Sunflower League Week Four Review

Lawrence's Drew Green had a stellar performance
in his team's first victory of the season. LJWorld.

Three Up

Lawrence Free State
With their win Friday, the Firebirds are 20-5 in their last 25 games. Which is a discrete way of saying this program has really flown under the radar the past few years, and it's easily among the league's best.

Lawrence
The Chesty Lions churned out 204 rushing yards in the first half of their victory against Olathe Northwest. If they can keep up the production running the ball the way they have the past six quarters they'll be a hard out for anyone.

SM Northwest
The Cougars' offense finally showed up to play and the result was the team's first victory of 2013. They still have a long ways to go but their improvement has been more transparent than maybe any league team.

Three Down

SM West
The Vikings' loss to Free State was ugly, especially considering they trailed 35-7 at one point in the second half. The good news for SM West is that, comparatively speaking, they probably have the league's easiest five-game slate to end the regular season.

Leavenworth
The Pioneers are struggling to find their footing in season one under Mark Littrell. And it really doesn't get any easier from here, as they have SM West, Olathe East and Free State all remaining on their schedule.

SM South
The Raiders have scored just 48 points on offense, which ranks second-worst in the league ahead of SM North. By comparison, the 10th ranked team, SM West, has scored 61 points. The Raiders need offensive production, and they need it bad.

Week Four Players of the Week

Joe Dineen, Lawrence Free State: If you want to point to an X-Factor in Free State's victory against SM West, look no further than Dineen. He went 8-of-15 passing for 181 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to adding 56 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Drew Green, Lawrence: The talented do-it-all senior carried the ball 22 times for 171 yards and a touchdown in Lawrence's 35-20 victory over Olathe Northwest. He was also a defensive stalwart, recording 15 tackles and a sack in the win.

Jake Seurer, Olathe South: Forget that this kid plays quarterback. His defensive stat line -- 29 tackles -- is as many as I've ever seen recorded in a long time, and approaches Jason Thoren and Justin Dyer territory.

Week Five Power Rankings

1. Lawrence Free State (4-0): The Firebirds are playing extremely well right now, and they haven't even reached their ceiling. They have a challenging two-week slate coming up with Olathe North and SM East, but they're well prepped for it.

2. SM East (4-0): The Lancers will be facing the best defense they've played all season this Friday against SM South. That being said, it's hard to imagine anyone getting in the way of the Lancer Magic that we've seen so far this year.

3. SM West (3-1): The Vikings really haven't looked like defending state champions so far, but they're still 3-1, and they have a schedule that makes 8-1 seem possible and 7-2 seem very likely -- if they play to their potential.

4. Olathe East (2-2): Olathe East's offense has been excellent this season -- among the league's best -- and so long as their defense shows up they can beat anybody. Once again, don't be shocked if the Hawks manage to finish the regular season 7-2.

5. Olathe South (3-1): Olathe South is a young team, but don't tell them that. At 3-1 they have their biggest rival on tap for week five, and a victory would be huge in terms of momentum for this year, and the next.

6. SM South (2-2): The defense has clearly developed more quickly than the offense for this year's Raiders club. The defensive efforts will keep them in every game, but they must execute on offense if they want to extend their season past nine games.

7. Olathe North (2-2): No team is gaining as much close-game experience at the Eagles, but that's little solace when your two losses have been by a combined four points. They Eagles could make up for those with a win against Free State this week.

8. Lawrence (1-3): If the Chesty Lions play as well over the next five games as they have the past three halves they'll finish 4-5 at worst, and make the playoffs. It's not going to be easy, but they've clearly shown they have the ability to do it.

9. Olathe Northwest (1-3): Coming off three consecutive losses, the Ravens caught a good week to be playing the 0-4 SM North Indians. This game is pretty much a must-win for the Ravens' confidence leading up to district play.

10. SM Northwest (1-3): The Cougars finally played a complete game and took home a victory. They've been knocking on the door for some time now, and maybe that was the win that put them over the hump. We'll find out real soon when they play Lawrence Friday.

11. Leavenworth (1-3): I feel for the Pioneers, as in just when it looked like they were ready to take their game to the next level their coach bolted. Littrell is the right coach for the job, but if they don't turn it around soon their current seniors won't get proper recognition for how they helped turn around a dead program.

