Friday night at Blue Valley District Athletic Complex at 7 p.m., St. Thomas Aquinas begins defense of its first state football championship.
The Saints open against league rival, Blue Valley, which Aquinas defeated last season in Week 1, 30-14. Blue Valley went on to finish 4-5 with a first-round Class 6A playoff loss, while Aquinas went 12-0 and won the Class 5A title in Pittsburg against Wichita Northwest.
"The players and coaches are excited to get back out there," said coach Randy Dreiling, entering his sixth season as head coach of the Saints having led the program to the state title game in three of five seasons, as well as the program's first state title in 2018. "This is our first opportunity this season to execute what we've been working on all off-season and pre-season. Every season is different. We're looking forward to seeing who steps up."
Key elements of the Saints' high-powered offense return this season, including five of the team's top six rushers. In 2018, Aquinas averaged 46 points per game on 482 yards of offense per game, including 385 rushing.
Starting fullback, Tyron "Tank" Young, rushed for a school-record 2,075 yards in 2018. Young averaged 207 rushing yards per game and 9.7 yards per carry. He returns to lead the backfield.
Charlie McCormick, who rushed for 455 yards last season, also returns to the backfield, as does Finn Barnett.
Junior Blake Anderson takes over the quarterback position after backing up Tate Raboin in 2018. Anderson averaged 8 yards per carry and 20 yards per pass attempt as the back-up.
Dionte Brown and Christian Mozingo, who returns from an injury in 2018, are back on the offensive line.
The Saints will look to a new group of wideouts, as Isaiah Gavin is the one returning player. Gavin averaged 19 yards per reception in 2018. Tommy Carroll moves from the backfield to tight end.
On defense, a new crop of players hope to continue the program's defensive dominance from 2018. Seven of the team's eight leading tacklers have moved on. Aquinas limited opponents to 14 points on 221 yards per game last season.
Peyton Reeves is the team's leading returning tackler with 50 tackles, 4 for a loss, 5.5 sacks, and 10 hurries. Kordan Harris and Terrence Collins return as defensive backs. Harris had 2 interceptions and 7 pass break-ups, while Collins had 9 pass break-ups.
Elias Carson had 34 tackles, including 3 for a loss, and Cameron Penny had 23 tackles.
Michael McNamara, Bobby Pierce, Danny Carroll, and Caden Reeves also return to the defense.
In the 2018 match-up with Blue Valley, after a scoreless first quarter, Blue Valley led 7-0 and 14-7 before Young ran for two touchdowns in the final 4:10 of the second quarter to give Aquinas a 21-14 halftime lead. The Saints added a field goal and touchdown in the fourth quarter to close out the win, 30-14. Aquinas out-gained the Tigers 478-240, including 415-87 on the ground.
St. Thomas Aquinas
at Blue Valley
St. James Academy
at Blue Valley Northwest
Blue Valley West
at Mill Valley