Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Week Two Game Previews

SM East's Jordan Darling.  PVPost.com.
Olathe North (0-1) at SM East (1-0) at SM North District Stadium (Thursday Night Game)

According to SM East historian Kevin Booker, the last and only time SM East has won a game against Olathe North was in 1985 when then Lancer head coach Bill Stiegemeier and his team defeated Gene Wier's unit.

Much has changed in the 27 seasons since then, but SM East's losses to the Eagles have remained continual.  Finally in 2012 it looks as though SM East may have the upper hand in taking down Olathe North.  The Lancers looked sharp in their 23-0 defeat of SM South last week while Olathe North's young team really struggled to maintain any consistency against SM Northwest in a 25-14 loss.  Also on the line is Olathe North's losing streak, which at five games is the longer than the school has had in the last 20 plus years.

Lawrence (0-1) at SM Northwest (1-0) at SM North District Stadium

I can assure you that this is going to be a very intense game.  SM Northwest, fresh off their "upset" of Olathe North has a newfound confidence that hasn't been seen around their Shawnee campus in years.  Lawrence on the other hand is probably questioning many things, including just how effective they can be if their offensive line doesn't mesh the way it did last season.  This has the potential to be an exciting one and I'll be interested to see who wants this more.

SM South (0-1) at Leavenworth (1-0) at Pioneer Stadium

These two clubs are kind of standing on opposite ends of the morale meter right now.  Leavenworth manhandled SM North 41-16 in week one and looks primed for their first winning season in years.  SM South, who like Leavenworth was a sexy preseason pick to improve dramatically on their 2011 results, looked shell-shocked and mistake prone in their shutout loss to SM East.  This will be fun to watch play out.  Also, keep an eye on the running back battle in this game.  Leavenworth's Jason Randall and SM South's Gabe Guild are very likely the top two running backs in the league this fall.

Olathe Northwest (0-1) at Olathe East (1-0) at CBAC

I think we're going to see a pretty motivated Olathe East team take the field at CBAC this week.  They had their chances at upsetting Olathe South in week one but couldn't ever put it all together and ended up losing by a touchdown.  Outside of some decent work from their running backs, Olathe Northwest looked hapless in their 37-0 week one loss and they'll have to play much better if they want to take down the Hawks.

SM North (0-1) at Olathe South (1-0) at ODAC

SM North is going to have to play a near flawless game to upset Olathe South, a team ranked 11 slots ahead of them in the Power Rankings.  We've seen crazier things happen, but Olathe South is never easy to take down, especially on their home field at ODAC.  Look for the Falcons to establish their run game with Russell White, Chase Hanson and Matt Elliott early before taking their game to the air.  Quarterback Frank Seurer didn't throw a pass in week one but he's going to need some live work throwing the ball with Free State on the horizon in week three.

Game of the Week
Lawrence Free State (1-0) at SM West (1-0) at SM South District Stadium

This game is going to come down to one thing: how well SM West's defense can contain Free State's powerful offense.  In recent years the Vikings have struggled heavily against teams with dynamic offensive attacks.  Last week SM West did a great job of containing LHS' offense, especially in scoring situations.  They're going to need that type of effort and probably more if they plan on slowing down Free State, led by option quarterback Kyle McFarland.  If Free State's offense gets rolling early it's not going to be easy for SM West to shut down the momentum.  I'm interested to see how that plays out and also how much SM West plans on riding running back Brett Sterbach, who came up big scoring three touchdowns on just under 30 carries in week one.

26 comments:

Slugger said...

Not bad for week one. 4-2. Especially getting the SMNW over ON pick. Not many saw that coming.

Now for week 2 picks. Again, absolutely no basis.
LAW 34 SMNW 6 (SMNW comes back to reality
SMW 28 LFS 14 (Game of the week. SMW keeps it rolling. Who can stop them?)
LV 26 SMS 13 (SMS the best 0-2 team?)
ONW 7 OE 44 (Its going to be a long year for ONW)
SME 35 ON 6 (when was the last time ON started 0-2?)
OS 35 SMN 6 if the rain is gone, otherwise, another low scoring game.

What Do I Know? said...

slugger just wondering what school you like?

TheImpaler said...

TheImpaler's Week 2 picks: Last week 2-4, Season 2-4

Ouch! My worst week ever. First sub-.500 week ever in fact. I guess I'll blame it on the rain. Or are we starting to see a power shift from Olathe back to Shawnee Mission? Games this week will be key in determining that. Oh, and it might rain again.

ON (0-1) @ SME (1-0) Wins for the Lancers over the Eagles have been rare indeed. But if ever there was a time, that time is now. Neither team played stellar football last week, you could argue that the Lancers were outplayed by the Raiders but SME held on to the ball and SMS did not. The Eagles REALLY did not. It's hard to see how the Eagles can get this done. SME 31 ON 13

LFS (1-0) @ SMW (1-0) Good wins for both teams last week. The Vikes have to get better play at QB this week. I don't mean they need better play at QB to win, I mean it's simply not physically possible to play any worse than AJ did in his first start. 0/4 with a pick and two crucial fumbles that should have lost the game for SMW. Will we see Rice this week? Coach C has a way of sniffing out talented QBs, I remember in DJ's first game as a soph, Coach played 3 different QBs and I though DJ was the worst and we'd never see him again but there he was starting the following week and the next three years. Maybe AJ will be the new DJ. Will be interesting to see the freewheeling Firebird offense against the stonewall West D but as so often happens, this game may be decided on the other side of the ball. If Spiller can get involved, I think West wins. SMW 27 LFS 24