12. SM North (0-4): What do I think of back-to-back weeks schools putting 60+ points on the board against the hapless Indians? That's another discussion for another day. What I do know is that Don Simmons is taking notes, and if they ever get this thing turned around, favors will be returned.

Sunflower League Week Four Game Recaps

Free State's Khadre Lane caught a touchdown
pass with under 20 seconds remaining in the
second quarter to put the Firebirds up 21-7.
Photo LJWorld.

Lawrence Free State 35, 
SM West 14

The way I summed this up on Twitter -- Free State beat SM West in week two of 2012, then SM West won 14 straight games, then Free State beat SM West in week four of 2013. SM West actually got on the board first, when, following a Joe Dineen fumble, the Vikings put together a short drive and scored on a four-yard run from Mario Louis to go ahead 7-0. But that was their last lead.

On Free State's next series Dineen orchestrated a 65-yard drive and finished it off with a nine-yard touchdown run to tie the game. Next, Free State put together another long drive and scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Dineen to Keith Loneker. It looked like the score at halftime would be 14-7, Free State, but the Firebirds managed a late drive and Dineen was able to find Khadre Lane on a fade route in the back of the endzone with eight seconds left in the half. The Firebirds took a 21-7 lead to intermission.

SM West began the second half with what looked like a nice drive, but it quickly turned sour when Justin Narcomey picked off a slant route and took it 70 yards for a touchdown to put Free State up 28-7. The Firebirds tacked on their fifth touchdown when Dineen found Blake Winslow on a 10-yard touchdown pass later in the third quarter. SM West's final score came in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard touchdown pass from AJ Verdini to Justin Hobbs.

SM East 23, Olathe North 22

No box score was reported. After an initial touchdown by SM East, Olathe North came back with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Cole Murphy to Chaz Burgess to tie the game at 7.  The Eagles then added a 41-yard touchdown run from Venus Triplett to go up 14-7. SM East was able to block a punt later in the quarter, which resulted in a safety, and pulled the Lancers to within five at 14-9, at halftime.  In the third quarter SM East jumped ahead, 15-14, on a three-yard touchdown run from Luke Taylor. Olathe North came back later in the third quarter, capping a drive with a two-yard touchdown run from Triplett.  A successful two-point conversion put the Eagles up 22-15. In the fourth quarter SM East managed another safety, when Dominique Atkinson tackled Triplett in the Eagles' endzone, making things 22-17, Olathe North.  Next, SM East put together a late drive and found themselves inside the 10-yard line with under a minute remaining. The Lancers were able to pound in a late touchdown to go ahead 23-22.  The lead would hold as SM East pushed their record to 4-0, while Olathe North dropped to 2-2.

Olathe South 21, SM South 7

Olathe South notched their 20th win in their last 26 games with a solid homecoming victory over SM South.  The Falcons struck initially in the first quarter on an 82-yard touchdown run from Kyhiem Matthews. SM South answered before the half on a 24-yard touchdown run from Ra'Keim Abdul, and the teams went to halftime tied at 7. Olathe South went on to own the second half, scoring a third quarter touchdown on a 31-yard hook-and-lateral from Jake Seurer to DJ Barbosa, who lateraled the ball to Cameron White, who took it in for the score. The Falcons added a  fourth quarter touchdown on a 64-yard interception return for a touchdown by Coleman Clamton, which essentially iced the game.

Lawrence 35, Olathe Northwest 20

It's starting to look like the Chesty Lions of yesteryear, as Lawrence pounded the rock 51 times for 286 rushing yards. LHS' first drive was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown run from Drew Green. On Olathe Northwest's next possession Price Morgan intercepted a pass and took it back 60 yards to put LHS up 14-0. Olathe Northwest stayed competitive, answering right back when Cole Dahlquist found Nathan Power on a 40-yard touchdown to pull to within seven. But LHS came back with another first quarter touchdown, as JD Woods took a carry in from nine yards out to go up 21-7. In the second quarter Kieren Severa pounded in a two-yard touchdown run to give the Chesty Lions a 28-7 advantage. Olathe Northwest was able to answer with a drive and a four-yard touchdown run from Cody Sestrich to make things 28-13 at haltime.  In the third quarter L:HS scored their fifth touchdown on a three-yard pass from Nyle Anderson to Zay Boldridge to jump to a 35-13 lead. Olathe Northwest's final score was on an eight-yard run from Sestrich.

