Bishop Miege football team takes aim on two lofty goals

The Bishop Miege High School football team set some pretty lofty goals entering the season.

One goal was to win a Kansas Class 4A Division I football state championship, after falling in the Class 5A state title game in 2012.

Another goal was to win the state title with an undefeated record.

Both objectives can be achieved on Saturday, when the Stags face Topeka Hayden at 1 p.m. at Hummer Sports Complex in Topeka.

“A lot of our seniors a couple years ago played big roles as sophomores in the state championship game and they wanted to get back,” Bishop Miege coach Jon Holmes said. “It is a good group of kids who have been at Miege a long time and have seen a lot of games here. They want to go down as one of the best teams ever, and they are one game away from that.”

One of the things Holmes is most proud of is his team’s feat of runing the table against Class 6A and 5A opponents in the Eastern Kansas League.

“That’s been the biggest difference between this year and other years,” Holmes said. “We were able to stay healthy, which was big, and we’ve had a lot of players step up, which has made us able to play guys one way. We have never been able to do that.”

A big part of the Stags’ success this season has been their versatility on offense, featuring quarterback Ryan Willis’ air attack and Dawson Downing’s success on the ground.

This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Bishop Miege football team takes aim on two lofty goals."