Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Thursday Report

Lawrence Free State's Kyle McFarland.  Photo courtesy
the Lawrence Journal World.
Week Two Matchups
All game times 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted

Olathe Northwest (1-0) at SM South (0-1) (Thursday Night Game) at SM South District Stadium

Olathe Northwest had one of their most impressive offensive performances in school history last week, highlighted by Willie Cauley's four touchdown receptions and Connor Middleton's 187 rushing yards (good for tops in the league in rushing).  The Ravens will try to keep their offensive prowess going against SM South who is coming off of a six-point loss that went down to the wire.

Leavenworth (0-1) at Lawrence Free State (0-1) at Lawrence Free State

Neither of these teams could have been happy with their week one performances as both were handily defeated.  Free State juggled quarterbacks in week one, trading off between Joe Dineen and Kyle McFarland.  The two combined for 142 passing yards and two touchdowns, but neither one necessarily outperformed the other, which means we'll probably see another quarterback rotation in week two.  As for Leavenworth, the team really has nothing to lose.  Judson Cole performed well in week one but it's going to take a team effort for the Pioneers to start winning. 

SM North (1-0) at Olathe North (1-0) at ODAC

Olathe North, once again, looks like the proverbial top dog in the Sunflower League.  In week one the Eagles rushed for 357 yards on 53 carries, and totalled 462 yards of total offense in a 29-14 victory over Olathe East.  The Eagles did give up 198 yards passing on defense, however, and if SM North has a shot in this game it's going to be through the air.  Last week SM North's quarterback, Ryan Theis, passed for 169 yards and three touchdowns.

Lawrence (1-0) at Olathe South (1-0) at CBAC

This game should be a fun one to watch.  Both team's confidence levels are sky high as both played very well in week one.  All eyes will be focused on Lawrence's quarterback Brad Strauss to see if he can continue the dominance he displayed in last week against SM West when he combined for 311 yards of total offense and four touchdowns.  Meanwhile, Olathe South's offensive combo of Jordan Ward and Teddy Colbert will be working to make a name for themselves as one of the Sunflower League's top one-two punches.

SM West (0-1) at SM Northwest (0-1) at SM North District Stadium

You could probably say these two clubs, based on their program's history and expectations, had the two most forgettable week one performances.  SM West was wiped out by Lawrence, 35-12, while SM Northwest displayed one of their most anemic performances in the last few years in a 28-3 loss to SM East.  SM West will especially be hungry for a victory, as they head to play at Olathe North in week three, and a potential 0-3 start to the season in nearly unheard of in Viking country.

Game of the Week
Olathe East (0-1) at SM East (1-0) at SM South District Stadium

After looking fairly pedestrian in week one, Olathe East will be looking to bounce back against the team that took their slot in the Power Rankings.  The Hawks cringe at the thought of an 0-2 start, but due to the most challenging two-game strech of any team in the Sunflower League, it remains a possibility.  SM East has loads of confidence heading into this game after they dominated SM Northwest 28-3 last Thursday.  Dakota Collins' transition into the Lancer's starting quarterback position went smoothly as he passed for 261 yards and two touchdowns--but this will be Collins first big test as the starter.

17 comments:

Harbinger Online said...

The Shawnee Mission East vs. Olathe East game will be broadcasted live on smeharbinger.net , 7 o'clock Friday

TheImpaler said...

TheImpaler's Week 2 picks:
Last Week (5-1) Season (5-1)

Well, It looks like a long year in Viking land. ON, SME, LAW and OS look like the teams to beat with OE still a strong contender. A lot of good games again this week.

ONW(1-0) @ SMS(0-1) (Thurs) The Ravens looked good last week but it was against Leavenworth, South may take a while to get things sorted out under a new coach and a new system. This should be a competitive game but I'll take the Ravens based on last week's performances. ONW 24 SMS 21

LV (0-1) @ LFS (0-1) Free State really did not play as badly as the 35-14 score last week would indicate. They made several drives deep into OS territory and came away empty. They had a field goal blocked and had two early turnovers in their own end. If they can clear up some of these issues and FINISH drives, they should have no problem with the Pioneers. LFS 56 LV 10

LAW (1-0) @ OS (1-0) Another important game for the Lions. Can they win away from home? As stated above, the Falcon defense gave up a lot of yards but the bevy of Falcon scat backs looked almost unstoppable against Free State. I expect a wild one here. OS 31 LAW 30

SMN (1-0) @ ON (1-0) Battle of the undefeateds? Hehe, well okay. I think we all know which North will be favored in this one. Indians may be a touch better this year but not on the Eagles level. SMN did give ON a run for a half last year but this one will be a learning experience for the Indians. ON 42 SMN 14

SMW (0-1) @ SMNW (0-1) To call a game a "must win" in week 2 seems a little over dramatic but both of these once proud teams were shellacked last week. With seemingly sure losses looming against ON, OE and SME, the Vikes must win this game to avoid their first losing season since 2003. Both these teams play in weak districts and probably will make the playoffs but the loser of this game will do so with one ugly record. I have to think West still has the better athletes and then there's the revenge factor from their embarrassing playoff loss last year. SMW 17 SMNW 14

OE (1-0) @ SME (1-0) Clearly the game of the week and maybe the game of the year as far as SM district pride is concerned. If the Lancers can't prevail here, it may be that no SM team beats any Olathe team all year (Neither SMW nor SME play ONW this year). The Hawks did not look very good against ON and Faerber looked unstoppable against SMNW but the quality of the competition was a little uneven. I expect a close hard fought game but have to go with the Hawks to bounce back and avoid an 0-2 start. OE 24 SME 23

Adam Sullivan said...

