Tuesday, November 15, 2011

6A East Sectional Round Review

Olathe East head coach Jeff Meyers, center, has led his
team to another Sub-State round, the program's fourth in
its last ten seasons.
The Good

**It looks as if the Sub-State matchup on this side of the state is truly a pairing of the top two teams.  While upsets along the way are always fun, there's no writing off either of these teams as "lucky."

**The 6A East representitive in the title game will be from the Sunflower League for the... well it's been this way for as long as we can remember. 

The Bad

**For the non-Olathe schools, that is: there hasn't been a non-Olathe representitive in the Sub-State game since 2008, and only three of the 10 6A East Sub-State reps since 2006 from the SL have been of the non-Olathe distinction.

The Ugly

**Neither of the Sectional Round games were very competitive, and that really points to an overall lack of strength in the league this season.

Sectional Round Player of the Week

Jordan Ward, Olathe South: SM East had virtually no answer for Ward, as he carried the ball 26 times for 290 yards and five touchdowns.  Ward has scored nine touchdowns in the Falcon's last three games and he's making a run at being the league's lead rusher when all is said and done.

The 6A Remaining Four

1. Wichita Heights (11-0): These Falcons boast a 24-game winning streak and have three players with over 1,000 yards rushing to boot.  They've scored over 40 points in 10 of their 11 games, and they've pitched five shutouts.

2. Olathe South (10-1): Olathe South has just seemed like a team destined to make it to the title game all season long.  This Friday will be the toughest test yet as they attempt to beat Olathe East for the second time in four weeks.

3. Olathe East (9-2): Olathe East really had no problem taking down SM West once the Hawk offense got rolling.  They were handled pretty badly in week nine against Olathe South when they had little motivation for a victory, but this time around it's all on the line.

4. Derby (7-3): The Panthers pulled a major upset taking down an undefeated team from Manhattan last weekend.  It's going to take that type of effort, times about 10 for Derby to pull the upset of Wichita Heights this Friday.