Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Week Five Game Previews

LHS' Erick Mayo.  LJWorld.
Game of the Week
Olathe South (3-1) at Lawrence (3-1) at Lawrence High Stadium

The defending 6A champ Olathe South has had a brutal stretch to begin the season, and this game only furthers that notion.  This will be their third consecutive road game--and they are not entering calm waters.  Lawrence has been on a roll since ever since their week one loss to SM West.  The Chesty Lions have averaged 435.6 yards of total offense and 38.7 points in the three games since.  Led by quarterback Brad Strauss, who leads the league in touchdowns with 14, LHS has totaled 21 plays of 20 or more yards this year which is likely the highest total in the Sunflower League.

Olathe South is coming off their first loss in their past ten games and they're really going to have to play well at LHS this Friday to avoid two straight.  The Falcons offense looked uncomfortable last week against SM East, scoring zero points and not once making past the Lancer 29-yard line.  How they do this week will be very indicative of the impact last week's loss has had on them.  One thing's for sure, the Falcons would like to get off to a hot start.  LHS has pounced early this year, outscoring opponents 48-0 in the first quarter of games.  If Olathe South could get on the board early it could really swing the momentum in their direction.  If they struggle to score like they did last week they're going to be in trouble because of LHS' potency on offense.

SM South (3-1) at SM West (3-1) (Thursday Game) at SM South District Stadium

It's always interesting when a former assistant coach goes head-to-head against his former head coach.  That's what we have this week, when SM South's Ryan Lonergan faces off against Tim Callaghan and SM West, the same program Lonergan was an assistant coach for from 2003 to 2010.  Both teams run similar offensive and defensive sets and both have found much success running the football in 2012.  SM South's running back Gabe Guild leads the league in rushing yards with 882.  SM West's primary running back, Brett Sterbach, ranks second in the league in rushing with 643 yards.  I'm anxious to see which back leaves more of an impact to the onlookers.

Lawrence Free State (3-1) at SM North (0-4) (Thursday Game) at SM North District Stadium 

SM North is trending towards running the football more and more with each week.  And who knows, it might be enough to upset somebody here along the way.  The Indians are led by their two workhorse running backs, Henry Bell and Jesse Patterson who create a formidable backfield.  This will be a good test for the Free State defense which has been susceptible to the run in various games this season.  Free State, if they play to their ability, should be able control the game in terms of tempo and they'll be the heavy favorite to leave with the W.  

Olathe East (1-3) at SM East (4-0) at SM South District Stadium

On paper, SM East is the last team Olathe East wants to face this week.  The Hawks have gotten off to an awful start at 1-3, and the undefeated Lancers are not going to help them buck that trend.  SM East's main nemesis in this game will be the element of letdown.  The Lancer program is only cloud-9 following their defeat of Olathe South last week and their new identity as the league's only undefeated team.  If they come out and focus on the defensive side of the ball they should be able to shut down Olathe East's rushing attack, much the way they put a muzzle on Olathe South last week.  SM West had some major success passing the ball on Olathe East last week and I'm assuming SM East will work to exploit that even more this Friday.  

Olathe Northwest (0-4) at SM Northwest (1-3) at SM North District Stadium

This game really pits what on paper looks like two pretty evenly matched opponents.  Neither the Ravens nor the Cougars have had the start to the season they were hoping for, but both could get moving in the right direction with a win here.  Olathe Northwest quarterback Holdyn Halperin leads the league in passing yardage and he along with the Raven offense, have been doing quite well through the team's four losses.  The problem has been the atrocious efforts of the defense which will need to step up if Olathe Northwest wants a victory here.  SM Northwest's week one victory seems like a distant memory anymore.  The Cougars have some decent talent, they just haven't been able to come out on the winning side of several close games in recent weeks.  Look for a great game between these two clubs.

Leavenworth (3-1) at Olathe North (0-4) at ODAC

Who would have thought Leavenworth would have three more wins than Olathe North entering week five?  Who would have thought Leavenworth would have three wins, and Olathe North zero!  It's been a crazy year in the Sunflower League and perhaps no game epitomizes that more than this one.  While Olathe North has a bevy of speed in their backfield with Venus Triplett and Elbert Johnson, Leavenworth can match it with Isaiah Ross and Jason Randall.  Olathe North's losing streak, which now sits at eight games, has been a nasty mark against the program of late, and you can imagine how badly the Eagles want a victory.  If they lose it will have been a full year since they've enjoyed a win.

