By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden football's 13-member senior class has already made school history by leading the Wildcats to a third straight Class 3A state championship game.
Hayden's seniors celebrate the Wildcats' Class 3A sub-state championship after last Friday's 46-0 win over Santa Fe Trail. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
At 6 p.m. on Friday in Hutchinson, the Wildcat upperclassmen will be out to add an exclamation point to that success with the school's fourth state championship after back-to-back runnerup finishes.
After dropping a 34-7 decision to Cheney in awful conditions in the 2023 title game, Hayden dropped a 36-19 decision to Andale a year ago before running off 12 straight wins this fall to earn a rematch with the Indians, also 12-0.
"A lot of these guys, they saw action as a sophomore and that's invaluable I think when you look at the grand scheme of things,'' said Hayden coach Bill Arnold, who has led the Wildcats to a state crown in 2008 and five runnerup finishes. "State championships are a little bit different and they've kept themselves focused and they haven't been afraid to climb the mountain again.
"It's not easy losing two in a row, but nobody has even talked about losing it. We just knew that our goal was to get back there and win a state championship.''
And although Arnold knows the Wildcats face another tough test against an Andale team that has won five of six state titles since 2019, the Hayden coach also knows he'll get a maximum effort from his team.
"A hundred percent,'' Arnold said. "They get it. From the senior standpoint, leadership-wise they've been right on cue all year long and, honestly, starting all the way back in January. They know what the expectations are and they've been good leaders on and off the field.
"They've got a great program down there (in Andale) and I think we've got a good program, too. I am more concerned about us than I am about Andale in terms of just our assignments and the technique involved in our assignments. And if we do all those things correctly, at the end of the day, win, lose or draw, you can live with yourself.''
Hayden's put itself in position to win the 2024 title when the Wildcats took a 19-12 lead to the locker room at halftime.
But Andale took control in the second half en route to the 17-point win.
"We lost a little bit of momentum right before half because we didn't get in the end zone,'' Arnold said. "Then we had a ridiculous penalty that allowed them to make us start inside our 20 and the playbook gets a little smaller down there. We had to punt and they came out and scored.
"We turned the ball over immediately and I think through part of that, was we did get tired. They were rotating a few more guys on that line than what we could, but part of that's also your mentality state. When things are going good you've got your adrenalin and your momentum going through, but when we had a couple of mishaps there right off the bat coming out of halftime, the ship was sailing the wrong direction.''
Since that loss the Wildcats have not had a game closer than 14 points -- 43-29 win over Jefferson West in the state quarterfinals -- and Hayden earned its third straight shot at the title with a convincing 46-0 semifinal romp past Santa Fe Trail.
Connor Hanika, Hayden
Kade Mitchell, Hayden
Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika has completed 100 of 164 passes for 1,659 yards and 23 touchdowns with three interceptions while senior Kade Mitchell has rushed for 941 yards on 89 carries, caught 21 passes for 463 yards and has scored 21 total TDs.
Jackson McGivern, Hayden
Wildcat senior Jackson McGivern has carried the ball 70 times for 457 yards and 11 touchdowns while recording 79 tackles (50 solo) on defense with seven tackles for loss.
Jude Krentz, Hayden
Xander Blasing, Hayden
Makhi Kidd, Hayden
Senior Jude Krentz leads Hayden with 112 tackles (58 solo) and six tackles for loss while rushing for 399 yards on 66 attempts. Senior Xander Blasing has 84 stops (62 solo) and nine tackles for loss and has caught 24 passes for 296 yards while senior Makhi Kidd has caught 28 passes for 314 yards.
Junior Mason Becker has carried the ball 32 times for 438 yards, caught nine passes for 292 yards and is perfect on extra-point kicks on the year. Junior Logan Power leads the Wildcats with five pass interceptions.
And Arnold has confidence his team is ready to put its best foot forward Friday night.
"It's been a special (senior) class and at the end of the day I have all the faith in the world that these guys are going to give me everything they've got,'' Arnold said. "I think we've got a good game plan going into it and we'll let it roll from there.''
