Four weeks into the season, St. James was struggling to find its way. The Thunder had just suffered their fourth straight loss to Blue Valley Northwest to open the season when coach Tom Radke tried to explain the disappointing start following St. James’ historic state championship run just one year prior.
“Our expectation is to win these games,” Radke said at the time. “We’re going to need to bring up the intensity.”
Boy, did they ever. Since that defeat and one month later, the Thunder have reeled off five straight wins, including Friday night’s convincing 56-22 victory over Louisburg in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs at Bishop Miege.
It was the second straight season St. James (5-4) ended the Wildcats’ (4-5) season in the first round of the playoffs.
“Hats off to St. James; they’re a good team,” Louisburg coach Robert Ebenstein said. “Tonight they just made a lot more plays than we did.”
Next, the Thunder, the defending state champions, will get a crack at top-seeded Basehor-Linwood, which improved to 9-0 with a 53-8 drubbing of Labette County. The Thunder also ended the Bobcats’ playoff run last season in the state quarterfinals. This time around, the two teams square off in the regional round, or better known as the “Sweet 16.”
“It’s going to be good; it’s going to be a hyped game,” Radke said. “Again, we knocked them out of the playoffs last year, so they’re not going to be happy about that. And we know that, but we really like our group right now and it’s going to be a heck of a matchup and super fun.”
St. James scored on its first five possessions and added a defensive touchdown to take a 42-0 lead into halftime on Louisburg. Running back Tiave Watts and quarterback Jackson House each had two rushing touchdowns in the first half, and House also tossed a 25-yard passing TD to Ben Wheeler to help the Thunder to a six-touchdown lead.
Defensively, the Thunder used their strong front to disrupt Louisburg quarterback Declan Battle. Defensive lineman Wade Spencer hurried Battle into a challenging throw, and St. James’ Blake Boydston turned it into a pick-6 with a 25-yard return to make it 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
“Wade Spencer has been an animal all year long,” Radke said of the junior, who also had a sack on the evening. “He caused that pressure and caused the quarterback to throw that pick-6.
“We played an excellent first half,” he added. “We executed at all levels. Offense, defense, special teams, they all played well in the first half.”
With the Thunder’s first-team offensive and defensive units on the sideline after the break, Louisburg began to chip away at St. James’ lead.
Battle, the Wildcats' signal-caller, registered a pair of rushing touchdowns before linking up with Mason Dobbins to cut the Thunder lead to 42-22 with less than a minute left in the third quarter. Then, Louisburg recovered an onside kick to make things interesting headed into the fourth quarter.
“Our kids have fought all season long,” Ebenstein said. “We won a few games after trailing at halftime, so we knew they had fight in them. I knew they’d come out and keep playing.”
However, the Wildcats didn’t capitalize on the second onside kick, and the St. James first-team offense returned after a turnover on downs.
The Thunder put the game on ice with a good push up front and the burst of Watts, who registered his final two scores via 5- and 70-yard rushes, the latter an impressive cutback and display of athleticism and speed after a defender nearly took him down behind the line of scrimmage to finalize the scoring with 1:50 to play.
“He played great,” Radke said of Watts, a senior. “We got to see his speed tonight. Playing in the EKL, you don’t get a lot of big-time runs. But tonight he got to show off his speed, and offensively up front, we did a great job. And Jackson had a good job running the ball tonight, too.”
The Thunder moved on without senior wide receiver Tyler Claiborne's services. He did not dress and roamed the St. James sideline with an injury. Even without Claiborne, the Thunder continued to roll, and, quite possibly, found its way on Friday night.
At the very least, St. James found its way to the next round.
