HUTCHINSON — For the first time in seven years, there will be a new Class 5A state champion in high school football.
After winning the state crown the past six seasons, Hutchinson High School’s dynasty is over.
Wichita’s Bishop Carroll, the team that eliminated Great Bend, 49-13, in the opening round of the state playoffs, blanked Hutch 21-0  in a semifinal at Gowans Stadium.
Blue Valley-Stillwell knocked off Bubba Starling-led Gardner-Edgerton, 45-42, in the other semifinal Friday night,
meaning Carroll and Blue Valley will be playing for the state championship this coming Saturday.
While Carroll (10-2) and its vaunted defense shut out the Salt Hawks, a fake field goal for a touchdown midway through the third quarter gave it momentum it carried the rest of the way.
Leading 7-0, Danny Crippen took the snap on the fake kick, rolled to his right and threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Evan McMillan for a 14-0 lead with 6:51 left in the period.
Hutch never recovered.
Meanwhile, in Class 6A, Dodge City squandered a 28-0 first-quarter lead, as Wichita Heights (12-0) rallied for a 42-38 victory, topped off by Evan Wessel’s 14-yard scoring catch with 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to stun the previously unbeaten Red Demons.
Dodge City (11-1) was living large in the first quarter after quarterback Jared Helfrich ran 44 yards for a touchdown.
Helfrich later threw a 34-yard scoring pass to Rico Hogan and a 23-yard touchdown pass to Trey Hallman. An 80-yard scoring run by Parker Davis gave the Demons a 28-0 lead.
Heights’ Dreamius Smith rushed for 104 yards in the first half. He set up 4-yard scoring run by Daniel Deshazer  and then threw a 45-yard flea-flicker  touchdown pass to Deshazer to cut the lead to 28-14. Davis gave Dodge a 35-14 halftime lead after his 1-yard plunge with 6:34 left in the second quarter.
A 54-yard touchdown run by Heights quarterback Matt Reed with 11:44 left in the third quarter was the first of four Falcons scores in the second half.
Needing to drive 85 yards in the final 2:09 and trailing 38-36, Heights drove to the Dodge City 39 after running back Kenneth Iheme picked up 26 yards on a hook-and-ladder. Heights head coach Rick Wheeler inserted Wessel for the first time at wide receiver during the game-winning drive, and Wessel came through for the second straight week, catching a 24-yard scoring pass as the final seconds melted away.
The week before, Wessel’s late interception from his safety position foiled  a Junction City scoring drive in an 18-15 victory. Heights plays Olathe North for the state championship this coming Saturday.
Great Bend lost to Heights, 45-14, during the Panthers’ third game of the season, and lost to Dodge City, 31-14, in what ultimately determined the Western Athletic Conference championship as the Demons handed the Panthers their only conference loss.