A few minutes after Meade completed a remarkable comeback and defeated Centralia 28-25 in the Class 2-1A state championship last Saturday, several dozen Buffs fans stood on the edge at Fort Hays State University’s Lewis Field Stadium.
The fans couldn’t go onto the field yet, but Lori Moshier, wife of Meade coach Scott Moshier, stood in the front of the group, tears running down her cheeks. After the trophy presentation ended, fans streamed the field. Lori Moshier started running. She dipped and dodged around fans.
At the 50-yard line, she found her husband standing next to his team as the Buffs lined up for a photo. The Moshiers had a long embrace, both of them tearing up. The moment punctuated a comeback, a state title, a season and a journey for the Moshiers.
Thirty years ago, Lori watched Scott win a state championship as a player at Wichita East High School. Then, Moshier coached at several different places and had a collective sub-.500 record before he found a home at Meade. Moshier is 71-12 in seven years with the Buffs, including two state championships in the last three years.
“We were in high school together and this is what we do as a family and she knew that before we got married,” Moshier said, teary-eyed when he recalled the moment. “This is what we want to try to do. Had no idea we would end up here with two state championships in three years, but all of our wives, especially mine, they sacrifice a lot, because the amount of time it takes to prepare these kids like we do.”
Moshier’s moment is one of the reasons why I enjoy high school football so much. Unlike basketball, baseball or softball, the season isn’t 21 games long. Unlike wrestling, cross country and track – where only the last three weeks of the season really matters result-wise – football is just nine games. Then, roughly half the team reach playoffs. It’s a short window to create memories. Those memories are formed by long, long hours by the coaching staff and players.
“I know people think that we just show up and give it to great kids and let them take care of it,” Moshier said. “That’s true. But we spend a lot of time with our kids trying to make sure we give them an opportunity to be in a situation like this so they could be successful, so just praise the Lord for our wives and our family to give us the time to do that. Again, praise God for this opportunity.”
This year, the margin between success and failure was thinner than past seasons. Meade needed two touchdowns in the final three minutes to claim the Class 2-1A state crown. The Class 6A 3A championship games were close margins. The Class 4A and Eight-Man, Division II games were competitive. Shawnee Mission West, the Class 6A champion, had six contests within 14 points.
In Classes 5A and 6A, Bishop Carroll was the lone undefeated team for much of the season. In the eight-man ranks, Ness City was the lone dominant team.
Baileyville B&B went 13-0 in Eight-Man, Division II to win its third state crown in five years, but had contests decided by 12, 18, 6 and 22 points. With the exception of Class 3A, each classification saw significant change in the preseason rankings.
Playoff contests, especially in the higher classifications, were closer than last season. In Class 6A, the average margin of victory in the playoffs was 19.4 points. Last season, it was 24.1.
In Class 5A, it was 21.5 this year, 23.2 last season. In Class 4A, it was 17.3 this year and 22.7 last season.
Class 3A – which had more dominance than any other class – had an average margin of victory in the postseason of 28.7. Last year, it was 24.4.
Class 2-1A and the eight-man ranks were relatively unchanged. Class 2-1A was 23.2 and 22.7 the last two seasons; Eight-Man, Division I was 31.9 and 31 and Eight-Man, Division II was 33.1 and 32.2.
For some, all the hours and time brought disappointment. For others, such as Moshier, it brought a lifetime of memories.
“It doesn’t get very much sweeter than this,” Moshier said. “It is just unbelievable.”
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