Sabetha Football Team

In high school sports winning one state championship is hard enough, but being able to win two in a row in a single sport is even more difficult.

For the Sabetha football team they made just that happen Saturday, as the Bluejays captured their second consecutive Class 3A State Championship with a thrilling 43-42 win over Pratt in Hutchinson.

The Bluejays jumped out to an early 18-0 lead, but had to come from behind three times to tie the score late in the fourth quarter to force overtime before ending the game on a 2-point conversion in the overtime period.

Sabetha trailed 42-41 in the overtime period after a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Gabe Garber to wideout Ryan Stapleton and Head Coach Garret Michael decided he wasn’t going to give Pratt quarterback Travis Theis another chance to hurt him making the decision to go for two.

He put the ball in Garber’s hands who made his head coach look like a genius as Gabe raced to the right front corner of the end zone and stuck the football just inside the pylon on a head-first dive to end the game giving Sabetha their 20th straight victory and fourth football championship in school history.

Sabetha finished with 270 rushing yards in the win, as senior running back Joe Gruber led the way with 156 yards and two touchdowns while Garber added 95 yards on the ground and a touchdown along with throwing two to Stapleton.

Stapleton totaled three touchdowns with two coming receiving while he also added a 69-yard fumble return for a score. 

The win pushed the Bluejays to 26-1 the last two seasons with two 3A State Titles while riding a 20-game winning streak into 2019. The Bluejays graduate 15 seniors that will be greatly missed and leave a mark that will forever be remembered in Sabetha.