The Jefferson County North Chargers are in the Sub-State Championship game for the first time in school history. They have had arguably their best season in school history with their lone loss against the defending champion St. Marys Bears.

They beat down powerhouse Olpe last week 52-0 and forced a running clock in the fourth quarter. The Chargers forced Olpe into seven total turnovers and held the Eagles to just 145 total yards. JCN finished the game with 267 rushing yards. Grady Noll completed four of 10 passes for 104 yards while rushing for 73 yards and three touchdowns.

Connor Keirns had touchdown runs on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter of 67 and 72 yards. Keirns finished the game with eight carries for 167 yards and three touchdowns. JCN has won five straight games since their loss to St. Marys and have outscored those five opponents 256-35. Those five opponents are Valley Falls, Mission Valley, Troy, Centralia, and Olpe. This is the first time in six seasons that the Chargers have won double-digit games.

The St. Marys Colgan Panthers are the top ranked and lone undefeated team left in the 1A classification at 11-0. They have been arguably the most consistent and best team in 1A throughout the entire season. They knocked out the defending champs in St. Marys last week with a 33-8 win.

In that game, quarterback Tucker Harrell rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns while completing 12 of 15 passes for 125 yards and another score. They also got great contributions in the run game from Cooper Simmons with 119 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers offense is averaging 53 points per game this season and have scored 50 or more points in seven of their 11 games.

The defense is just as good, giving up a measly 7.5 points per game. They have held eight opponents to under 10 points and four of those games were shutouts.  They have not allowed more than 20 points to a single opponent. The Panthers won four straight titles in the early 2000's and won 66 straight games during that span. 

This will be the second all-time meeting between Jefferson County North and St. Marys Colgan with the lone meeting back in 2011. The Panthers defeated the Chargers 49-0 in the first round of the playoffs.