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BV North Makes History

By Maria Torres, Kansas City Star, 11/25/17, 9:30PM CST

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Mustangs take first state football title, 49-42, over Derby

Photo: Adam Murray

Months before it drew the two-time defending champion in the Kansas Class 6A title game, the Blue Valley North football team had to lock itself in a room.

It was late September. The Mustangs had lost three games in a row to Eastern Kansas League opponents. If they were going to make good on fourth-year coach Andy Sims’ prophecy that the class of 2018 would win a state title, something had to change.

After 90 or so minutes, something clicked. As the season continued, they won eight of their next nine games, including six in a row. They beat a top-ranked Shawnee Mission East team in sectionals and won a double-overtime thriller at Blue Valley last week to earn a trip to Emporia State.

And on Saturday at Welch Stadium, the Mustangs racked up 561 yards of total offense in a 49-42 victory over powerhouse Derby (11-2) to secure the first state football title Blue Valley North (9-4) has ever achieved.

“Every year we’ve gotten better, every year we’ve worked harder, and coach (Sims) told us, ‘You can be state champions,’ ” said senior defensive end Mason Alvarez, who made a sack to end the first half. “When we started to believe that, that’s when we took off.”

Junior quarterback Graham Mertz, a Wisconsin commit whose pair of overtime touchdowns at sub-state sent Blue Valley North to its first appearance in a championship game, just barely squeaked over the goal line for a 15-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds remaining in the game.

Senior safety Grant Hamel, who also ran for 59 yards and two touchdowns, intercepted Derby’s final pass around the 0:40 mark to seal the back-and-forth affair, which saw more than 1,000 yards of combined offense.

“I’m gonna be sick in the morning because I’m an old linebacker,” Sims said. “I don’t like seeing that 49-42. But it’s pretty special knowing we’re on the other end of it.”

Blue Valley North trailed 7-0 early and went three-and-out on its first possession. But when Derby turned the ball over on downs at BV North’s 29, the Mustangs mounted a 10-play drive over 3 minutes to tie the game 7-7 on a Hamel’s 5-yard touchdown run. Tripp Shertenlieb kicked his first of seven successful point-after attempts.

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