Anybody have a sling shot? And a rock, of course.

Perry-Lecompton High will need all the help it can get when it plays for the Class 4A state football championship today.

In Topeka Hayden, the Kaws will be facing one of the state’s football goliaths, regardless of classification. The Wildcats’ lone defeat this season, for example, was a 21-14 decision to unbeaten Junction City, the team Free State High will meet for the 6A title.

“We know they’re good,” Perry-Lecompton senior Kyle Morgison said of Hayden, “but we know we’ll play harder than they will.”

Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. today at Salina District Stadium.

Lately, the Kaws have been playing like they’re a team of destiny. Until this year, Perry-Lecompton had posted just one playoff victory in 37 years of football. Now they’re one step from the summit.

“We’re all still hungry,” quarterback Shane Gimzo said. “We don’t want to lose.”

Gimzo is the unquestioned catalyst of this unprecedented journey. The 6-foot-1, 178-pound senior has compiled nearly 4,000 yards of total offense and accounted for almost 50 touchdowns.

No doubt the Kaws can score. They’re averaging 33.5 points a game.

“They are very balanced and very explosive,” said Baldwin High coach Mike Berg. “Our game plan was to keep them off the field as much as possible.”

Berg’s Bulldogs were the last team to defeat Perry-Lecompton, posting a 35-28 victory six weeks ago.

“We were up 21-0 on them in the first quarter,” Berg said, “and they scored the next 28 points because their offense is that good. And they’ve gotten a lot better.”

Topeka Hayden’s offense isn’t quite as explosive, but the Wildcats also boast a do-everything quarterback in T.J. McGreevey, a load at 6-2, 228 pounds. But Hayden, for years the citadel of capital-city football, has the edge on defense.

“I know they have really good linebackers,” Gimzo said.

That Hayden and Perry-Lecompton, schools located about 30 miles apart, would be meeting in a state championship game is unusual because of the way the KSHSAA divides the state into east and west regions.

This year, however, Hayden was assigned to the west bracket after competing against schools in the east for years. In fact, Hayden and Perry-Lecompton have met 16 times previously, all in district contests.

The Kaws and the Wildcats split the first four battles, but Hayden has won 12 of the last 13 meetings, including the last six in a row, to forge a 13-3 bulge in the series.

Hayden crushed Perry, 63-8, the last time the two schools met in 2003. But that was five years ago, and this edition of the Kaws boasts a rare combination of skill and competitive spirit.

“They’re tough kids,” Berg said. “They never give up. Some kids get down 21-0 and they fold their tents.”

— Sports writer Chuck Woodling can be reached at 832-6348.