4A Recap: House Leads St. James to Championship

When running back <strong>Tiave Watts</strong> went down with an injury just after halftime, St. James Academy looked like it could be in some trouble. Watts had scored both the Thunder touchdowns and was their primary ball carrier. He hadn’t amassed a lot of yards on the ground, but he turned a long pass from quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="166977" first="Jackson" last="House"] into an even longer run to pay dirt. But St. James rallied behind House and claimed the 4A title 28-21 over Andover Central in perhaps Kansas’ most exciting state championship of the year. Here are some standouts from the game: [player_tooltip player_id="166977" first="Jackson" last="House"], 6-foot, 182 pound quarterback, 2023, St. James: House turned out to be the story of the game. Not so much because he was locked in throwing the ball. He actually had several cold streaks throughout the course of the game. He was picked off twice. But House was a gamer. He completed 17-34 for 248 yards. But it was plays he made with his legs and heart down the stretch that led the Thunder to victory. He ran 18 times for 57 yards, including the game winner. [player_tooltip player_id="35590" first="Tyler" last="Claiborne"], 6-foot-3, 196 pound receiver, 2022, St. James: At times, Claiborne looked like the best athlete, and perhaps best prospect, on the field. He’s a long, rangy receiver who showed a lot of toughness making plays over the middle. He also carried the ball a couple of times, trying to make up for the loss of Watts. Claiborne hauled in 6 passes for 112 yards, including a huge 25-yard score to tie the game. <strong>Aidan Janatello</strong>, 5-foot-10, 189-pound linebacker, 2022, St. James: Janatello was everywhere Saturday, mainly trying to slow down a powerful Jaguar running game. Though not a big guy, Janatello was moved from safety into the linebacker spot because he’s such a ferocious tackler. He helped shut down the Andover Central passing attack too. He had several passes defended, in addition to three interceptions, going into the final contest. [player_tooltip player_id="127767" first="Wade" last="Spencer"], 6-foot-2, 231-pound defensive lineman, 2023, St. James: Spencer was a powerful roadblock to the Andover Central run game, and harassed quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="159157" first="Kai" last="Kunz"] all day. Spencer entered the game with 12.5 sacks. [player_tooltip player_id="113647" first="Ashton" last="Barkdull"], 6-foot-1, 174 pound running back, 2022, Andover Central: Andover Central couldn’t really muster much offense, particularly through the air. It mostly came down to what Barkdull could do bulling his way through the line, and Kunz occasionally getting lose for positive yardage. Barkdull pounded his way to 122 yards on 22 carries, He plowed in for three short touchdown runs. He did demonstrate some surprising breakaway speed when he broke loose for one 52-yard gainer.