SMS (0-1) @ LV (1-0) Hmmmm. The Raiders actually played pretty well against the Lancers last week but turnovers led to an embarrassing shutout loss. LV racked the Indians pretty good but is that just because SMN is THAT bad? One thing for sure, we'll see some rushing yards and some points scored in this one. This may come down to who misses the fewest extra points. SMS 34 LV 32

LAW (0-1) @ SMNW (1-0) A week ago this would have been an easy pick, Lions in a route. But Strauss & Co. were not able to get anything done against the Mighty Vikes in spite of being handed opportunity after opportunity. Cougs showed a good gut check but again one has to wonder about the quality of the competition. As much as I'd like to be a SM homer here, I've got to stick with the Lions. LAW 24 SMNW 20

ONW (0-1) @ OE (1-0) Can the Hawks stay focused after the bitter loss to the Falcons? They were so close. Perhaps a bad call on a oh so close TD, then scooping up one of uncountable fumbles in the 4th quarter and breaking free into the secondary only to be caught by the last defender. Coach Myers made a number of questionable decisions which have to have the Hawk faithful up in arms. Still there is no better prescription to get well than a game against the hapless Ravens. OE 35 ONW 0

OS (1-0) @ SMN (0-1) Best against worst. No comments needed. OS 63 SMN 0

E said...

Pretty douchy move for darling to wear that towel.

Slugger said...

Little Vike, I am a huge fan of high school football. My history is mostly on the Missouri side of the line, but these days you'll find my closet full of blue and gold.

Slugger said...

E, I noticed that Towell as well. You wonder about a kid who has been at 4 different high schools in 4 years. Can he develop the team chemistry and bond with his team mates? Looks like he is already looking to next year. He has all the physical tools, but does he have his head on straight to lead his team deep into the playoffs? Something that SME has struggled with.

What Do I Know? said...

typical east student.

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

The thing that jumped out to me (as a KU grad) is that the towel is Nike, and KU is most certainly not sponsored by Nike. Perhaps it's from some sort of Nike sponsorship pitch to KU which was subsequently handed out to recruits and/or campers? Or just the product of some licensing loopholes or Darling's mom sewing a KU patch onto a towel. I would hope for the first option.

TheImpaler said...

Okay, before anyone starts calling Eli sexist it could also have been Darling's dad who sewed the logo on. Just saying. Does seem like the East coaching staff might want to keep non-East logos off the field though. Coach Sherman?

Eli Underwood said...

The pic was from SM East's preseason scrimmage as well... a non-issue as far as I'm concerned (unless you have an interest in KU's sponsorship).

And this topic is a perfect example of why the Blogger host needs to add a Message Board gadget (which they currently do not have). The day they offer one I can assure you this blog will have it.

The Biscuit said...

It's just a towel... Jeez-a-Lou people! And btw BEAT OLATHE NORTH!!! ROCK CHALK DARLING!

MachineGun said...

Lots of negative comments about QB Jordan Darling, KU commit, wearing a KU towel during a preseason scrimmage in front of a host of KU alumni at SME. What next?

E said...

Didn't know it was a scrimmage. Its fine then. However, you have kids that have grown up playing with each other and with the Lancers across their chest most of their lives. What's this kids identity? Is he the SME starting QB or is he the 2nd best QB commit that KU has right now? My guess that in his mind, its the latter.

The Biscuit said...

E- 2nd best commit? The first being the Miege kid? Come on now! Darling is a pro style QB, what offense KU run? Oh pro style... So the duel threat Miege QB is better for KU than Darling? Just saying.

The Biscuit said...

And again you guys are reading way too much into it... It's high school! I used to rock all sorts of college gear. Why? Because I was a kid a high school kid trying to find his identity. Just like every other kid in high school. They don't know who they are or who they want to be yet, especially a kid like Darling who is a military kid who's had to move all over the country. Give him a break guys... Good for him Rocking KU gear! Because he's found some identity to his life where he knows he'll be there 4 years! A place he can finally call home...

footballer21 said...

He is definately the 2nd best QB in his class at KU, heck I would say he is the 3rd best quarterback in the league behind Suerer and Strauss, only reason he's going to KU over them is his size and build

footballer21 said...

He is definately the 2nd best QB in his class at KU, heck I would say he is the 3rd best quarterback in the league behind Suerer and Strauss, only reason he's going to KU over them is his size and build

MahValley said...

SMNW over LAW
SMW over LFS
SMS over LV in a dog fight
OE over ONW
ON over SME
OS over SMN(I know about 1/2 of
this team and they do
some ath's they just
have to learn to
persevere)

MahValley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TheImpaler said...

If we could get more than 3 of us picking the games, I'd actually keep stats on best predictor like Randy does on the MIAA chat site. Anyone else with picks?

footballer21 said...

Law over smnw
Sme over on
Leav over SMS
OE over onw
Os over smn
Smw over fs

Adam Sullivan said...

Impaler- if you make your picks on my site as well, we're giving away prizes for top 3 at the end of the season.http://www.smnfootball.blogspot.com/

Todd Haley said...

Lancers are looking great. Rellihan playing like an All-State receiver

Who's Your Daddy said...

I'm in on the picks.
Shawnee Mission East over North( would have picked)
Lawrence 27- Shawnee Mission NW 14
Leavonworth 24- Shawnee Mission South 20
Olathe East 21- Olathe NW 7
Olathe South 49 - Shawnee Mission North 7
Lawrence Free State 20- Shawnee Mission West 17

Soccerlover1080 said...

Soccer Lover's Week 2 picks,
Olathe South-SMN= 42-0 (Olathe South)
SME-ON= Result, SME, VOID
ONW-OE= 35-7 (Olathe East)
LV-SMS= 35-28 (Leavenworth)
SMW-Freestate= 35-21 (Freestate)
SMNW-Lawrence= 35-10 (Lawrence)