MACKSVILLE - For someone who accounted for dozens of touchdowns this season, Jared Loomis set his sights all season on a much smaller number.

One.

Loomis wanted his Macksville Mustangs to finish the season at No. 1 and win the school's first state football championship.

"Going into the year, all I could think about was succeeding as a team," Loomis said. "I could have had zero touchdowns and if we would have won the state title, I would have been thrilled."

As it turned out, Loomis accounted for 60 touchdowns for his quarterback spot. More importantly, he led the Mustangs to an undefeated season, capped by a 24-20 victory over Hanover in the Eight-Man I championship game, rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for another.

It was a perfect finish for Loomis, who has named the Hutchinson News' Eight-Man offensive player of the year for a second straight season.

Winning the title meant as much - if not more - to coach Dan Grizzell as it did to the players.

Grizzell, who completed his ninth year as head coach after serving as an assistant for four years, is a 1990 graduate from Macksville. The Mustangs went nearly a decade without recording a winning season, but now they are a perennial power.

"There were times in the early '90s when winning a game or two a year was a good year," said Grizzell, who is The News' Eight-Man coach of the year. "To get this turned around to where it is today means a lot to me because that was my goal when I came back to Macksville. We have a great group of guys, so that makes me job a lot easier."

Grizzell has seen Loomis grow up over the years. He saw Loomis' potential to be a special player.

"Even in junior high, he was able to see a hole that no other kid here at Macksville could see," Grizzell said. "He just has great vision of the field."

Loomis used that vision to score about every possible way this season.

On offense, he rushed for 1,931 yards and 33 touchdowns and completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,394 yards and 22 touchdowns.

On defense, he picked off four passes from his linebacker spot, returning one for a touchdown. He led the team in solo tackles with 87.

And on special teams, he had four returns for scores. He averaged 27.6 yards on his nine punt returns, taking three back for touchdowns.

This all came on the heels of a junior season when he rushed for more than 1,600 yards and 32 touchdowns and passed for 1,445 yards and 19 touchdowns during his first full year as starting quarterback.

"The pressure of handling the game got better. I wasn't as nervous," Loomis said of his senior season. "My sophomore year, every game at quarterback I was pretty nervous. Last year got better, and then this year, I felt relaxed back there."

Grizzell will try to repeat as state champion with a different quarterback running his offense. As for Loomis, he plans to play football on the college level, but he hasn't decided where just yet.

And as far as he's concerned, it doesn't matter if he plays another down at quarterback.

"Some coaches say they can see me playing offense, some say defense. I'd play wherever I could get on the field," Loomis said.

l Defensive player of the year - As a guard on the defensive line for Ashland, Walt Woolwine got used to being double-teamed.

"If I'm getting double-teamed, I know I'm doing my job," Woolwine said.

He also got used to being held by opposing linemen. But the double teams and any holding that went on didn't keep the 6-foot-2, 255-pound senior from leading the Blue Jays in tackles this season.

He finished with 121 tackles, including 13 sacks. He had five fumble recoveries to go along with tackles.

"He had a better year than I thought he would," said coach Matt Scripsick, who led Ashland to a 7-3 record. "He had 70 or 80 tackles as a guard last year, but to get 120 this year is remarkable."

Added Woolwine: "I just wanted to do the best I could, and I think I did."

Scripsick said Woolwine certainly wasn't a dominant player when he was a freshman. But through offseason work in the weight room and competing at camps, Scripsick said Woolwine made himself a better player.

"I got more confidence over the years and I was smarter about the game," Woolwine said.

Now Woolwine plans to continue his football career in college. He said he's getting interest from many of the state's junior college programs, including Garden City, Coffeyville and Independence, and he went on an official visit to Pittsburg State last week.