Kansas High School Football 5A Semifinal Update

Written by Charlie Beuttel 
Twitter: @charlie_cds3 

We have reached the semifinals in Kansas 5A high school football playoffs with Mill Valley, St. Thomas Aquinas, Bishop Carroll, and Goddard-Eisenhower punching their ticket to the next round.

Defending champion Bishop Carroll is once again in the semifinals and will face Goddard-Eisenhower who making their first trip after winning a playoff game for the first time in school’s history last week. The other matchup pits Mill Valley against St. Thomas Aquinas which faced each other in Week 1 of the regular season with Mill Valley coming out on top. St. Thomas Aquinas is making their second consecutive appearance in the semifinals.

St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (9-2) at Mill Valley Jaguars (10-1)
Mill Valley won on the road at St. Thomas Aquinas 38-20 in Week 1 and now the two teams are battling for a chance to play for the state championship.

St. Thomas Aquinas has had a great rushing attack all year and once again showed it off running for nearly 300 yards in their quarterfinal win over St. James Academy with the Saints winning 42-7. The Saints have averaged 39.4 points a game this season putting pressure on opposing offenses to keep up.

Seniors James Cosentino (5’9”, 170 pounds) and Duron Lowe (5’11”, 185 pounds) have been the leaders of the running game all season. Cosentino had 105 yards and three touchdowns in the quarterfinal win. Quarterback Karter Odermann (6’2”, 202 pounds) can also run as he had two rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown last week.

The Saints have only given 15.3 points a game this year and averaged just 14 points allowed in their two previous playoff games. Defensive end Angel Dominguez (6’3”, 232 pounds) and defensive back Christopher Schilling (6’0”, 197 pounds), both seniors, are the leaders of this lock-down defensive unit.

Mill Valley has scored 42.8 points a game this season using their balanced offensive attack. The Jaguars beat Pittsburg, 56-21, in the quarterfinals.

Senior quarterback Logan Koch (6’1”, 200 pounds) has thrown for 1,992 yards and 28 touchdowns and is the leading rusher on the team with 632 yards. The other offensive leader is Christian Jegen (6’2”, 197 pounds). Jegen scored an incredible seven touchdowns in the quarterfinal win rushing for 118 yards and turning in 134 receiving yards. The senior star has just over 1,000 receiving yards and 600 rushing yards on the season.

The Jaguars defense is only giving up 12.2 points a game this season and averaging just 10.5 in their two previous playoff games. The leaders of the defense are linebackers Seth Burnett, who has 98 total tackles this year, and Cole Morris (6’4”, 210 pounds) who has 69 tackles.

Bishop Carroll Golden Eagles (10-1) at Goddard-Eisenhower Tigers (7-4)
The Golden Eagles are averaging 41.4 points this year and kept up the scoring in the playoffs. Third-string sophomore quarterback Braden Howell (6’0″, 175 pounds) led Bishop Carroll to a 44-14 victory over Wichita Heights last week. Howell had 151 rushing yards, 51 passing yards, and two total touchdowns. Star running back Adam Theis (5’10”, 190 pounds) added 167 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the win.

The Golden Eagles are giving up just 13.3 points a game this year and have given up 14 points in both their previous playoff games. The leaders of the Bishop Carroll defense include senior defensive backs Evan Nichols (5’11”, 178 pounds) and Brian Karst (6’1″, 185 pounds).

The Tigers forced five turnovers as they shutout Maize South, 16-0, in their quarterfinal win. They also beat Maize South, 29-20, in Week 3 of the regular season.

Eisenhower’s offense scored 24 points a game this year. The two leaders of the offense are junior quarterback Mason Madzey (6’1″, 205 pounds), who had 67 rushing yards, 40 passing yards and one touchdown last week, and senior running back Joseph Weibel (5’11”, 210 pounds) who added 136 rushing yards on 24 carries and one touchdown last week.

The Tigers defense is giving up 23.1 points but has come up big in the playoffs as they have limited opponents to 14 total points in two games. Players to watch on Eisenhower’s defense are Weibel, who also spends time at linebacker, senior defensive end Jarin Hanika (6’3″, 225 pounds), and defensive back Drake Damon (5’10”, 180 pounds).

Photo credit: mvnews.org; Mill Valley athlete Christian Jegen