EMPORIA – St. Thomas Aquinas football coach Randy Dreiling often mentions how the pain of losing trumps the joy of winning when it comes to his craft.
 
Fortunately for the raspy-voiced veteran, his 2024 Saints totally had his back.
 
Dreiling alluded to his personal phobia Saturday night as his players, assistants and their fans enthusiastically flanked him, celebrating a 35-13 victory over Hays at Welch Stadium that capped Aquinas’ unbeaten run to its second consecutive state title and third overall.
 
The historical footnote – because Dreiling prefers it not be the headline – was that Dreiling’s 289^th career victory produced his 10^th state championship, more than any other Kansas coach in KSHSAA’s playoff era.
 
“Losing hurts way more than winning feels good, but this one feels pretty good tonight,” said Dreiling, who moved one title ahead of the late Kapaun Mt. Carmel legend Ed Kriwiel’s nine.
 

 
Facing a spirited opponent making its first state championship game appearance, Aquinas tapped into its physical, no-nonsense persona to control the outcome.
 
Junior Calin Arndt churned out 156 yards on 21 carries with a pair of touchdowns in the Saints’ flexbone offense. Senior quarterback Elzie Slaughter added 98 rushing yards and two scores. But it was Slaughter’s 41-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Brett Yankovich that broke the seal for Aquinas late in the first quarter.

Slaughter, who went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season during Saturday’s game, entered the finale with 32 completions in 46 attempts. But on the first play of the Saints’ second drive, the left-hander faked a handoff to Arndt and hit Yankovich in stride between the hashmarks for Aquinas’ first touchdown.
 
“It was definitely a special treat,” said Slaughter, who was 3 of 5 passing for 83 yards. “I’m not the best thrower, but sometimes I can get it done.”
 

 
Hays, which finished 8-5 after winning four playoff road games, faced a quandary at quarterback after starter Carter Graham and backup Zane Viegra sustained season-ending injuries in last week’s 24-14 semifinal victory over Eisenhower. Running back Ian McGuire, who ended that game taking snaps, worked with offensive coordinator Cole Cherryholmes and the injured quarterbacks during the week and ran the offense Saturday.
 
McGuire finished 6 of 14 passing for 81 yards and two touchdowns, including a 12-yarder to Jonathan Cano on the game’s final play. But he and the Indians struggled to generate much on the ground. Aquinas held Hays to 110 rushing yards on 42 carries.
 
“It was stressful, but I knew everyone was there for me,” said McGuire, who also connected with running back Holden Lind on a 25-yard scoring strike in the first minute of the fourth quarter. “We had a couple things that worked, but we also did a couple things that set us back.”
 

 
Aquinas surrendered a 32-yard run up the middle to Lind on the second play of the game. But the Saints yielded just 30 yards on Hays’ other 27 first-half plays and built a 21-0 lead a the break.
 
“We had to guess what they were going to do,” Dreiling said. Coach (Steve) Rampy does a wonderful job with our defense. Our whole defensive staff does.
 
“And then we come out in pregame and their guy is throwing the ball not too bad, so we had to kind of get ready for a lot of different things.”
 
After punting on its first drive, Aquinas also got its offense clicking. Slaughter’s touchdown pass to Yankovich came after a short Hays punt gave the Saints the ball in Indian territory.
 
Aquinas added to its lead on its first drive of the second quarter. Arndt had runs of 45 and 23 yards on the six-play drive, the latter producing a touchdown to the right side that made it 14-0.
 

The Saints got another one-play scoring drive later in the quarter. Hays went for fourth-and-2 from Aquinas’ 49, but McGuire had to corral a high snap and lost 15 yards. Taking over at Hays’ 36, Slaughter dashed around the right side on a keeper for a touchdown that made it 21-0.
 
Aquinas’ stout offensive line helped the Saints outgain Hays 229-62 in the first half.
 
“I think it was a whole o-line effort, and especially Elzie with the insane carries and Cal putting his body through a lot for this game,” said Saints junior right guard Stephen Carroll. “So I think it’s a collective team thing.”
 
