AP Photo /Hays Daily News, Fred Hunt
Smith Center linebacker Kris Lehmann, top, and defensive back Shawn Stansbury, bottom, tackle Olpe quarterback Matt Redeker, center, during the Kansas state high school 2-1A football championship game Saturday afternoon, Nov. 29, 2008, at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays, Kan. Smith Center defeated Olpe 48-19.
HAYS — The quick and dejected way that Olpe’s players accepted the second-place trophy said it all.
No one wants to be the team that accepts that trophy, but Olpe’s fantastic football season had just ended the way that seasons of so many other great Class 2-1A teams have ended the past five years: The Eagles simply got Smith Centered.
Olpe hadn’t lost all year and had only had one game closer than 13 points, but the Eagles could do little to stop one of Kansas’ most famous and dominant high school programs from continuing its never-ending roll. Smith Center dominated the 2-1A state title game on Saturday at Lewis Field, beating Olpe 48-19 to win its fifth straight state title and Kansas-record 67th straight game.
Hundreds of green-clad fans who made the drive from Olpe to Hays, hoping to see the Eagles win their first state title, were instead treated to a display of what’s made Smith Center a juggernaut: a perfectly executed power running game. For Eagles coach Chris Schmidt, it came down to the basics.
“We had to stop them when we were on defense, and this group of defensive players, they’ve done a great job all year,” Schmidt said. “But just give (Smith Center) credit. They do an awful good job. They put pressure on you quick, they handle the ball quick, they’ve got good, hard running backs, and they block up front, and that’s a tough combination.”
Two plays and 41 seconds were all the Redmen needed to get in the end zone on their first drive. A dive-fake opened up the right side for speedy running back Joe Osburn, who turned the corner past the secondary and ran 75 yards for a score.
Seemingly unfazed by that immediate setback, the Eagles’ offense came out attacking Smith Center with a four-receiver, single-back spread, used to good effect in the first half of last week’s win over Pittsburg-Colgan. It worked well early, as Olpe marched inside the Smith Center 25 on each of its first two possessions. But the first drive ended with an interception by Ethan Eastes, and the second stalled at the 23 when Redeker’s pass to Cole Krueger came up just short of the sticks on a 4th-and-12 play.
On a 3rd-and-4 from the Smith Center 29 on the Redmen’s third drive, Osburn again found room down the right sideline, ran downfield, started to cut back inside, then cut back down the sideline. A last-ditch grab at Osburn’s ankles had him stumbling, but he made it headfirst into the end zone for a 71-yard score with 3:42 left in the half. The 2-point run was good, making it 14-0.
Olpe answered with a play that it needed on the ensuing kickoff. Bradley Argabright took the kick, found a nice hole up the middle, and ran nearly untouched 83 yards for a score.
“It was a big spark, because it gave us some confidence,” Schmidt said. “Those things, you’re not sure if you’re gonna get too many of those, so any time you can get that, that’s a big advantage.”
But Smith Center responded with a 12-play drive that ended with quarterback Travis Rempe faking two handoffs and keeping for a 2-yard TD run. On its next drive, Smith Center connected on one of its two passes, as Rempe ran play action up the middle and found a wide-open Kris Lehmann behind the Olpe defense for a 53-yard scoring strike. The 2-point run made it 28-7.
Olpe found a sliver of second-half hope when Josh Klumpe fell on Colt Rogers’ fumble at the Olpe 35-yard line with 6:21 left in the third quarter. Redeker then completed first-down passes to Linden Stueve, Klumpe and Argabright to get to the Smith Center 22, but an underthrown ball toward the end zone resulted in Eastes’ second interception, which he returned 16 yards to the 18.
“I was in a pretty good rhythm, and I got down there, and I made some stupid plays, and got two interceptions,” Redeker said. “You can’t do that when you get down there. You gotta capitalize when you’re that deep in their territory.”
The Eagles’ offense didn’t get in the end zone until 6:38 remained, when a Redeker pass was tipped high over the middle and Krueger caught it in a crowd near the Redmen 3, running it in for a 13-yard score. Redeker completed a 27-yard screen pass to Josh Lambert and a 14-yard pass over the middle to Stueve to set up the score.
The Eagles got one more TD when a 43-yard scoring pass from Redeker to Argabright with zeroes on the clock brought the game to an end.
Osburn finished with 200 yards rushing, and Smith Center backup running back Marshall McCall had a huge fourth quarter, running for scores of 5, 54 and 63 yards. Smith Center’s 435 yards on the ground was actually a bit of an off-day for them; they came in averaging 479.