SM Northwest 42, Leavenworth 21

Leavenworth broke the game open with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Landry Hodges to Isaiah Ross, but SM Northwest effectively killed the momentum by scoring four consecutive touchdowns before the half. The scores came on a 59-yard run by Laphonso McKinnis, a 15-yard pass from Jake Horner to Spencer Cook, a 23-yard run from Horner and an 80-yard run from Duron Lowe. Trailing 28-7, Leavenworth got on the board again before the half with a 57-yard touchdown run from Jason Randall, but SM Northwest answered back with a 11-yard touchdown run from Jacob Gilliam to go up 35-14 at halftime. In the third quarter Gilliam added another touchdown on a 26-yard run to push the lead to 42-14. Leavenworth's final score came on an 18-yard touchdown run from Randall late in the fourth quarter.

Olathe East 61, SM North 12

For the second consecutive week, SM North allowed more than 60 points on defense. Meanwhile, Olathe East had a nice rebound victory following their late loss to Free State. The Hawks scored the first five touchdowns of this game. They came on a 23-yard run from Jalen Branson, a one-yard run from Jordan Brown, a 26-yard run from Jalyn McCray, a 44-yard pass from Connor Leach to Drae Johnson and a 32-yard pass from Leach to Branden Trinkle.  By that point Olathe East led 33-0. SM North finally got on the board with a 37-yard touchdown run from Dominic Snell. However, Olathe East added two more first half touchdowns -- a 10-yard run from Brown and an 11-yarder from Leach -- to take a 47-6 lead to the half. The Hawks added touchdowns on runs of 60 yards from Branson and a two-yarder from Chase Miller to go up 61-6. SM North finally added a late touchdown on a two-yard run from Jesse Patterson.

Week Four Game Scores

Thursday, Sept. 26

SM Northwest 42, Leavenworth 21

Friday, Sept. 27

Lawrence Free State 35, SM West 14
SM East 23, Olathe North 22
Olathe South 21, SM South 7
Olathe East 61, SM North 12
Lawrence 35, Olathe Northwest 20

Weekly Pick 'Em Selections & Standings

Make your Sunflower League game predictions in the comments section of this post. Standings will be updated weekly by TheImpaler.

Sunflower League Week Four Game Previews

Free State and SM West split last year's series, 1-1, but the
Vikings got the better of the Firebirds in the all-important
Sub-State round. Photo LJWorld.

Game of the Week
SM West (3-0) at Lawrence Free State (3-0) at Free State Athletic Stadium

If you're a fan of Sunflower League football you've had this game circled on your calendar since this past spring when the schedules were released . These two faced off twice in 2012 -- once in week two, where Free State won handily 28-14, and then again in the Sub-State round where SM West kind of surprised everyone winning by a margin of 48-21. The bad taste of the loss has spent the past 10 months seething in the collective psyches of the Free State players, coaches and fans. There's no doubt the Firebirds will come out more fired up than they've been all season, hoping to return the Sub-State favor to SM West, in front of the Free State home crowd.

For SM West this is what I would call a "gateway" game. Win, and they extend their winning streak to 15 games. They will also (likely) be favored in every remaining game on their regular season schedule, so a win would strongly increase their chances of going 9-0, which would ensure a top playoff seed in Kansas 6A East, and also guarantee another league championship. Lose and the winning streak is snapped -- the chance at back-to-back league titles potentially goes out the window, as do their chances at a top seed in the playoffs.

To say this game doesn't mean very much because it doesn't technically have playoff implications is hogwash. This type of matchup is what Sunflower League football is all about.

Leavenworth (1-2) at SM Northwest (0-3) at SM North District Stadium (Thursday game)

Leavenworth seems to have the league's wackiest schedule, but that's for another time and place. It looks like we'll have two pretty evenly matched teams squaring off in this one (which is not a shocker considering how close all of the game have been this year), and a win by either team wouldn't strike me as a surprise. Keep an eye on how SM Northwest's run defense does against Leavenworth's Jason Randall. He's the key in every Leavenworth game, and his rushing yardage total is an excellent gauge to measure if the Pioneers won, competed, lost or got blown out.

