Clean Slate as District Play Begins

by Steve Isenberg – Everyone’s essentially undefeated (and winless) now. That’s life as we enter the first week of district play in Kansas.

There are the obvious favorites, of course. In 6A, we certainly expect Olathe East and North to move on in their respective districts, while Shawnee Mission West and East are clearly the class of District 2. But we can also expect 2-4 SM Northwest to advance in a weak District 1, where it’s quite possible either SM North or Leavenworth – both 0-6 – might advance as well. So each school may be starting with a clean slate, but the field isn’t entirely level either.

The clearest example is in 5A’s District 4. The district features three of the area’s top teams, yet of Gardner-Edgerton, Blue Valley and Aquinas, only two can make it through. The Blazers appear to have the upper hand, playing both the Tigers and Saints at home. Regardless of the outcomes, though, it appears there will be one very hard-luck loser, as these three schools currently boast a combined 17-1 record. The big one this weekend is Blue Valley playing host to Aquinas. Friday’s outcome will give one of those schools a big edge heading into the season’s final two weeks.

All but one of the local 4A districts appear to have clear-cut favorites, with Sumner Academy, Basehor-Linwood, Baldwin and Louisburg each rolling. The exception is District 3, which is wide open. Newcomer Blue Valley Southwest could well be postseason-bound, and its first test comes Friday at St. James. The Thunder also have a good shot, matching up favorably with Bishop Ward and Desoto.

KCTeams.com will have a variety of action in district play in the coming weeks, so check back with us for our schedule of games as we battle toward the postseason.

Filed under: High School Football

Crowded at the Top

by Steve Isenberg – Olathe East allowed just 20 points in its first four games, so yielding 27 to Lawrence last Friday was certainly unexpected. Even so, if you’d have told me that’s what the Lions would put up against the Sunflower League’s top team, I’d have bet the Hawks would have dropped at least 28 of their own.

Not the case, though, and so we now have four Sunflower League squads posting the same 4-1 record heading into this weekend. Olathe East still appears the strongest, however, with an unusually mistake-prone performance costing the Hawks last week. East is back home to face Free State tomorrow and prove its loss in Lawrence was a fluke. But the Hawks’ defense will have to be stout again against a high-scoring Firebirds’ offense.

Meanwhile, two Shawnee Mission schools continue to fly relatively under the radar at 4-1. West has won four straight since its season-opening loss to Olathe North, and the Eagles’ hard-fought win over SM East two weeks ago is the Lancers only loss. West has been doing its damage on the ground, led by the combination of Will Livingston and Tre Burt. East, on the other hand, has been paced by one of the Sunflower League’s more steady passing games with senior quarterback John Schrock. The Lancers and Vikings meet in two weeks in what shapes up to be one of the biggest games left on the league slate.

And if you’re looking for another under-the-radar team, check out Blue Valley. The Tigers coasted to an easy win over Blue Valley North last weekend to get to 5-0 right along with EKL powerhouses Gardner-Edgerton and Aquinas. While the Blazers and Saints are understandably getting a lot of love across the area, Blue Valley has continued to take care of its business. With the three frontrunners all scheduled to face each other in the last few weeks of the season, there will be some big-time football as we head toward the postseason.

Aquinas passed its first big test of the season last week, holding off a late Bishop Miege rally to beat the Stags, 31-26. The Saints step out of league play tomorrow with a home date against Missouri Class 4 power foe Webb City. The Cardinals, who fell in the playoffs to Kearney last fall, should provide another good test for Aquinas. You can catch all of the action live on KCTeams.com Friday night starting at 7:00pm.

Filed under: High School Football

Aquinas Enters Crucial Stretch

by Steve Isenberg – Aquinas coach Mike Thomas says you can throw records out the window when the Saints play Bishop Miege, and that’s probably what the Stags’ coach Tim Grunhard would like to do.

While the Saints have rolled to a perfect 4-0 start, the Stags sit at 2-2 after dropping their last two. But that’s exactly where Miege stood at this point last year before sweeping through the rest of its schedule on the way to a 4A title. What stands in the way tonight, however, appears to be nothing short of a well-oiled offensive machine. Led by the passing of Richard Davila and a balanced rushing attack, Aquinas is averaging nearly 50 points and over 520 yards of total offense per game. The Miege defense should provide more resistance than the Saints have faced thus far in 2010, but Stags QB Max Shortell will surely need to match Davila and make some big plays of his own to give his team a chance.

Having taken care of business in convincing fashion so far, the Saints start their most difficult stretch of the season tonight. All eyes in the East Kansas League have been looking ahead to the October 22 clash with Gardner-Edgerton, but Aquinas first has to get through Miege, Webb City (MO) and a road date at Blue Valley.

So, needless to say, these next few weeks will go a long way toward sorting out the top of the EKL.

Movement atop the 6A Sunflower League, though, isn’t likely for at least a couple of weeks. Olathe East continues to roll along undefeated and is unlikely to face a big challenge at Lawrence tonight. And after rebounding from its first loss with a hard-fought win over Shawnee Mission East last week, Olathe North should have its way with Leavenworth. The game of the week in the Sunflower League should be the Lancers’ trip to Free State, a battle of 3-1 schools looking to stay in the league’s top tier.

