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Complete Box Score and Stats

Stephen Neenan knew he didn’t need to put everything behind the kick. He was more focused on form and direction. And, more than anything, for the football to go through the uprights.

Mission accomplished.

Neenan knocked through an eventual game-winning 32-yard field goal with 4:07 remaining to lift Bishop Miege to a thrilling 23-20 rivalry victory against St. Thomas Aquinas Friday night at Dixon Doll Stadium.

“It felt amazing. This is what I worked for all summer,” said Neenan, a junior who missed a crucial field goal in last season’s state semifinal loss to eventual 4A champion St. James Academy. “A lot of hot summer workouts at the field and kicking on my own. … I knew I had enough leg, so I was making sure my steps were right and the kick was straight.”

That it was, and after another defensive stop in a string of quite a lot of those on this night, Neenan’s boot launched Miege (1-2) to its first win of the season and provided Aquinas (2-1) its first loss. It was also the Stags’ first victory over their rival since 2017.

“The first two weeks didn’t go our way and everyone kind of lost respect for us,” Neenan said. “So it was good to play in front of a packed stadium in a rivalry game. It felt great.”

Yes, of course. The packed house. How could we forget? It was Miege’s home opener and first full-capacity crowd since the Stags’ state playoff win against Bonner Springs in November 2019. The crowds on both ends were electric, with floods of fans surrounding the fence of Miege’s field.

“It was awesome,” Stags coach Jon Holmes said. “To have your rival come in here at 2-0 with two really impressive wins, we just came back and we battled. We knew it was going to be a 48-minute battle and we’d need every second of that.”

Indeed, they did. Because this battle between these private schools was a defensive struggle in the first half, as Miege owned a 7-6 lead at halftime, courtesy of a Jaylen Burch 1-yard touchdown run, a stout Miege defense, and a pair of Aquinas turnovers, including one that occurred in the waning minutes of the first half to set up Burch’s TD run, the Stags’ lone first-half score.

Sean Carroll, the Saints’ junior bruising back who amassed 245 rushing yards and two scores on 36 carries, was a force to be reckoned with. He helped set the stage for Maxxwell Ford’s quarterback sneak for a touchdown to put the visitors ahead 6-0 with 2:59 left in the first frame. That was all the Saints mustered in the scoring category until late in the third, when Carroll scampered in from two yards out for his first touchdown run, putting Aquinas up 12-7 at the time.

Miege quickly countered with a strong drive, with David Garcia capping it with a short touchdown run to push the Stags ahead 13-12. Then, four minutes later, Carroll made it a pair of scores with a seven-yard touchdown run for a 20-13 Saints’ lead with eight minutes remaining.

But the Stags had a counter punch, as they marched down field and quarterback Mac Armstrong connected with Daegan Jensen for a 15-yard touchdown connect in the back left corner of the end zone, effectively tying the contest at 20-20 with 5:30 left.

As if the touchdown didn’t have the stadium rocking enough, the following sequence brought it to another level, as Carroll and the Saints quickly coughed up a fumble in Miege’s red zone to eventually set up Neenan’s big-time field goal.

“That was really, really impressive,” Holmes said of his defense’s physicality. “We’re undersized a bit up front, but our guys played their butts off.

“I can’t say how proud I am of Stephen,” he added, “especially how last year finished for him. He had to get back to work this offseason, and he has been lights out for us. He’s made some big kicks and tonight you can’t have more pressure. Against Aquinas, at home, with a chance to put us up three late in the game, and he drilled it.”

Following the made field goal, Miege once again forced an Aquinas turnover, effectively sealing the Stags’ first win of the season and the Saints’ first defeat.

“My hats off to Miege, they played a great game,” Aquinas coach Randy Dreiling said. “But we certainly did not deserve to win tonight. We played as poorly as we could tonight from a mistakes standpoint. We’re just going to have to figure out how to get better in that regard. It’s just mind-boggling what we did in the first half.”

The Saints did fumble three times, losing two, while the Stags had one lost fumble, which came on the first possession of the game inside the 10-yard line. Aquinas ran for 375 yards, nearly all of its 383 total yards of offense, and Miege racked up 219 passing yards, all from Armstrong, who connected on 20 of his 27 pass attempts, and 121 rushing yards.

Burch finished with 63 yards on 16 rushes, and Garcia had 46 yards on seven carries. In the receiving game, Christian Bowen-Webb reeled in eight catches for 103 yards, Rohan Putz had five receptions for 53 yards, and Jensen, who scored the game-tying touchdown late, finished with four grabs for 41 yards.

Defensively, Jake Welsh and Isaiah Coppage went to work, tallying 11 tackles apiece.

Miege travels across the state line to take on Rockhurst next week, and Aquinas will travel to Blue Valley.

“It’s huge. Our school needed it. Everyone needed it,” Holmes said of the win. “And now, of course, we have to go down the state line and play Rockhurst, so it doesn’t get any easier for us. To be able to build on this and to keep the kids moving forward is huge as we get going later into the season.”