By Jim Halley, USA TODAY
Special to MaxPreps.com
Smith Center is aptly named. It's in the center of the USA, yet it's a long way from nearly any other town in Kansas.
The closest in-state city of significant size is Salina, about 130 miles southeast. There aren't a lot of distractions in the town of 2,000, and the 13-0 Redmen have been as focused as any high school football team in the country this year.
"Kids here can't go work in McDonald's or Burger King or anything like that," says coach Roger Barta, 62, who has been at Smith Center for 30 years and has a 276-58 record. "They don't have a lot of opportunities. They stay more interested in colleges."
Through its first eight regular-season games and first three playoff games, Smith Center didn't allow a point. The Redmen faced their first adversity Friday when they fell behind 7-0 after an early fumble against St. Mary's-Colgan (Pittsburg). Smith Center responded with a 40-14 win and its fourth consecutive 2A-1A title and seventh title overall.
"We weren't worried when we fell behind," Barta said. "We had talked about that. We took the next drive and scored. Last year in the state championship game, we fumbled the first play and they scored. It was almost identical."
Barta's seniors never lost a game. He's not sure this was his best team because he has been coaching high school football for 39 years.
"I hate to compare teams," Barta said. "Certainly, this has been a fun year. They've played great defense all year. Those kids are talented, and when you have talent, you can do some things. They work really hard in the offseason, and they love the game of football."
Many of the players' fathers were coached by Barta. When he gives his team its weekly scouting report of an opponent, the report is soon discussed around the town.
"We look at tendencies and what to expect," Barta said. "It's supposed to stay in the locker room, but I'm coaching some second-generation kids. Most of all their dads are knowledgeable about football. Some of their moms are, too."
Old Coach, New Coach
Crespi (Encino, Calif.) scored 24 unanswered points in its 48-26 playoff upset of Mater Dei (Anaheim) on Friday to set up an interesting matchup.
Crespi, coached by Jeremiah Ross, advances to play Servite (Anaheim) on Friday. Servite is coached by Troy Thomas, who was a former player at Crespi and the coach there until he left for Servite in 2005. He was also a mentor to Ross.
To beat Mater Dei, which was No. 18 in USA TODAY's Super 25 rankings, Crespi got two big plays from E.J. Woods. The UCLA-bound player sacked Mater Dei's Matt Barkley on the game's opening play and had a touchdown run of 50 yards. Crespi sophomore quarterback Bryan Bennett had eight completions, four for touchdowns.
"I don't think a lot of people outside of our circle thought that could happen," Ross said. "We thought we matched up well with Mater Dei. Defense is the strength of our team. Mater Dei drove the length of the field twice to score on us, but we felt we made them work for it."
Though Ross and Thomas remain good friends, or perhaps because of that, they've never played each other until now.
"Ever since he's left, we've stayed in touch," Ross said. "We don't talk as much X's and O's, just program stuff, like how do you form the character of your kids."
Super 25 Update
It was a scary but satisfying week for several Super 25 high school football teams. While Mater Dei was the only ranked team to lose, a few barely survived in the playoffs.
No. 5 St. Xavier (Cincinnati) got all its points from Danny Milligan in a 10-7 win against Coffman (Dublin). No. 11 South Panola (Batesville, Miss.) nearly had its winning streak (now 73 games) snapped but prevailed 28-21 against Tupelo, and No. 14 Union (Tulsa) defeated Muskogee 13-6.
None of those near scrapes compare with what No. 15 Central Catholic (Pittsburgh) went through to defeat Gateway (Monroeville) 35-34 in overtime Friday at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field for the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Class AAAA title.
Central led by 15 points with a minute left before Gateway came back with two successful onside kicks in 31 seconds to send the game into overtime.
Gateway went ahead when Leon Green scored on a 1-yard run but the point-after was missed. On Central's first possession of overtime, Vikings quarterback Tino Sunseri ran it in from the 1 on fourth down to tie the score and Matt Oczypok made the winning extra point.
"It was the way a great football game should end, with sportsmanship and respect," Vikings coach Terry Totten said. "I can't say enough about (Gators coach Terry Smith's) team with the way they never quit."
Moeller Mandate
Moeller (Cincinnati) football coach Bob Crable was fired last week. His record over seven seasons was a respectable 48-30 with six playoff appearances, but the Crusaders were used to more.
Gerry Faust won five state titles in six years (1975-80) at Moeller, and Steve Klonne followed with two more in 1982 and 1985. Since then, the Crusaders were state runner-up three times (1989, 1993, 1997), while Cleveland's St. Ignatius won the state title nine times. Three other Cincinnati teams, St. Xavier, Elder and Colerain, have won state titles since 2003.
Last Game
Hoover (Ala.) football coach Rush Propst coached his final game at the school Friday, a 21-17 playoff loss to Vestavia Hills. He is being forced out at the school after a grade-changing scandal and after his team had to forfeit four games because of an ineligible player. He won five state titles at Hoover in nine seasons and says he'd like to coach again.
"I have a bunch of people talking with me," Propst said. "I just wanted to sit back and reflect on some things. Obviously, these past few months have been controversial. . I just don't want to go too far from football. I want to coach at the next level."
Record Weekend
Plant (Tampa) quarterback Aaron Murray sat behind Robert Marve last season when Marve threw 48 touchdown passes, a Florida record. This season, with Marve at Miami, Murray broke the record in a 40-14 playoff win against Jefferson on Friday with his second TD pass, a 17-yarder to Kevin James.