Also, big congratulations to Blue Valley Southwest on the Timberwolves’ first-ever victory. It was an exciting 36-35 win at Blue Valley West last night, as seen here on KCTeams.com. The game is available to view anytime, and join us tonight for Aquinas-Miege as well. Remember you can also watch us on your iPhone or Android devices with the Ustream mobile apps.

Filed under: High School Football

Lightning in the Backfield

by Steve Isenberg – There’s been plenty of lightning on display in Olathe early this football season, and I’m not talking about the thunderstorms that interrupted last weekend’s slate of games. I’m talking about the two teams we’ll have featured on KCTeams.com Friday night; two players, in particular.

Olathe North’s Adonis Saunders and Olathe East’s Austin Fulson are the top two rushers in the Sunflower League through two games, and they’ll surely be featured prominently when their teams face off at ODAC. Fulson carried the Hawks to victory last weekend by scoring three times in East’s win over Olathe Northwest. Meanwhile, Saunders ripped of his third 70+ yard touchdown run of the season in the Eagles’ win over Olathe South.

Each will have some help in the backfield too. East gives carries to experienced and capable senior Brandon Willingham, while North’s one-two punch includes fleet-footed quarterback Victor Simmons.

Both teams come into the game with perfect 2-0 records, and the outcome Friday night will obviously have an impact on the race for the league championship. With North riding a 15-game winning streak, the favorite may seem to be clear-cut, but the Hawks have been equally impressive to start 2010.

We’ll also have coverage of a huge EKL matchup Friday, as Bishop Miege plays host to Gardner-Edgerton. Each school has opened its season with lopsided victories against overmatched Blue Valley schools, but the first big test comes now. Remember you can watch multiple games on our video wall, or you can view games on your phone with the KCTeams.com mobile app for iPhones and Android devices.

Let’s just hope it’s the right kind of lightning that strikes this weekend.

Filed under: High School Football, Olathe North Olathe East high school football

KCTeams.com Partners with Blazer Broadcast Network for GEHS Coverage

KCTeams.com and the Blazer Broadcast Network will team up to offer a live video stream of the Gardner-Edgerton/Bishop Miege football game this Friday at 7pm. The Blazer broadcast crew will deliver the call of this critical East Kansas League matchup.

In addition, KCTeams.com will be broadcasting the Olathe North/Olathe East contest live from the Olathe District Activity Complex.  Both games can be viewed at once on our video wall.

Filed under: High School Football, Gardner-Edgerton Bishop Miege football

Park Hill-Liberty Recap

by Steve Isenberg – When Shane Kilson leaped for the bouncing football just outside Liberty’s 20-yard-line on the second half kickoff, he surely thought he was just doing his best to avert disaster. And what followed in the next ten minutes of football proved to be a disaster for Park Hill.

Kilson cradled the ball while jumping out of bounds, but the officials conferred and ruled that the kick had gone out of bounds before the ball had been legally possessed. So the Trojans were assessed a five-yard procedure penalty and forced to rekick. Kilson caught that one cleanly, sprinted down the right sideline and turned the tide of the game for the Bluejays. His 81-yard touchdown was followed by a successful two-point conversion, and in just 12 seconds Liberty had erased its eight-point halftime deficit.

And the Bluejays didn’t look back.

Park Hill was forced to punt on its first possession of the second half, then Liberty capitalized on another Trojans’ miscue. A mishandled snap on the punt turned the ball over to the Bluejays at the Park Hill 32, and it took just four plays for Liberty to take the lead. Matt Santiago’s one-yard touchdown made it 21-14.

The next Park Hill drive stalled as well, and Liberty struck quickly again. This time the damage came through the air as senior QB Austin Weese connected with junior Max Bamburg on a 57-yard score. It was one of just five passes completed by the Bluejays Friday night, and accounted for more than half of their total passing yardage.

With 1:29 to play in the third quarter, Park Hill’s 14-6 halftime lead seemed a distant memory. Liberty added seven more in the fourth quarter to put the stamp on its season opening win, avenging last year’s loss to the Trojans.

But there were bright spots for Park Hill too. Senior quarterback Nathan Wilson showed poise in the pocket, several times scrambling away from pressure to find an open receiver. And his touch on a deep hitch-and-go to Dearis Flint in the second quarter had the home fans hopping. The combination of Wilson, Flint and tailback Trace Norfleet should be a formidable one as the Trojans move forward this fall.

But Friday night was just a taste of what’s to come, with a full schedule of football ahead of us. Up next we venture to the west side of the stateline as Kansas high schools get underway this week. Shawnee Mission West vs. Olathe North. Might as well start out with two Sunflower League powers.

Filed under: High School Football, Park Hill Liberty High School Football

Sunflower League Preview from Eli Underwood

Former Shawnee Mission West Viking Eli Underwood has put together an exceptional team by team preview of the Sunflower League. Check it out here.

Also be sure to keep up to date by reading Eli’s complete Sunflower League Blog

Filed under: High School Football