Sunday, September 30, 2012

Week Five Game Recaps

LHS' Keiren Severa.  Lawrence Journal World.
Lawrence 34, Olathe South 27

The Week Five Game of the Week had all the scoring you could ask for, and in the end LHS won their fourth in a row while Olathe South slipped to 3-2.  The scoring began on LHS' opening drive when Brad Strauss completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Drake Hofer.  A succesful two-point conversion put LHS up 8-0.  Olathe South countered on their next offensive possession with a 64-yard touchdown run from Russell White, but failed on the two-point conversion, and trailed 8-6.

LHS came back on their next possession with a long drive and a one-yard touchdown run from Strauss, making things 16-6.  Olathe South answered right back with a drive and a five-yard run from Frank Seurer, and a subsequent two-point conversion made things 16-14, LHS.  In the second quarter LHS separated themselves, scoring twice on a two-yard run from Strauss and a nine-yard pass from Strauss to Jordan Brown.  The touchdowns gave LHS a 28-14 halftime lead.

The third quarter was a relative stalemate until with just under a minute remaining, when Strauss scored on a run from three yards out.  The score put LHS up 20 points, 34-14.  But Olathe South wouldn't go away quietly.  The Falcons added a touchdown on a two-yard run from White with 8:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, making the score 34-21.  White would add one more touchdown with just over a minute remaining to narrow the margin to 34-27, but that was all she wrote.

SM East 41, Olathe East 21 

If five years ago you had told me that SM East would start the season 5-0, and Olathe East 1-4, I would have really had trouble buying it.  But that's where we sit after five weeks of Sunflower League play.  Olathe East was playing without their star running back Hayden Frazier and it only added to their difficulties.  After jumping to a 7-0 lead early, the Hawks gave up 27 straight points to SM East.  The Lancers scored, in order, on touchdown runs from Patrick Blackburn, Jordan Darling, a Darling pass to David Sosna, and then a 25-yard run from Blackburn to go up 27-7.  Olathe East scored a touchdown on the last play of the first half to make things 27-14.  In the second half SM East scored on a three-yard run from Blackburn and a quarterback keeper from Darling, to go up 41-14.  Olathe East was able to add a late touchdown to cut the deficit to 20 points but they never threatened.

Lawrence Free State 55, SM North 14

Free State flexed their muscles Thursday night.  The Firebirds scored on an array of long plays that supported the argument that their high-powered offense alone would be enough to take them deep into the playoffs.  After forcing a punt on SM North's opening possesion, Tye Hughes returned the punt 74 yards for a touchdown to put Free State up 7-0.  Minutes later quarterback Kyle McFarland found Hughes on a 92-yard touchdown pass, pushing the lead to 14-0.  Free State added three more touchdowns before the half--a one yard run from TJ Cobbs, a 46-yard run from Demarko Bobo and a seven-yard pass from McFarland to Hughes--to go up 34-0 at the half.  In the second half SM North added two touchdowns on a two-yard run in the third quarter from Caleb Denman and a 76-yard run from Henry Bell in the fourth quarter.  Free State added another three touchdowns on a two-yard run from Bobo and runs of 58 and 30 yards from Joe Dineen.

SM West 28, SM South 17 

Witnessing this game in person I can tell you it was a hard-fought match from both teams.  SM West was able to separate themselves in the second half, but the game certainly wasn't a sure thing until the last seconds ticked off the clock.  On the first offensive play of the game Gabe Guild took a carry 51-yards untouched for a score, putting SM South on top 7-0.  SM West answered right away with a 79-yard touchdown run from Brett Sterbach on an option pitch, tying the game.  SM South came back with a drive which was capped off with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Jon Prueter to Evan O'Brien.  SM West came right back with a drive that was capped off by a six-yard touchdown run from Sterbach, tying the game at 14.  SM South was able to put together a drive late in the half and came away with a field goal of 43 yards as time expired, putting them up 17-14 at the half.  In the second half SM West gained the lead on a one-yard run from AJ Verdini, and iced things with a 19-yard touchdown run from Sterbach early in the fourth quarter.

Olathe Northwest 49, SM Northwest 23

Olathe Northwest had a wonderful offensive game, with running back Alex Pruss scoring four touchdowns and gaining 195 yard of total offense and quarterback Holdyn Halperin passing for 213 yards with just four incompletions.  SM Northwest's Kelby Quint took a carry 70-yards for a touchdown in the first half, which at one point pulled them to within seven points at 14-7, but by halftime Olathe Northwest's lead had ballooned to 28-10.  Olathe Northwest's three second half touchdowns were enough to seal the deal on their first victory of the season.

Olathe North 33, Leavenworth 6

No scoring recap was available.  Olathe North dominated the game throughout, taking a 17-0 lead to halftime, then adding 16 more points in the second half while holding Leavenworth to one touchdown on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Landry Hodges to Eli Keppler.  The Olathe North defense played their best game of the season holding Leavenworth's star running back Jason Randall to a mere 36 yards on 15 carries.  The win ended Olathe North's eight-game losing streak which had stretched back to early October of 2011.  

9 comments:

TheImpaler said...

Anybody know how many yards Guild and Sterbach each had?

SMS watcher said...

Sterbach 38 carries for 266 yards
Guild 21 carries for 146 yards
according to KC Star

What Do I Know? said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
What Do I Know? said...

50 were on that one run that should have been a tackle for a loss in the back field.. West did a great job after that play slowing him down

SMS watcher said...

Lol, and 76 of sterbachs were on one play where a cornerback forget to take the pitchman. That was a gift. Guild made a couple of vikings whiff. Give both backs credit for their accomplishments

What Do I Know? said...

I never said guild did bad.....? Did I? I said west did a great job slowing him down? Not oh that gabe guild kid suck sterbach is so much better.. C'mon now man. Guild has the most rushing yards in the league, I'll compliment our running back when he has a better performance.

SMS watcher said...

Ok, my misread. I took it as somehow disparaging. South also threw quite a lot which dropped his carries. I don't know, but, maybe that was to surprise west or a result of the short week and guilds 44 carries the previous week or because west's line was playing very well.

Eli Underwood said...

I haven't seen Jason Randall live yet, but of the teams I have seen (SME, SMW, SMS, ON, OE, OS, FS, LAW), Gabe Guild is the best running back I've seen. He just moves like a big-time back. I don't know if I can put my finger on what it is, but his combination of acceleration, agility, speed and vision is just better than every other back in the league.

SMS watcher said...

Also, you need to credit the viking offense for keeping his yards down, too. If I can believe the statcast time of possession, west had the ball over 3 times as long as south. Keeping him off the field is the best way to keep a good back in check