If the Perry-Lecompton High football team wants to continue its march toward a state championship, it’s going to have to get by a team that knows a thing or two about playing for the title.

When the Kaws (8-3) travel to Louisburg (8-3) for a 7 p.m. kickoff today, they’ll attempt to eliminate the 2007 Class 4A state runner-up from the playoff picture and advance to the semifinals.

“Louisburg is a very good team that has a good tradition,” PLHS coach Mike Paramore said. “They are a very balanced team and are well coached.”

The same could be said for the Kaws, who are in the middle of one of the most successful seasons in school history.

Led by senior quarterback Shane Gimzo, the Kaws have racked up eight victories and rolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Gimzo is just one of several PLHS seniors who have worked toward this goal since 2005, when many played as freshmen.

“We have a core group of guys who have bought into the program and are doing the right things,” Paramore said. “The work and intensity that they have carried throughout their career is being rewarded, and they have built on the success earlier teams have had and now raised that bar higher. We want the Perry-Lecompton football program to be one that is considered one of the better teams in 4A every year.”

Thanks to the contributions of players like Caleb Wege, Dillion Freed, CJ Bunce, Josh Durflinger and Casey Quigley – seniors who make up the Kaws’ underrated offensive line – along with receivers Joel Gantz, Kyle Morgison and Eric Haster, as well as junior Logan Hurd, sophomore Trent Robb, fullback Mark Higgins and linebacker Aaron Andrew, the Kaws have reached the brink of their desired destination.

“(Our) seniors have good chemistry,” Paramore said. “They are good about having the team-first mentality and realizing that what we do is more important than individual accomplishments.”

The team has been good about being balanced and getting the job done defensively. The Kaws are plus-18 in turnovers this season and have given the ball away just 10 times. In addition, the defense has found its rhythm lately and has been playing aggressive, mistake-free football.

Both areas are key for the Kaws tonight, and Paramore said that’s something of which his team is well aware.

“We have been a pretty good intensity team throughout the year,” he said. “But there does seem to be a heightened awareness and sense of urgency as we go about our business (in the playoffs). The seniors realize it could end any time, and they are not ready for that to happen.”

Jaguars set to tangle with Trailblazers

A school-record winning streak is just one of many things at stake for Mill Valley when it travels to Gardner-Edgerton at 7 tonight.

The Jaguars (9-1) – winners of nine straight games after a season-opening loss at reigning Class 5A state champion Blue Valley West – would make history with victory No. 10. For one thing, it would be their first 10-win season in program history. Second, and most important, it would propel them to the state semifinals of the Class 5A football playoffs for the first time.

Last week’s 33-7 victory over Sumner Academy in the first round of the playoffs was Mill Valley’s first postseason victory in school history and was simply icing on the cake for a season that included Kaw Valley League and district titles.

Frontier League champion Gardner also is 9-1.

– Chris Wristen contributed to this report.