14 comments:

Slugger said...

Sluggers week 5 picks. Some interesting matchups this week.

OS @ LAW - Which OS offense will show up? Which OS defense will show up? Slugger picks OS to get it back on track.

SMS @ SMW - An away game played at home? Time for SMS to put up. I think they get it done. SMS in a squeaker.

LFS @ SMN - Will SMN win a game this year? Not this week. LFS.

OE @ SME - Can SME focus after last weeks big win? Won't matter against a down OE team. SME wins it. OE won't score against SME first string def.

ONW @ SMNW - Another interesting game. Are these teams as bad as their records? I don't think so. ONW gets their first win of the season.

LVW @ ON - Despite the records, this is also an interesting game. ON's soph's are starting to play better. Is LVW for real. I'm picking LVW but I wouldn't be surprized to see ON step up in this game.

RIP - Pitt80

Who's Your Daddy said...

Daddy's week five picks

OS@Law I've said it every week, Lawrence is the class of the conference. SM East gave a road map last week to stopping OS. Straus is unstoppable. Law27 OS 20

SMS@SMW WOW!! Retro matchup from the 1970's when both these teams were powerhouses. Great opportunity for SMS to silence the nay sayers. The mentor wins this one 21-20 SMW over SMS

LFS@SMN I wish SMN was better. LFS wins in a route.
42-14.

OE@SME Everyone wants to call this a let down game for SME. Are you kidding me SME hasn't done anything in this conference for years. OE will try to open up the offense, but that should have been done in JUNE. No letdown here. SME 21-OE 7.

ONW@SMNW ONW is getting better as the year progresses. Unfortunately they started really bad.
SMNW has a credible defense but I think ONW wins this one through the air. ONW 21 SMNW 14

LVW@ON Everyone wants to think that ON is on the rise after last weeks barnburner at LFS. I've yet to see anyone bring up the two fumbles LFS gave up inside their own twenty in the fourth quarter to make a blowout close. ON has to many negative yardage plays. They Can't win with 2nd and 15 all the time. Interesting matchup of good running backs.LVW 24 ON 14.

The Biscuit said...

Pick Em:
Chesty Lions
Lancers
Vikings
Ravens
Firebirds
Eagles

TheImpaler said...

TheImpaler's Week 4 picks: Last week 5-1, Season 16-8

7 teams enter this week at 3-1 or better. Can’t remember a year quite this much fun in the SFL. Two more big games this week, lots of tossups.

SMS (3-1) @ SMW (3-1) Worth the price of the ticket just to see Gallupin’ Gabe Guild and Bret “The Sterbinator” Sterbach. Coach Longeran has brought his team a long way in a short time but now it’s time to put on their big boy pants and face an upper division team. Vikes have a lot more going on than just Sterbach now. Verdini rapidly improving at QB and they have a real speed burner with great hands in Andre Maloney who also is, IMO, the best shut down corner in the league. He anchors a defense that is giving up only 14 points per game. With the ability to laser in on the Raiders’ one dimensional attack plus Guild coming off 44 carries on a short week, I just think the broccoli and cheese are not quite to this level yet. SMW 31 SMS 21

OS (3-1) @ LAW (3-1) Can the Falcons rebound from a brutal loss last week for another brutal road game this week? Whoever comes out on the short end here can probably kiss any hope of sharing a conference championship goodbye. Strauss & Co. seem to be out for blood since letting the week 1 game slip away to the Vikes. I’m going with the home team in this one. LAW 29 OS 27

OE (1-3) @ SME (4-0) Hard to imagine where the Hawks find any motivation for this game. Blazevic has been an INT machine at QB, Hayden Frazier at best a middle of the pack RB this year, no production from the WR position, bad coaching, and a line that, although huge, seems very undisciplined, unable to hold their lanes on defense or make plays even when they get penetration and often seem confused on basics like where they’re supposed to line up on offense. I mean when you run 85% of your plays as between the tackles runs, how can you not know if you’re playing right guard or left guard? I’ve never seen an OE squad in such disarray. On the flip side of the coin, I’m sure the Lancers worked their asses off for Coach Sherman this week and are on cloud 9. No chance for the flightless Hawks here. SME 33 OE 13