SM North blog site is giving away two free oil changes. Check http://smnfootball.blogspot.com/2011/09/sunflower-week-2.html for details.

Fightin Eagle said...

The Impaler* you have OE record backwards. I think SME has an advantage here. Since they had a Thursday game last week, they got the chance to sit in on the ON and OE game. I think they have a pretty good idea of what OE is capable of and how to attack them.

TheImpaler said...

Sorry, yes, OE 0-1 not 1-0 of course. As to the advantage of watching I think that goes both ways....I'm sure the Hawks had scouts at the SME-SMNW game too.

EagleSenior said...

Impaler's predictions are pretty good, I'm gonna give my guesses on the outcomes.

1.ONW 21-14 SMS
2.LFS 42-7 LV
3.LAW 21-20 OS
4.ON 56-21 SMN
5.SMW 14-7 SMNW
6.OE 24-17 SME

I mostly agree with Impaler on who will win each game, but I feel the scores might be different. Both Lawrence and Olathe South have something to prove. If Lawrence can produce a win against OS then that could bring momentum for their game at Olathe East next week. Olathe South on the other hand could really use a 3-0 start.(I strongly believe that they will beat Leavenworth) If Olathe South plays their cards right and remain undefeated when they head to SME then they should be fine.

Now on the ON v. SMN game, this may be a slightly biased decision. However, SMN doesn't stand a chance against ON. Their close win over equally bad SMS doesn't exactly inspire confidence. There is one crucial fact though that shows a little light on the Indians... Olathe North's secondary. Like has been said before, the Eagles allowed 198 yards and 2 TDs through the air against Olathe East. If SMN takes advantage of this, then they may be able to atleast stay in the game for all 4 quarters.

I may or may not post my picks in the future.

EagleSenior said...

Terrence Brown has quit the Olathe North Football team. I do not know if it is for good and I do not know the details of why he quit, but as of the moment he is not playing anymore.

Adam Sullivan said...

smnfootball.blogspot.com will have live coverage of the SM North @ Olathe North game on Friday night.

Govannon Grey said...

TheImpaler, I always look forward to your prognostications every week. I agree with you on the winners and losers of almost every game, except one; OE and SME. Olathe East has always had trouble defending against the Pass (See BVW last year and the first half of BVNW), and (from what I've seen anyway) SME has the best passing game in the league. I don't expect a blow out either way though, it'll be a fun game to follow.

Todd Haley said...

From here on out I am going to keep a record for predictions. Scores do not count. Between myself, TheImpaler, and Sniper125. My predictions for the week are:

ONW 24 -SMS 7
LFS 49 - LV 7
LAW 31 -OS 24
ON 35 - SMN 14
SMW 7 - SMNW 0
SME 28 - OE 21

Adam Sullivan said...

Olathe NW 28-14
Free St. 49-13
Lawrence 28-24
Olathe N 42-21
SM West 24-14
Olathe E 31-28

Adam Sullivan said...

Olathe NW up at half 28-14

Adam Sullivan said...

Olathe NW wins 48-47 in overtime. Raiders tied it up at 35 late in the 4th. ONW went up 48-41 in OT, the Raiders then scored to make it 48-47 and went for the 2pt conversion and missed.

Govannon Grey said...

Adam, that game was crazy, I was there. I'm not so sure SMS shouldn't have won that game. That 2 pt conversion in 2nd overtime was very close, and it took NW 10 tries in the first overtime to score (4th down PI call that was legit, followed by a 3rd down PI call that wasn't, and it still took them 3 more downs to score). That Cauley kid is hard to defend at his height for sure.

Adam Sullivan said...

Govannon, It must have been a great game to be at. I was at the OLN/SMN game tonight, wish it was as fun. OLN dominated early, SMN offense couldn't do anything. Go to http://smnfootball.blogspot.com/ if you want to read about the highlights. Tanner Gentry had one hell of a game.

Eaglelover1 said...

Must have been a heck of a high school game. I wish SMS could have pulled it out. ONW not a good team, but good enough to win. May be their last win of the season, anyone know when Dain is getting fired? ONW have too low of expectations, anywhere else he would have been gone years ago.

EagleSenior said...

before anyone says my report on Terrence is wrong, Terrence was on the sidelines of the SMN game but did not suit up.