Week One Review

Lawrence High's Charles Jackson. Ph-
oto courtesy the Lawrence Journal W-
orld.

Three Up

Lawrence
LHS played one of their most impressive games of the past several years in a 23-point route of their traditionally high ranked Sunflower League foe, SM West.  The quarterback/running back combo of Brad Strauss and Charles Jackson looked lethal.

Olathe Northwest
A win is a win is a win is a win.  Olathe Northwest is undefeated, for now, with a chance to push their record to 2-0 against a SM South team who is undergoing a transition period.

Olathe South
The Falcons blew by Lawrence Free State with ease, and in the process they seem to have found a solid replacement to Nick Sands in running back Jordan Ward.

Three Down

SM West
The Vikings usually fair well in their season openers, but not this time around.  The team's inexperience was clear as day in their loss to Lawrence and they looked lost throughout much of the second half.

Olathe East
Aside from two long-bomb touchdowns from John Blazevic to Chad Johnson, the Hawks offense looked fairly inept, especially in the run game where they only managed 16 yards on the ground in the first half.

SM Northwest
The Cougars, like SM West, broke in quite a few new starters Thursday--and it showed.  After one week of play the team doesn't appear to have the playmaking talents of the past few seasons.

Week One Players of the Week

Willie Cauley, Olathe Northwest: Cauley has scholarship offers from Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, and Kansas State--in basketball that is.  Rivals.com has Cauley ranked as the the 39th best high school basketball prospect in the class of 2012.  For now however, Cauley's efforts will be spent helping Olathe Northwest on the gridiron.  In week one he had eight catches for 122 yards and four touchdown in his team's victory over Leavenworth.  At 6-foot-10, he will be a nightmare for opposing defenses in redzone situations all season long.

Chad Johnson, Olathe East: Johnson emerged on the scene big time in week one for the Hawks, catching eight passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns.  Olathe East fell short in the game, 29-14, but had it not been for Johnson's heroics the final score would have been much more lopsided.  Johnson will be a player to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Brad Strauss, Lawrence: In his first game as a junior, the talented quarterback completed 22 of 27 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to running the ball 14 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns.  His 311 yards of total offense and four touchdowns were as good of numbers as we've seen from a quarterback in this league since a fellow named Camren Torneden.  Strauss' efforts led Lawrence to a 35-12 victory against SM West. 

Week Two Power Rankings

1. Olathe North (1-0): The running back combination of Orange Mooney and Treshawn Root is going to be tough for any team to handle.

2. SM East (1-0): The Lancers no-huddle offense will confuse defenses and make stopping SM East through the air extremely challenging.

3. Lawrence (1-0): The Chesty Lions have a plethora of speed and talent on their roster and if they continue to play the way they did in week one they'll be tough to stop.

4. Olathe East (0-1): The Hawks will need more production from their running backs if they want to repeat last year's success, and it doesn't get any easier in a week two trip to play SM East.

5. Olathe South (1-0): The Falcons have the benefit of starting the season off with two home games and a 2-0 start to the season would be huge.

6. SM West (0-1): The Vikings have quite a few things to work on, but their game this week against SM Northwest will be a good opportunity to get things flowing in the right direction.

7. Olathe Northwest (1-0): A win against Leavenworth doesn't necessarily warrant a two spot jump up the rankings, but the Ravens played much better than the next two teams on the list.

8. Lawrence Free State (0-1): The Firebirds haven't settled on a quarterback yet and it will be hard for the team to settle in on many wins until that decision is made.

9. SM Northwest (0-1): The Cougars showed little in their 25-point loss to SM East and the offense is going to have to step up or it could be a long season.

10. SM North (1-0): The passing combination of Ryan Theis to Mason Perez was exciting in week one and the Indians looked solid in their victory.

11. SM South (0-1): The Raiders had a good showing in week one, despite the loss, but they'll face far tougher competition than SM North from here on out.

12. Leavenworth (0-1): The Pioneers will rely heavily on quarterback Judson Cole for production, however, they need more players to step up to be competitive.