Sunday, November 18, 2012

Sunflower League Sub-State Round Playoff Review

SM West's Tory Powell. LJWorld.
The Good

****SM West running back Brett Sterbach rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.  While he didn't crack the 2,000-yard rushing mark (he currently sits at 1,955 yards) he did eclipse 3,000 career rushing yards.  In two years as a starter he's rushed for 3,014 yards and 29 touchdowns.

****SM West, who won the Sunflower League championship this year based on their 7-0 record in league play, validated the crown by winning Sub-State and advancing to the 6A title game.

The Bad

****Free State quarterback Kyle McFarland completed just four of his 18 passes for 19 yards.  Twelve of those yards came on a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against SM West's second stringers.

****After starting the game with a 16-play, 89-yard drive which produced a touchdown, Free State's offense went stagnant and didn't score again until the 7:20 mark in the fourth quarter.

The Ugly

****McFarland--who was punting in spot duty--kicked two punts off the backside of personal protector Joe Dineen.  SM West converted both to touchdowns, taking the loose ball back for a touchdown on the first and pounding a touchdown in a few plays later on the second.

****SM West's opponent in the 6A state championship game, Hutchinson, has gone 3-1 against Sunflower League opponents in state title games.  The Salthawks are making their ninth title game appearance (split between classes 6A and 5A) in the past 11 seasons--and they've won in each of their last seven title games.

Sub-State Player of the Week

Andre Maloney, SM West: Maloney basically had his way with Free State, using his superior speed and quickness to dominate.  He caught a 33-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter then broke the camel's back with an 82-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half.  He also helped to lock down Free State's passing offense.

The Remaining Two

Hutchinson (10-2): The Salthawks showed some guts on Friday--and they were rewarded.  After scoring a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Hutchinson had the choice to kick a PAT and tie the game at 28 and likely force overtime, or go for two points and the win.  They elected the latter.  Quarterback Trevor Turner faked a handoff to the left then bootlegged around the right end of the line into the endzone.  The score put Hutchinson up, 29-28.  An intercepted pass a few plays later and they stamped their ticket to the 6A title game.

SM West (11-1): Many weren't expecting SM West to beat Free State, let alone do so by nearly four touchdowns.  The Vikings, like the Salthawks, have shown some true grit through these playoffs and they've earned their way to the title game.  A vastly improved passing game has added a nice dimension to SM West's offense and they've been playing opportunistic football.  The naysayers are already giving Hutchinson the title--we'll see if SM West has anything to say about it.

4 comments:

TFL said...

I think that Hutch/SM West will be a good game. I watched a bit of SM West's highlights and their defense has some nice physical players that play with a "nasty" streak. #29 is scary in the wildcat and on special teams (and and WR).

This isn't a team full of physical specimens for Hutch like the 07 through 09 teams were, but they still have good high school players and an experienced quarterback and the offensive line is pretty solid. The first priority that any team should have when playing Hutch is not getting blown up physically, and SM West is a team hat passes that first test. I will be interested to see how SM West lines up on D...I've seen them running that 3-3-5 against these spread teams they've been playing...not sure if they'll run that against the flex-bone.

theRev_Carnahan said...

Outstanding Eli! Took me back as if they happened yesterday. Saw them all except '04 Hutch V OSouth (we were at Hummer) and '05 Hutch V OEast (we were in St. Louis coaching up the OEast 5th graders).

Could not agree more about the game last year between Heights and OSouth, truly outstanding offensive production. One of my favorites.

Looking forward to Saturday. Really feel like Maloney is going to become a break out star Saturday. He has had great moments but has been in the shadows of Sterbach and as of late Verdini, but this is going to be HIS week to be special and make a mark!

MahValley said...

TFL, I think West d is actually a 3-5-3. They use the extra lb's to prevent wr's from running their routes and keeps outside runs to a minimun.

TFL said...

MahValley,
3-5, 3-3-5, basically the same thing. (Hutch calls it's D a 4-2-5 but it's basically a 4-4 scheme)
Whatever you call it, it's different than what Hutch usually sees (4-3, base 50, and 4-4 cover 3)