With Hatfield’s 457 yards, Lee’s Summit outlasts Nixa for Missouri football title
.png "Lee’s Summit’s Preston Hatfield, left, broke Kyren Williams’ state high school title game record with 457 rushing yards in the Tigers’ 41-37 win over Nixa in the Missouri Class 6 championship football showdown at Spratt Memorial Stadium in St. Joseph, Missouri on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.")
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lee's Summit won Missouri Class 6 title, defeating Nixa 41-37 in 2025 final.
- Preston Hatfield rushed for more than 400 yards, powering Lee's Summit's comeback.
- Tigers reversed 0-4 start to claim title; Kearney and Platte County also won state crowns.
The Lee’s Summit Tigers are state champions of Missouri Class 6 high school football for the first time in school history — thanks largely to senior tailback Preston Hatfield, who put the show in Saturday night’s Show-Me Bowl championship game in St. Joseph.
The Tigers held off Nixa in a 41-37 slugfest of a high school football game on the final night of the 2025 season at Spratt Memorial Stadium. Some of the biggest blows were delivered by Hatfield, who rushed for 457 yards on the Missouri Western State University campus.
Hatfield’s effort shattered the Missouri title-game record for most rushing yards that was previously held by Vianney’s Kyren Williams — the same Kyren Williams who is now playing for the L.A. Rams ran for 289 in 2018.
“He may not say too much tonight; he may be too tired,” Lee’s Summit head coach Todd Miller said, gesturing to Hatfield. “I’ve had the pleasure of coaching a lot of young men, and these guys are phenomenal, but that’s as good of a game as I’ve ever seen a young man play.”
Then Miller turned directly to Hatfield, who’d just carried it 33 times to victory, saying simply, “I’m glad you’re on our team.”
Lee’s Summit needed every yard Hatfield and his teammates could muster in a showdown that endured seven lead changes. But the Tigers were ready, perhaps steeled by a season brought its own adversity: Lee’s Summit (10-4) started the year 0-4 before winning out.
“I’m going to remember everyone I played with, and all the adversity we faced and everything coach told us at the beginning of the year,” Hatfield said. “Anything’s possible and that’s what we had to believe.”
In the end, it wasn’t Hatfield but Karsten Fiene who scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 5:24 left.
Of course, a 77-yard dash by Hatfield set up Fiene’s TD. Hatfield scored on runs of 41, 15, 4 and 89 yards, the last pulling the Tigers even at 28-28 with 9:27 to go in the third quarter.
An 18-yard touchdown pass from Adam McKnight to Randy Flint gave Nixa a 35-28 lead with 3:51 left in the third. Moments later, however, Preston Haffield’s twin brother, Peyton Hatfield, scampered 34 yards to the end zone, tying the game at 35. Peyton Hatfield would finish the evening with 86 rushing yards.
Nixa took a 37-35 lead with 8:03 left on a safety. But then Preston Hatfield broke off that 77-yarder to set up the go-ahead score by Fiene.
“I’m going to remember everyone I played with, and all the adversity we faced and everything coach told us at the beginning of the year,” Preston Hatfield said. “Anything’s possible, and that’s what we had to believe.”
While Nixa (13-1) is the Class 6 runner-up for the second consecutive season, it was a good year for Kansas City-area teams across the board. Earlier Saturday, Kearney beat Hannibal 21-14 for the Class 4 championship.
On Friday, Platte County topped Carthage 34-28 in overtime for the Class 5 crown.
This story was originally published December 6, 2025 at 10:07 PM.