Sunflower League Extra

Top 5 Player Ratings
Player ratings are subject to change on a week-to-week basis

1. Brandon Willingham, Running Back, Olathe East

Week Three: 28 carries, 188 yards, 3 TDs

Last week Willingham dropped two spots in the rankings, and I wrote that he could shoot back up the list with a big game against Olathe North. Needless to say, Willingham delivered. He scored on two touchdowns runs of two yards, and one of 40 yards which put the final nail in the coffin on Olathe North's win-streak.

2. Victor Simmons (right), Quarterback, Olathe North

Week Three: 14 carries, 79 yards

For this first time in a long time, Simmons looked just ordinary in a football game. He only rushed for 79 yards and did little through the air. The bewildered look on Simmon's face at the right as he was tripped up captures his team's 25-0 loss to Olathe East perfectly. Regardless, Simmons could make amends this Friday if he has a big game against SM East.

3. Dylan Perry, Quarterback, Lawrence Free State

Week Three: 22 carries, 193 yards, 2 TDs; 10-of-17 passing, 185 yards, 1 TD

Perry continues to rack up big numbers and it's very impressive that he ranks second in the league in both rushing yards, and passing yards. Perry accounted for all three of Free State's touchdowns against SM West, and his 80-yard touchdown run in the second half could have sealed the deal on the game, but special teams mistakes proved costly for the Firebirds.

4. Adonis Saunders, Running Back, Olathe North

Week Three: 16 carries, 48 yards

Saunders, like Simmons, played much worse than what we're used to. By comparison, Saunders had runs in each of the first two games which gained more yardage on one carry than the total yardage he collected this past game. His 3 yard average per carry for the game may be the lowest we'll see from him all season.

5. Will Livingston, Running Back, SM West

Week Three: 16 carries, 65 yards, 1 TD

Among the top ten rushers in the league Livingston has the second lowest average yards per carry at 4.8, and he is only averaging 86 yards per game, but Livingston has kept SM West rolling despite Drew Humphreys' hand injury. Livingston has scored six of the Vikings 11 touchdowns, including a 20-yard run that pushed SM West to within six points of Free State on Friday.

Honorable Mention: John Schrock, Austin Fulson, Preston Schenck

Week Four Power Rankings

*Power Rankings are subject to change on a week-to-week basis

**See previous post for commentary on Power Rankings

1. Olathe East (3-0)

2. Olathe North (2-1)

3. SM West (2-1)

4. SM East (3-0)

5. Lawrence Free State (2-1)

6. Olathe South (1-2)

7. Olathe Northwest (2-1)

8. SM Northwest (0-3)

9. Lawrence (2-1)

10. SM South (1-2)
11. SM North (0-3)
12. Leavenworth (0-3)

Eli's Week Three Q and A

Submit your Sunflower League questions to Eli at eunder@ku.edu

Q: Can SM East make it two losses in a row for Olathe North?

A: Let's put it this way: so far SM East has shown they have the ability to compete with any team in the league, but Olathe North losing two weeks in a row is a tall order. Whether the shutout loss Olathe North suffered last week was a product of being overconfident (or Olathe East being that good) remains to be seen, but I can assure you the Eagles won't be overlooking or under preparing for this week's game against the Lancers.

SM East (led by senior quarterback John Schrock, right) is going to get Olathe North's best effort, and visa-versa. The Lancers haven't had a spotlight game of this magnitude since they faced an undefeated SM West team in 2005. That game was the KC Metro Sports Game of the Week, and SM East's homecoming. The Lancers lost 17-7. Olathe North on the other hand is used to the big game attention, and it shouldn't affect their preparation or create early game jitters. It should also be noted that SM East was very competitive with Olathe North in the first half of last year's Regional playoff game, so the team's aren't completely unfamiliar with eachother.

This is the biggest game so far in the Chip Sherman era at SM East and the Lancers have a chance to make a big statement if they win. Likewise, Olathe North has a chance to erase any doubt from last week with a big win of their own.

Q: Have any statistics stuck out across the board this season?

A: Missed PATs and two point conversions. Through three weeks of play their have been 22 occasions where touchdowns were scored but the PATs or two point conversion were unsuccessful. As good as Olathe East looked in their win Friday, they still managed to botch three of their four PAT attempts. I guess it's just not the year of the kicker in the Sunflower League.

It's also noteworthy that through three games Lawrence Free State ranks atop the league in total offense at 397 yards per game, and total defense, only giving up 167 yards per game.

Stat Check

Passing Yards

John Schrock, SM East: 686, 5 TDs

Dylan Perry, Lawrence Free State: 392, 2 TDs

Stephen Mangelsdorf, SM Northwest: 359, 3 TDS

Brad Strauss, Lawrence: 328, 3 TDS

Armani Williams, SM West: 219, 2 TDs

Kyle Goodburn, SM North: 213, 1 TD

Alex Forslund, SM South: 205, 1 TD

Ryan Lundgren, Olathe Northwest: 203, 3 TDs

Trent Kuhl, Olathe East: 190, 1 TD

Corey Kipp, Olathe Northwest: 153, 3 TDs

Rushing Yards

Brandon Willingham, Olathe East: 438, 4 TDs

Dylan Perry, Lawrence Free State: 429, 5 TDs

Victor Simmons, Olathe North: 353, 2 TDs

Adonis Saunders, Olathe North: 332, 4 TDs

Austin Fulson, Olathe East: 295, 6 TDs

Nick Sands, Olathe South: 281, 1 TD

Jake Crist, Olathe South: 277, 2 TDs

Will Livingston, SM West: 260, 5 TDs

Preston Schenck, Lawrence Free State: 258, 4 TDs
Charles Jackson (right), Lawrence: 223, 3 TDs

Receving Yards

Elliot Faerber, SM East: 271, 3 TDs

Kenny Mings, SM Northwest: 203, 2 TDs

Krey Bradley, SM East: 187, 1 TD

Desmond Wyatt, Lawrence Free State: 143, 1 TD

Nick Bandy, Olathe Northwest: 141, 2 TDs

Grant Ellis, SM East: 128, 1 TD

Aaron Gile, Lawrence: 103

Shawn Laurent, SM South: 103

Nate Davis, Lawrence Free State: 91

Tackles

Kyle Swartz, Olathe North: 34

Dylan DeVries, Olathe Soutth: 31

Brock Burrows, SM North: 30

Tristan Opie, Olathe Northwest: 29

Taylor Sheffield, Olathe South: 29
Tanner Ginavan, Olathe South: 28
Sam Todd, Olathe North: 28

Connor Mashek, Olathe North: 26

Josh Mais, SM East: 25

Vince Gerstner, Olathe East: 24

Interceptions

Nick Bandy, Olathe Northwest: 2
DeAndre Graves, SM West: 2
Kenny Mings, SM Northwest: 2

Preston Schenck, Lawrence Free State: 2 (2 TDS)

Kick/Punt Return TDs

Preston Schenck, Lawrence Free State: 1 KR TD, 1 PR TD

JaQuan Brunt, SM East: 1 KR TD

Field Goals

Daniel Gutierrez, Olathe North: 2/3

Jared Douglas, Olathe South: 1/2

Kyle Goodburn, SM North: 1/3

Sean Jones, SM West: 1/1

Anthony Rosen, Lawrence: 1/1

Chase Woofter, SM East: 1/2

Stats courtesy Mid-statesports.com

Photos courtesy (from top) the Kansas City Star, the Shawnee Dispatch, the Lawrence Journal World