PM.