After a scoreless third quarter, Hays excited its large throng of fans with back-to-back big plays. Junior Jaxson Chartier and senior Wyatt Kirkpatrick broke through the Aquinas line to block Beren Gavin’s punt in Saints territory. On the next play, McGuire faked to Lind, who proceeded on a route up the left side.
 
Lind hauled in McGuire’s pass and carried it into the end zone for Hays’ first points.
 

The Indians had another opportunity when safety Jonny Rigler recovered a Slaughter fumble on a fourth-down run. But Aquinas’ Conor O’Donnell intercepted McGuire three plays later, and the Saints quickly restored order.
 
Slaughter followed an 11-yard run with a 26-yard burst on a quarterback counter to stretch Aquinas’ lead to 28-7. After Hays turned it over on downs on its ensuing drive, Arndt punctuated the victory with a 16-yard touchdown run.
 
McGuire and Lind maneuvered the Indians down the field late in the game. McGuire connected on his last three passes to cover the final 37 yards. When Cano hauled in the final pass in the corner of the end zone, time had expired and the teams headed to midfield for handshakes.
 
“I think we had a great season,” McGuire said. “I’ll look back at it maybe not tomorrow, but in a couple weeks, and I’ll be satisfied with it.”
 
As McGuire reflected, Aquinas’ celebration continued nearby. The Saints returned to Class 5A this season after winning the 4A title last November with a 10-3 record.
 
There were no blemishes this fall. After outdueling Blue Valley West 25-21 in its opener, Aquinas’ 13-0 march to the title included a hard-fought 28-24 victory over 4A finalist Bishop Miege, an overtime victory over Rockhurst (Mo.) and a 23-22 quarterfinal thriller over Mill Valley, ending the Jaguars’ five-year reign in 5A.
 
“The first game, we didn’t know what kind of team we were going to be,” Slaughter said. “We made a lot of mistakes, but we won and we continued to win. We fixed our mistakes and then we knew who we could be.”
 
For Dreiling, who won seven state titles in 17 seasons at Hutchinson before taking over at Aquinas in 2014, Saturday’s championship moment was about the leadership of Slaughter and his classmates, who helped the Saints successfully navigate the tough schedule.

“What a group of seniors we had,” Dreiling said. “We had kids play hurt all year. You know, broken hands and they don’t want to go to the doctor because they’d have to sit out. That’s inspiring to me. These seniors took us out on top and I’m so proud of them.”
 

 
CLASS 5A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
 
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 35, HAYS 13
 
St. Thomas Aquinas (13-0) … 7 … 14 … 0 … 14 … – … 35
 
Hays (8-5) … 0 … 0 … 0 … 13 … – … 13
 
St. Thomas Aquinas – Brett Yankovich 41-yard pass from Elzie Slaughter (Michael Doerfler kick)
 
St. Thomas Aquinas – Calin Arndt 23-yard run (Doerfler kick)
 
St. Thomas Aquinas – Slaughter 36-yard run (Doerfler kick)
 
Hays – Holden Lind 25-yard pass from Ian McGuire (Carson Moore kick)
 
St. Thomas Aquinas – Slaughter 26-yard run (Doerfler kick)
 
St. Thomas Aquinas – Arndt 16-yard run (Doerfler kick)
 
Hays – Jonathan Cano 12-yard pass from McGuire
  
TEAM STATISTICS
… STA … H
First downs … 16 … 11
Rushes-yards … 40-289 … 42-110
Passing yards … 83 … 80
Passing (Comp-Att-INT) … 3-5-0 … 6-14-1
Total plays-yards … 45-372 … 56-190
Fumbles-lost … 2-1 … 2-0
Penalties-yards … 1-5 … 1-5
Punts-Avg … 4-22.0 … 6-32.7
 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
 
RUSHING – St. Thomas Aquinas: Arndt 21-154, Slaughter 13-98, Callahan 4-30, Taylor 2-7. Hays: Lind 20-94, McGuire 19-41, Cano 1-3, Team 2-minus 28.
 
PASSING – St. Thomas Aquinas: Slaughter 3-5-0, 83 yards. Hays: McGuire 6-14-1, 80 yards.
 
RECEIVING: St. Thomas Aquinas: Yankovich 2-52, Bernart 1-31. Hays: Cano 4-51, Lind 2-29.