For the Kirkwood High football team, the road to the Class 6 state championship game began late Friday morning at a rest stop along Interstate 70.

That's where the Pioneers got out of their team bus and went through an impromptu walk-through on the way to a semifinal contest at Rockhurst High in Kansas City.

"It brought us together," junior defensive back Travion Mosby said.

Added senior quarterback Reece Goddard, "It loosened us up, made us relax."

Kirkwood used the rare four-hour bus trip to bond and focus on the task at hand.

That novel approach paid dividends the Pioneers muscled past tradition-rich Rockhust 24-17 in the highly anticipated contest.

Kirkwood (11-1), in search of its second state crown, will take on Blue Springs (11-2) at 7 p.m. Friday at Faurot Field in Columbia.

Goddard led a well-balanced offense that marched up and down field, sometimes at will, against the normally stingy Hawklets (9-3), who have won nine state championships.

Mosby triggered a strong defensive effort with a pair of interceptions.

"I told them to make sure and leave everything on the field," Kirkwood coach Farrell Shelton said. "We knew we were playing the beast called Rockhurst. The coaching staff, players, everyone stepped up to get this done."

Goddard hit on 15 of 29 passes for 190 yards. He became the school's all-time passing yardage leader, pushing his career total to 4,531. He eclipsed the mark of 4,379 set by Matt Krapfl (2002-04).

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