If given the choice, Topeka West High coach Warren Seitz would choose another location for todayâÂÂs 11 a.m. Class 5A state championship game.

âÂÂI donâÂÂt have too fond of memories of Memorial Stadium,â Seitz said of the Kansas University venue where he witnessed three losses while a player at University of Missouri from 1981-85.

âÂÂThey even threw tangerines at us one year,â said Seitz, referring to his freshman campaign when the Tigers had qualified for the Tangerine Bowl but lost 34-20 to Kansas in the last game of the regular season.

Seitz might also choose a different opponent.

His 10-2 Chargers have seen 11-1 Salina Central this season. If a 21-20 overtime victory by the Mustangs eight weeks ago wasnâÂÂt enough, the Mustangs are the defending state champs.

Central has won four titles in the last 10 years and played in six of the last nine championship games, including a 56-21 win against Pittsburg last year.

âÂÂItâÂÂs still special every time you go there,â Central coach Marvin Diener said. âÂÂOur kids can put this down as a first.âÂÂ

So can Topeka West, which has never advanced this far in the playoffs and finished 1-8 just two seasons ago.

But despite the difference in experience, the two teams seem evenly matched.

Central allowed an average of 10.1 points per game in the regular season and just one of its three playoff opponents scored more than 20 points.

Topeka West gave up 10.3 ppg during the regular season and none of the Chargersâ three playoff opponents tallied more than 14.

The Mustangs have a 15-touchdown, 1,000-yard rusher in Nolan Seim.

Charger A.J. Patterson has rushed for 1,918 yards and taken 19 trips to the end zone.

And thereâÂÂs always the rematch factor Ãi¿½” in the first meeting, Central held a 14-0 first-quarter lead but needed a missed extra point to escape in overtime.

âÂÂIt was a great battle,â Diener said. âÂÂWhen the two of us play, itâÂÂs just old-school football: rush-oriented and hard-nosed.âÂÂ

Seitz has a similar recollection.

âÂÂWe got down to them 14-0 early, but the biggest thing our kids showed in that game was perseverance,â he said.

And Seitz, a West grad himself, said such perseverance could be what his squad needs to emerge victorious at Memorial Stadium.

âÂÂOne win would wipe out a lot of bad memories,â he said.