St. Thomas Aquinas tops Blue Valley West in top-25 thriller: Kansas HS football scores

The 2024 high school football season is now fully underway, as the Kansas schools joined Missouri in action this week.

Here are some Kansas-side highlights from around the Kansas City metro:

No. 18 St. Thomas Aquinas 25, No. 23 Blue Valley West 21

The first Eastern Kansas League matchup of two top 25 teams lived up to its billing.

In the opening week of Kansas football, No. 18 St. Thomas Aquinas prevailed 25-21 over No. 23 Blue Valley West on Friday night at Aquinas.

After trailing 19-14 at halftime time, Blue Valley West took its only lead of the second half when senior quarterback Tate Nagy capped a drive with a keeper with 3:11 left in the third for a 21-19 margin.

But the Saints’ methodical drives added up again, as an 8-play, 66-yard drive was capped off by an Calin Arndt 4-yard rushing touchdown to go up 25-21 and with four minutes burned off the clock.

The Jaguars had their chance though, with 8:21 remaining. After two long plays, a 15-yard sack of Nagy by Joey Goodenow set West back insurmountably. It turned out to be their last shot, as the Saints offense took over and would not relinquish, sealing the 25-21 win via a 6:30 drive that took the rest of the game.

The first quarter saw a bit more scoring, as a 26-yard run from Will Callahan with 3:31 left broke the seal and put the Saints (1-0) ahead 7-0. The Saints got another stop on the ensuing Jaguar drive and went up 13-0 after another well-executed offensive drive was capped off by a 3-yard run from Arndt with 1:56 to go.

The Jaguars (0-1) finally struck back though after falling behind two scores when they needed just two plays to find the end zone. Nagy took a scramble 11 yards in for a score to make it 13-7 with 0:29 remaining.

The Jaguars clawed their way back in the second quarter when the Saints fumbled a handoff to open the quarter, only for it to end up in the Jaguars’ Ben McDavid’s hands. West would score four plays later after a 4-yard pass and catch from Nagy to Crew Meyers to make it 14-13 with 10:42 left. The Saints answered right back though with an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard score from Elzie Slaughter to make it 19-14.

The Saints will host St. James Academy (1-0) next Friday night, while Blue Valley West will play at Olathe West (1-0) next Thursday.

No. 22 Louisburg 21, Tonganoxie 20

In what figured to be one of the top Class 4A clashes in Kansas this week, Louisburg and Tonganoxie didn’t let anyone down.

The Wildcats outlasted Tongie 21-20 in overtime in Louisburg. Darvy Van Eaton took a handoff off right guard and sprung wide open for the eventual game-winning 10-yard touchdown in overtime.

After Louisburg kicked the PAT for a 21-14 lead, Tonganoxie faced a third-and-9; quarterback Talon Langford faked a handoff, turned to the right side and hit Todd Brown by the pylon for a touchdown. Both teams took timeouts, then Tonganoxie opted to go for two and the win. But senior defensive end Lucas Swartz swiftly came off the left edge, and wrapped running back Tanner Hand in the backfield to seal the victory, with the Wildcats storming off the field.

Tonganoxie had tied the game at 14-14 at the end of the third quarter, after a 13-play, 70-yard drive that took 6:19 was capped by a 1-yard Hand touchdown plunge. But from there, neither team could threaten to score, resulting in overtime.

Hand also had scored the Chieftains first touchdown with a 41-yard touchdown scoot with 4:03 left in the first half.

Louisburg took a 14-0 lead off the legs of speedy Myles Vohs, as the senior took an end-around at the Tongie 29 to the right sideline, then reversed back around to the left sideline before finding a gap and racing up the hash for a touchdown and 7-0 lead with 7:41 in the first.

Vohs followed that act with a 41-yard touchdown reception, catching a pass in the flat and racing up the seam for a 14-0 lead with 7:23 remaining before the break.

Louisburg will travel to Paola (0-1) next Friday, while the Chieftains will entertain Spring Hill (1-0).

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