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LJWorld.com Area Football Roundup

Perry-Lecompton’s football team will finish as the Class 3A runners-up for the second year in a row.

PLHS suffered a 20-0 defeat to Andale during Saturday’s state championship game at Gowans Stadium at Hutchinson Community College. It marks the second consecutive state title for the Indians, who secured a 35-7 win over the Kaws a year ago.

Andale, which finished the year with a 12-0 record and has won 25 games in a row, has now secured five state titles in program history. The other four state crowns came in 2006, 2007, 2014 and 2019.

Thanks to strong defensive play, Perry-Lecompton (11-2) at least kept things interesting in this year’s title game rematch. It was the first time this year that Andale didn’t score at least 40 points in a game.

On the other side, the Kaws didn’t do enough to knock off the defending champs. Saturday was the second time all season that PLHS was held scoreless, with the other such showing occurring in a 10-0 loss to Topeka Hayden on Oct. 16.

Andale was kept out of the end zone until the 9:47 mark in the second quarter, when Noah Meyer scored on a 15-yard touchdown run. Eli Rowland added a 7-yard touchdown run with 3:27 left in the first half. AHS failed on both two-point conversions, leading to a 12-0 lead at the break.

Rowland scored once more on a 3-yard touchdown run at the 4:24 mark in the third period. This time, Rowland made the two-point conversion and removed any doubt about the outcome.

Perry-Lecompton finished with 215 yards of total offense on 50 plays. Senior quarterback Thad Metcalfe went 10-of-17 through the air for 86 yards. Dawson Williams caught five of those passes for 27 yards. Parker Stone finished with two catches for 46 yards.

Metcalfe also finished with 81 yards on 22 rushing attempts to lead the ground game. Reichen Rush recorded 14 yards on eight carries. It was still a successful season for the Kaws, who made it to back-to-back state championship games for the first time in program history.

Andale 20, Perry-Lecompton 0

Andale 0 12 8 0 — 20

Perry-Lecompton 0 0 0 0 — 0

How they scored

Second quarter

9:47 — Noah Meyer 15 run. Conversion is no good. (AHS 6, PLHS 0)

3:27 — Eli Rowland 7 run. Conversion is no good. (AHS 12, PLHS 0)

Third quarter

4:24 — Rowland 3 run. Rowland conversion good. (AHS 20, PLHS 0)