St. Thomas Aquinas Saints roll past Hays for another Kansas football championship
.jpg "St. Thomas Aquinas senior quarterback Elzie Slaughter (No. 2) runs the offense during the Saints’ Kansas Class 5A high school football state championship game against Hays in Emporia, Kansas on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024.")
The unbeaten St. Thomas Aquinas Saints are state champions again in Kansas high school football — albeit in a different classification this year than last.
The Saints (13-0), tops in Class 4A a year ago, on Saturday beat Hays 35-13 for the Class 5A crown for the program’s first back-to-back titles. Aquinas moved up a classification this past offseason.
This is also the 10th state championship for Saints coach Randy Dreiling, most for anyone in Kansas history. He’s now won three at Aquinas after collecting seven at Hutchinson.
“I’ve been fortunate to have the privilege to coach some great players and great teams, and this is one of those teams right here,” Dreiling said. “The EKL (Eastern Kansas League), Rockhurst, the 5A playoffs — for this team to go through that schedule undefeated shows how much they wanted it each week and were mentally prepared and physically tough each game.”
Saturday’s game took place at Welch Stadium on the Emporia State University campus in Emporia.
The Saints built a 21-0 lead by halftime. Quarterback Elzie Slaughter ran for a touchdown and hit fellow senior Brett Yankovich for a 41-yad TD pass. Then junior running back Calin Arndt scampered for a 23-yard TD.
Neither team scored in the third quarter. In the fourth, Slaughter rushed for another touchdown and Arndt also trucked into the end zone again, this time from 16 yards.
Hays’ points also came in the final period.
Arndt finished with 154 rushing yards and two TDs, Slaughter 98 rushing yards and two TDs. Gunner Greeson paced the Saints with 15 tackles.
Here’s a rundown of the other Kansas high school football state championship games:
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 9:14 PM.