LFS (3-1) @ SMN (0-4) It’s got to get easier at some point, Indians, but not this week. At least it’s at home so the drive home will be short after the game. LFS 47 SMN 20

LV (3-1) @ ON (0-4) I am certain the universe will end if the Pioneers ever beat the Eagles. Consequently I have nothing to lose by picking the ‘upset’ here. North seemed to get it together a bit last week and LV barely squeaked out a late win against a mediocre ONW team. Things start getting tougher this week, Pioneers. ON 27 LV 20

ONW (0-4) @ SMNW (1-3) These two teams seem somehow to play every year in the baffling mystery process that is SFL scheduling. They’re two teams with abysmal records that have seemed oddly to be pretty competitive at times this year. ONW seems to have some offensive punch and the Cougs seem pretty solid on defense. One of the toughest games of the year to pick I think. Not much to base it on, both lost close games to Leavenworth. I may regret it but I’m going to be a SM homer here and pick Coach HIbbs’ D to get it done. SMNW 17 ONW 16

What Do I Know? said...

Brett Sterbach giving Gabe Guild the business tonight!!!!

SMEaster1214 said...

First time, be gentle...
Lions over OS in a very close one...would have picked OS if they were at home,
SME over OE, not as worried about a Lancer letdown as I am about them being over-excited, over-aggressive,
SMS over SMW, the Vikings held on last week after going up 18 on a weak OE team,
LFS over SMN big,
SMNW over ONW mainly because everyone else picked it the other way...my inside track to "winning" the week!
LVW over ON fairly easily...

Good luck all.

Soccerlover1080 said...

SoccerLover's Week 5 picks.

SMS @ SMW= 16-10 SMS

LFS @ SMN= 42-7 LFS

OE @ SME= 35-17 SME

ONW @ SMNW= 21-20 SMNW

LVW @ ON= 14-10 ON

Game of the week,
OS @ LAW= 28-14..... LAWRENCE

olathefootballfan said...

Lancers over Hawks
the Hawks will be 1-5 for the first time in years do the Myers play calling and your defense still incover 1

SMS over SMW
Shawnee Mission West does not have a passing game.

SMNW over ONW
Olathe Northwest is still young but coming along.

ON over Leavenworth
That's right upset north young but they're hungry look Venus to run for 125 yards or more

Free state over SMN
Free State quarterback is too much to handle

Game of the week
South over the Lions
South office line will win the game for them

Good luck to all the player Friday night and may God watch over each kid

SMS watcher said...

Cautiously optimistic that SMS takes a big step forward tonight. Hopefully raiders will find other weapons since 40 carries really is too much to expect from a HS back.

Adam Sullivan said...

SM South and LV moving to 5A

TheImpaler said...

BVW and BVHS moving up. Won't affect football though, new football classifications only come out every 2 years. I see they've gone to 9-12th grade enrollment instead 10th-12th. Some big changes.

footballer21 said...

OS over LHS
SMW over SMS
SME over OE
ON over LEAV
ONW over SMNW
FS over SMN

SFL Football said...

SFL's week five picks-

SMS vs. SMW - Guild is a good back, but I think that is it on South. West wins 35-14

Lawrence Free State vs. SM North- Just a practice scrimmage for Free State's next game vs SME. LFS wins 52-7

Olathe South vs. Lawrence - I think South's offense gets back on track against Lawrence. OS wins 17-7

Olathe East vs. SME - Until someone proves they can beat SME I'm picking them the rest of the year. SME wins 27-7

Olathe Northwest vs SMNW - ONW has a great offense, but it comes down to whether their defense can gets stops. I think they will. ONW wins 35-31

Olathe North vs. Leavenworth - Olathe North is such a young team with lots of talent. They'll be great the next two years. I think Olathe North is hungry to get their first win. ON wins 28-10

MahValley said...

Missed out on the thursday games but at least I will be in for tonights games

Olathe South(looking to get back on track)

SM East(OE does not have the talant or coaching this year)

ONW(After much consideration I am taking the ravens. The cougars have NOT put the best 11 players on the field at any time this season, as coach said he would, and the secondary has been unwilling to defend the pass)

Leavenworth(ON is still young)

Note: I posted this in another thread the moved it here.