By Fred Solis
The Hutchinson Tribune
ANDALE—The Andale Indians will play for their sixth 3A state football championship in the last seven years after defeating Rock Creek 41-7 in the semifinal last Friday. The championship game is slated for 6 p.m. Friday at Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson, where Andale will face Topeka-Hayden for the second consecutive year.
“That’s our goal all year,” Andale Coach Dylan Schmidt said. “We talk about state championship from Day 1 and we set some goals, so to have a chance, that’s what it’s all about. We’re excited.”
Topeka-Hayden reached the title game after defeating Santa Fe Trail 46-0 last Friday. Last year the Indians vanquished the Wildcats 36-19 in a come-from-behind victory. Both teams are 12-0 while Andale is riding a state-leading 25-game win streak and will be shooting for their ninth state championship.
Andale took the game’s opening kickoff last Friday and drove 80 yards in seven and a half minutes for the score, a 10-yard run into the end zone by senior quarterback Sam Harp.
The drive was marred by penalties on both sides, including a holding call that nullified senior Jack Horsch’s 20-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-5. He ended the night with 81 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.
Andale was whistled 11 times for 84 yards on the night while Rock Creek was backed up 43 yards on six infractions. Still, Andale put together 382 total yards: 306 rushing and 76 on Harp’s 4-of-6 passing. Rock Creek had 74 rushing yards and 67 receiving yards.
Harp scored three more times on runs of 45, 6, and 2 yards. He ran for 124 yards on 16 carries, boosting his season rushing total to more than 1,300 yards.
Those yards came in essentially six games because of Andale’s proficient scoring—a school record 744 points—that triggered a running clock in the second half of every game this season except Friday’s semifinal. The ticking clock also signaled an exit for the Indians’ starters as the junior varsity, sophomores and freshmen took over.
Andale scored on their second possession as well when junior Jrayton Dansel plunged over the top from the 1 in the second quarter. The Indians then stopped the Mustangs on fourth-and-1 and took over at the Rock Creek 46. On the next play, Harp raced to the end zone for the score and a 20-0 lead.
Rock Creek, which punted and turned the ball over on downs in their first two possessions, finally got on the scoreboard for their one and only touchdown with 48 seconds left in the first half on a 4-yard pass that capped a six-minute drive that also saw them pick up their first first down of the game.
With the Mustangs set to take the second-half kickoff, the momentum seemed to have swung in their favor. But the Indians forced Rock Creek to punt on fourth-and-22 on their opening possession and turned it into another touchdown at 8:44, Harp’s third of the night.
The Indians completed reversing the momentum when they held Rock Creek on fourth-and-9 on the Mustangs’ next possession. About five minutes later Harp cracked the end zone to end the third quarter with Andale leading 35-7.
“The third quarter was huge,” Schmidt said, “because they go in with a little bit of momentum, 20-7; they just score and we really don’t have a chance to get going. To get the three and out and get it back in their territory was big.
“Then we score a couple plays later, that was huge. We kind of felt like the momentum shifted there, 28-7. Then it was kind of running downhill from there. The defense played unbelievable.
“They made us earn it. They’re the best team we’ve played all year, credit to them. But I was proud of our guys,” Schmidt said.
After Horsch scored from the 16 about midway through the fourth quarter, the Andale starters were through for the night and they turned the game over to the reserves, who kept Rock Creek out of the end zone to preserve the Indians’ victory.
Looking ahead to the championship game, Schmidt said, “The standard for us is to run the ball, take care of it and play good defense. If we can continue to do that, I like our chances.”
Winning another state championship in his senior year would be the cherry on top of Harp’s high school career. But standing in the Indians’ way after a tough semifinal game is what has to be a hungry Topeka-Hayden team.
“I think it’ll (Rock Creek game) help us because Topeka-Hayden is a good team,” Harp said. “We played them last year. It’ll be a dogfight; I think we needed this.
“We just want to live up to the (Andale) name and carry on the legacy. It makes all of us feel good. We’ve got one more game and it’ll all feel better if we win that game,” Harp said.