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| Lawrence Free State's Shawn Knighton was key in the Firebird's 19-14 win over Olathe North on Friday. Photo courtesy the Lawrence Journal World. |
Two losses in a row from Olathe North was shocking, but three seems inexplicable. Free State struck first in the second quarter when Kyle McFarland finished off a drive with a one-yard touchdown run after Shawn Knighton had taken a carry 97-yards to set up the score. Later in the quarter, McFarland found Ryan Patterson on a 38-yard touchdown pass to make things 13-0, Free State at the half. Orange Mooney added the next two scores of the game for Olathe North, scoring first on a four-yard run then on a 23-yard catch from Jordan Bruce, which gave the Eagles a 14-13 advantage. Free State regained possession with 3:15 remaining in the fourth quarter and drove 80 yards, scoring on a seven-yard touchdown pass from McFarland to Patterson to win the game.
Olathe Northwest 21, Lawrence 3
Olathe Northwest's first momentum boost came on a seven-yard run from Avery Parker in the first quarter which put them up 7-0. There second was when Lawrence quarterback Brad Strauss went down with an injury at the start of the second quarter--he did not return. Lawrence's second-string quarterback had been injured during the week in practice, so receiver Drake Hofer was thrown into the quarterback position. While he played well given the circumstances, it wasn't Strauss out there. Lawrence managed one score on a field goal from Anthony Rosen, but they were shutout besides that. Olathe Northwest's next two scores came on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Dalton Rook to Cody Sestrich and an 88-yard pass from Rook to Willie Cauley.
Olathe East 48, Blue Valley Northwest 27
It didn't matter what Blue Valley Northwest did, they weren't able to shut down Olathe East's dominant rushing attack. The Hawks scored seven rushing touchdown in the game, en route to their 21-point statement victory over the Huskies. Kendall Kelly scored four touchdowns on runs of three, two, three and nine yards. John Kelsh added touchdowns on runs of 17 and 87 yards. Austin Frazier completed the scoring trio of scoring with six-yard touchdown run.
SM South 35, Blue Valley North 18
SM South jumped to a comfortable 21-12 lead at halftime, and finished off the game with two second half touchdowns. In the first half Gabe Guild scored on runs of 46 and 64 yards. Alex Forslund added a 15-yard touchdown pass to Nick Oliver for the third touchdown. SM South's two second half touchdowns came on a 25-yard run from Ra'Keim Abdul and an eight-yard run from Forslund. With their victory the Raiders set up a win-or-go-home scenario with SM East to cap off the regular season.
SM Northwest 24, Leavenworth 22
This was a pretty evenly matched game after all. SM Northwest scored twice in first half--once on a 41-yard field goal from Alex Allen and then again on a seven-yard run from Austin Vanderpool. Leavenworth's first half score came on a 38-yard pass from Jason Randall to Judson Cole. In the second half SM Northwest scored twice, first on a four-yard run from Vanderpool, and later on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Colton Dirks to Jake Horner. Cole added a 32-yard touchdown run, and Randall scored on a 14-yarder late in the fourth quarter.
Olathe South 46, Blue Valley West 29
This game was hardly a defensive struggle, but Olathe South managed to win by more than 13 points, keeping their playoff hopes alive. Olathe South's first half scores came on a 69-yard punt return by Matt Elliott, an eight-yard run from Teddy Colbert and a one-yard run from Frankie Seurer. They led 21-13 at the half. In the second half the Falcons added four touchdowns on a 14-yard run from Colbert, an 89-yard pass from Seurer to Drew Johnson, and runs of six and 13 yards from Jordan Ward.
SM West 30, SM East 25
A big second quarter combined with a turnover-ridden SM East club turned out to be enough from SM West to win a district championship, and regain the Nut Cup. After surrendering a safety early on, SM West scored on a 31-yard field goal from Mark Whitrock, a 75-yard touchdown pass from Armani Williams to Ben Lake and a 20-yard touchdown run from Brett Sterbach. The Vikings led 17-2 at the half.
SM East had a big third quarter, scoring touchdowns on a run from Jeff Cole and a 53-yard pass from Dakota Collins to Connor Rellihan. SM West's lone third quarter score came on a 37-yard Whitrock field goal. The Vikings led 20-17 heading into the final quarter of play. SM East started things off with another safety, before SM West's Whitrock added his third field goal of the day from 37 yards out. On SM East's next possession Robert Rice picked off a Collins pass and took it 63-yards for a touchdown. The two scrores gave SM West a 30-17 lead. SM East 's final stab came on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Collins to Rellihan.
SM North 69, Wyandotte 6
SM North's 69 points were the most scored in a single game from a Sunflower League team all season. The player of the game, without a doubt was SM North's Mason Perez. He scored the first five touchdowns of the game on receptions of 25, 25, 34 and 29 yards, then a 28-yard punt return. With the win, the Indians boosted their record to 2-6, and with a win on Friday over Leavenworth they'll qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
