Gardner-Edgerton’s quest to run it back is now just 48 minutes away.

The Trailblazers, the Kansas Class 6A defending state champions, overcame a halftime deficit for the second straight week for a 34-25 win over Blue Valley West in the Kansas Class 6A semifinal on Friday night in Gardner. 

Blue Valley West (10-2) led 19-13 at halftime, but Gardner-Edgerton opened the scoring in the second half on a 31-yard touchdown pas from quarterback Bravin Powell to Richard VanLerberg over a defender for a 20-19 with 6:45 left in the third quarter.

The Jaguars looked to take the lead early in the fourth, but a touchdown was called back due to a penalty, and an eventual 30-yard field goal attempt went awry.

Powell then followed with a 68-yard touchdown scamper on an keeper off the left tackle, then raced down the sideline for a 27-19 cushion with 9:20 left.

Blue Valley West countered with a three-yard Tate Miller run with 6:01 left, his second score of the night, for a 27-25 deficit. But the Blazers held again on the two-point conversion attempt as quarterback Tate Nagy scrambled and couldn’t find an open receiver.

Then with 2:02 left, Powell again kept for an inside run and busted loose for a 42-yard touchdown for a 34-25 dagger.

Gardner-Edgerton (11-1) will look to defend its title against Manhattan at 2 pm next Friday in Emporia. It will mark the third straight trip to the championship for the Trailblazers, who lost in 2022 to Manhattan, 21-20 in double overtime, and won over Derby, 22-19, in 2023.