Photo Credit: Mike Cerny/Mikecernyphoto.com 
Andover Central did something no other public 4A school has done in 16 years. The Jaguars beat mighty Bishop Miege in the Class 4A State Championship game, 49-42 and earned the Jaguars’ first-ever football title.
Senior running back Maddux Archibald rushed for a game-high 341 yards and four touchdowns for Andover Central. Bishop Miege senior wide receiver Teryn Jackson caught seven passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns.
The Jaguars took their first lead in the game with 1:31 left in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard Archibald run that made it 42-35, Andover Central. The Jaguars’ defense got the stop it needed, and Archibald and the Jags’ offense put the game out of reach with his fourth touchdown run from 38 yards away. It was 49-35 with 1:09 left.
“The last stop we had was huge. The game was tied, and you could kind of tell that turned the tide a little bit because we kept trading scores back and forth,” said Andover Central Head Coach Derek Tuttle. “But once we got that big one mid-late in the fourth quarter, then we drove it and scored a touchdown. That’s when you could feel the energy turn.”
Bishop Miege quarterback Marco Rodriguez completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Johnson with 30 seconds remaining. Then Andover Central recovered the ensuing onside kick and took a knee to end the contest.
“If we had scored late, we were going to go for two,” said Stags Head Coach Jon Holmes. “This was a back-and-forth game. We felt like we could score and score last, we had a chance to win the game. We just weren’t able to do it.”
Bishop Miege entered the championship playing for the school’s 12th state title. The Stags scored first on a 58-yard touchdown strike from Rodriguez to Jackson.
Andover Central answered with a 35-yard Archibald touchdown run.
Jaguars quarterback Jace Jefferson found Brandt Stupka for another touchdown, and then it was Miege’s turn.
Jackson caught his second touchdown, a 29-yard reception, from sophomore Michael Blount to tie it at 14-14. The Stags took a touchdown lead on Jackson’s third touchdown grab, 21-14.
Jefferson ran one in with 7 seconds on the clock, and it was 21-21 at halftime.
The Stags regained the lead 28-21 late in the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by running back Vinny George. Two minutes later, Archibald scored for the second time, and it was all tied up again at 28-28 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter featured five more touchdowns.
The Stags’ Jackson caught a short pass from Rodriguez, and Miege led 35-28.
Five-and-a-half minutes passed before Jefferson and Logan Taggert connected on a 5-yard touchdown. The Jaguars took the lead 42-35 with 3:00 to go on Archibald’s third touchdown.
The Stags failed to convert a fourth-and-13, turned it over, and Archibald raced 38 yards for his final touchdown.
Andover Central becomes the first public school to win a Class 4A title since 2013.
Bishop Miege entered the Class 4A playoffs with a record of 1-7. The Stags didn’t face a 4A opponent until the postseason, then ran off four straight wins.
“A lot of things could’ve went wrong but didn’t. These guys believed they could play in this game, and we showed today that we believed we could win the game too. That’s what I’m most proud about this group,” said Holmes.
