EMPORIA —  Weston Schartz waited 43 years for this moment. A career filled with playoff runs, heartbreaks and near-misses finally delivered the one thing missing from his résumé — a state championship. And when it came, it arrived in the most convincing fashion imaginable. 

In his sixth season leading Kapaun Mt. Carmel, the veteran head coach guided the Crusaders to their first state title since 1987, powering past Bishop Miege 56-21 in Saturday’s Class 4A championship at Emporia State. For a program that had a lot of success in the 1970s and 80s, Saturday marked a long-awaited return to the summit. 

For Schartz, it was a personal mountain climbed. 

“I took this job six years ago with the goal that we’d play well at the state level,” Schartz said. “To see these kids set a goal and go out and get it — it means a lot to me, and it means a lot to this school.” 

Kapaun had reached the doorstep two years ago, finishing as runner-up in 2023. And Schartz himself had come agonizingly close to a title in 1997, when his Wichita West team lost the championship to Olathe North by one point. That moment, still sharp after all these years, was on his mind Saturday. 

“We had Olathe North beat, but we lost in the final seconds,” Schartz said. “If I would have been a better coach that day, we would have won.” 
 

There was no such heartbreak this time. Not even close. 

The Crusaders unleashed a ground attack Miege simply could not slow down. The three-headed monster of Ken Huff (254 yards), Wyatt Sullenger (123) and Cal Purvis (95) combined for 472 yards and seven touchdowns as Kapaun rumbled its way to 540 total rushing yards. 

"We knew if we set the tone right away, we could control the game,” Huff said. “Our offensive line did amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything more from them.” 

Purvis added two first-half touchdowns, then helped break the game open again in the third quarter. 

“Our O-line really started clicking in the playoffs,” Purvis said. “Watching them dominate like that — it was just amazing.” 
 

Sullenger, who scored twice in the second half, has been a big part of that rushing attack all season.  

“Wyatt is very unselfish as he is a very good tailback, but we moved him to fullback because we needed both of them in the backfield,” Schartz said. “He took it and did well with it. He and (Huff) are both very good backs.” 

Kapaun’s ground game was so dominant the Crusaders didn’t complete a pass — and didn’t need to. 

“They've done a great job all year with that and they've got three guys that can do it,” Bishop Miege coach Jon Holmes said. “We saw all three. They do a really good job of attacking where they think they have an advantage. We did a lot of things defensively, moved guys around, put guys in different spots and did some more blitzes and stunts and they always had an answer to it. They were that way all year long and we saw why." 
 

Miege, trailing 21-7 late in the second quarter, briefly grabbed momentum when Jeremiah Johnson forced a fumble at the goal line that prevented another Kapaun score. 

But after the Stags went three-and-out, Kapaun’s Mason Collins delivered a big play — a blocked punt that led to a touchdown and pushed the lead to 28-7. 

“That was a killer,” Holmes said. “We felt if we could have gone in 21-7 and had the ball coming out, we had a shot. But that and the opening plays of the third quarter was the difference there.” 

At halftime, Schartz told his team exactly how the second half would start. 

“I told the guys we were going to score on the first series and that would be it,” Schartz said. “And sure enough, we did.” 

Huff delivered with a 70-yard sprint on the first play of the third quarter, and the rout was on from there. 
 

Purvis led Kapaun’s defense with nine tackles and two tackles for loss. Collins added an interception to go with his blocked punt. Cole Tarantino matched Purvis with nine tackles of his own. 

Schartz said it was a special performance from Purvis as he scored three touchdowns to go along with his team high in stops. 

“Cal is amazing,” Schartz said. “He is one of the best athletes I have ever coached at any level and I am just glad he is on our side.” 

As the game wound into the fourth quarter with the outcome long decided, Schartz admitted the final minutes seemed to drag, as though his four-decade wait required one last test of patience. 
 

“It seemed like it took forever,” Schartz said. “You know what, it is kind of surreal. You work your whole life to win a state championship, you get it and then you realize there are more important things in life. It is nice, don’t get me wrong, and I am very grateful, but it is not the most important thing.” 

Players insisted the moment was just as meaningful for them as it was for their longtime head coach. 

“To finally get it for Coach Schartz — I can’t even describe it,” Purvis said. “He’s been on us all playoffs telling us we can always do better. To give him this means everything.”

In the middle of the celebration, came the moment Schartz says he’ll remember most — a meeting with a former player from his 1997 team at Wichita-West.   

“One of the first people to congratulate me — crying — was one of my former players from that 97 team,” Schartz said. “And when I saw him, I started crying.” 

A player who had shared the heartbreak of the championship that slipped away nearly three decades ago was there to celebrate the one that finally landed. 

“That’s what it’s all about,” Schartz said. “The relationships. That’s the best part of all of this.” 
 

KAP 14 14 28  0 — 56 

BM    7   0   7  7 — 21 

First Quarter 

K: Huff 39 run (Dupont kick) 

K: Purvis 35 run (Dupont kick) 

B: Blount 18 pass from Cole (Jaksa kick) 

Second Quarter 

K: Purvis 1 run (Dupont kick) 

K: Purvis 12 run (Dupont kick) 

Third Quarter 

K: Huff 70 run (Dupont kick) 

K: Rapp 1 run (Dupont kick) 

K: Sullenger 12 run (Dupont kick) 

B: Walsh 20 pass from Cole (Jaksa kick) 

K: Sullenger 16 run (Dupont kick) 

Fourth Quarter 

B: Blount 7 pass from Cole (Jaksa kick) 

TEAM STATISTICS 

...KAP... BM 

First downs ... 27... 25 

Rushes-yards ... 60-540... 46-146 

Passing yards ... 0 ... 159 

Passing (Compt-Att-Int) ... 0-3-0 ... 13-37-1 

Total plays-yards ... 63-540... 83-305 

Fumbles-lost ... 2-2 ... 1-1 

Penalties-yards ... 7-87 ... 7-60 

Punts-Avg ... 1-32 ... 3-62 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

Rushing – Kapaun: Huff 22-254, Sullenger 16-123, Purvis 11-95, Rapp 7-69, Guyer 3-5; Bishop Miege: George 30-130, Watskey 11-42, Cole 5-15 

Passing – Kapaun: Rapp 0-3-0, 0 yards; Bishop Miege: Cole 13-37-1, 159 yards 

Receiving – Kapaun: none; Bishop Miege: Blount 5-61, McDaniel 4-41, Walsh 2-30, Johnson 1-8, George 1-9