“They’re a good team, but we screwed up enough to give ’em a big enough lead, and they got the momentum and everything, and then we kind of just screwed ourselves,” Krueger said. “I mean, they’re a damn good team, but we hurt ourselves in a lot of ways, too.”
But once the pain of the title game loss has faded, the Eagles will be able to appreciate what they did during one of the greatest seasons in Olpe history. Saturday’s title game appearance was the school’s first since 1976.
“I’m gonna remember it all, because it’s been a special year,” Schmidt said. “And these kids have worked from day one, and I can’t ask enough. ...
“I knew today was gonna be a sad day either way, because I lose 12 good kids to our program, and they’ve meant a lot to us. And I think they’ve helped set the standard, and we’ve got some real good young kids coming up, and I think that they’ve seen what this group of young kids have done, and I think the future looks good for us.”
Saturday at Hays
Olpe 7 0 0 12 — 19
Smith Center 14 14 0 20 — 48
First quarter
SC — Osburn 75 run (run failed)
SC — Osburn 71 run (Rogers run)
Olpe — Argabright 83 kick return (Krueger kick)
Second quarter
SC — Tra. Rempe 2 run (run failed)
SC — Lehmann 53 pass from Tra. Rempe (McCall run)
Fourth quarter
SC — McCall 5 run (McCall run)
Olpe — Krueger 13 pass from Redeker (pass failed)
SC — McCall 54 run (run failed)
SC — McCall 63 run (pass failed)
Olpe — Argabright 43 pass from Redeker (no PAT attempt)
GAME STATISTICS
Olpe SC
First downs 22 12
Rushes-yards 30-97 43-435
Comp-Att-Int 24-44-2 1-2-1
Passing yards 303 53
Total yards 400 488
Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-1
Penalties-yards 3-15 2-12
Punts-Avg. 1-28 2-69
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Olpe: Redeker 15-47, Krueger 7-30, Lambert 5-27, Stueve 2-9, Team 1-(minus-16); SC: Joe Osburn 10-200, McCall 6-138, Tra. Rempe 6-55, Rogers 11-25, Tre. Rempe 8-16, Joel Osburn 2-1.
Passing — Olpe: Redeker 24-44-2, 303 yards; SC: Tra. Rempe 1-2-1, 53 yards.
Receiving — Olpe: Krueger 6-93, Argabright 5-78, Klumpe 5-44, Lambert 3-44, Stueve 3-31, Kehres 2-13; SC: Lehmann 1-53.
Comments
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Posted by eaglefan (anonymous) on December 1, 2008 at 2:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Congratulations Eagles!!. 2nd in the State. Olpe has played well as a team all year. I think the offensive line deserves a lot of credit for quietly doing the grunt work all year long. The offensive line members are Clint Barnhart, Mark Windle, Jase Hubert, Scot Swan and Alex Dreier. The running backs and quarterback would not score the points they do without you guys up front blocking and protecting Matt when he is passing. Give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well done.
Posted by create (anonymous) on December 1, 2008 at 3:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well done, Eagles! 2nd in state is nothing to sneeze at. You've worked hard and we're all proud of you.
Posted by mrdeeds15 (anonymous) on December 1, 2008 at 7:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't think they got "smith centered" or anything like that. It was a lot closer of a game than it seems or looks like. Olpe did a amazing job of plugging the middle up. Smith Center against other teams could get a good five yards a carry up the middle, but Olpe's defense held them to a 1,2, or 3 yards. Olpe's offense may not have gotten into the red zone until late, but they could definitely move the ball on them. Costly turnovers just like Krueger said kind of doomed them. Olpe was in this game until the mid fourth quarter and by no means did they get ran over or any of that.
Posted by cheese (anonymous) on December 1, 2008 at 9:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am not the best at Math but here is the rushing totals
Olpe SC
First downs 22 12
Rushes-yards 30-97 43-435
Looks like 10 yards a carry, not sure about the 1,2,or 3 yards up the middle comment. Maybe if they wouldn't have worried about the 5 yard up the middle runs, somebody would have been on the outside to stop the 70 yard runs!
Game wasn't close......
Posted by mrdeeds15 (anonymous) on December 2, 2008 at 3:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I already said that Olpe coudn't contain the outside runs, this is nothing new to me or anyone that was at the game. And yes the game was close. If you were at the game or watched it then you should know that Olpe was in this game from the start, they just couldn't capitalize on all of their long drives, if they did it would have been a whole new game. That is all figurative talk but it was a close game.
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