SM South (2-1) at Olathe South (2-1) at ODAC

This is just another excellent game in one of the most evenly matched weeks of Sunflower League football we've had in a long time. SM South has one of the league's best defenses (so far they rank first overall in total defense only giving up 140.3 yards per game) and they'll be going up against one of the league's better one-two offensive combos in Olathe South's Jake Seurer and Tom McCue. If SM South can win this game they'll be in very good position to break their streak of losing seasons and make the playoffs, as their schedule sets up very well going forward. For Olathe South, this is one of three remaining opportunities to really build some momentum as they enter what will be a very challenging district.

SM East (3-0) at Olathe North (2-1) at CBAC

This game for SM East is where the rubber hits the road. The Lancers have had about as exciting of a start to a season as I can remember from any team in a long time. Meanwhile, Olathe North has shown they're a very good unit with probably as much pure athleticism as any team they'll go up against. When you compare these two teams on paper it's extremely challenging to determine who has the upper hand. Olathe North is more athletic, but SM East's offense creates a ton of big plays. SM East has a tough defense that forces turnovers, but Olathe North has a much better offense than either of SM East's previous opponents. I guess we'll just have to find out on Friday.

Olathe East (1-2) at SM North (0-3) at SM North District Stadium

The schedule makers didn't do SM North any favors this fall, as they've already faced Free State and Olathe North, and they still have Olathe East this week as well as SM East, SM South and SM West remaining. For Olathe East this is an excellent opportunity for the team to get back in line after dropping two of their first three games in close fashion. The good news for the Hawks is they'll be favored to win in this game, and the three that follow, if not every game the rest of the regular season. So long as Olathe East takes care of business they're going to see their stock and confidence rising with each week.

Olathe Northwest (1-2) at Lawrence (0-3) at Lawrence High Stadium

This might be a contest of who forgot about last week the quickest. Both of these teams gave up leads against undefeated clubs in the last minutes of play and went on to lose. That kind of performance and outcome can either motivate a team, or completely demoralize them. I would like to think both these clubs will come out fighting as hard as they did last week. For Lawrence, the last time they began a season 0-3 was in 2009, when they finished the year 1-9. Obviously they're a much better team that than unit, but they've still yet to piece together four complete quarters of high-level play. Olathe Northwest had many positives to take away from their loss last week, but in the eyes of most around the Sunflower League they're still a team that can't win a big game. This game could be a turning point for either team.

Sunflower League Extra & Social Media Standings

Andre Maloney's late touchdown kept SM West
undefeated on the season. Photo David Compton.

MVP Ratings
Player ratings are subject to change on a weekly basis.

1. Joe Dineen, Lawrence Free State, Quarterback
Week Three Stats: 9-of-19 passing, 215 yards, 3 TDs; 18 carries, 80 yards, 1 TD; 7 tackles

With a combined 10 touchdowns through three games, Dineen is on pace for 30 touchdowns in the regular season. For those of you keeping score at home, he'd be on pace for 43 through 13 games.

2. Christian Blessen, Quarterback, SM East
Week Three Stats: 9-of-18 passing, 100 yards, 1 TD; 14 carries, 67 yards, 1 TD

Dustin Delaney couldn't have inherited a better option quarterback to run his flexbone offense in year one. When your last past of the game is a Hail Mary touchdown, you know you're on a roll.

3. Andre Maloney, Cornerback, SM West
Week Three Stats: 3 catches, 82 yards, 1 TD; 5 carries, 23 yards; 2 tackles

Maloney was held in check (relatively speaking) for three quarters offensively, but you just can't bottle this kid up for very long. His 44-yard kick return set up his game winning touchdown reception. Surprise, surprise.

4. Ra'Keim Abdul, Running Back, SM South
Week Three Stats: 17 carries, 110 yards, 3 TDs; 1 fumble recovery for a TD; 5 tackles, 1 interception

If you want to see the definition of a football player "filling out a box score" then make sure you watch Abdul on the gridiron at some point this fall. He's constantly making plays and it's no coincidence SM South goes as he goes.

5. Jason Randall, Running Back, Leavenworth
Week Three Stats: 21 carries, 154 yards, 2 TDs

Randall had another solid evening Friday, despite his team's close loss. He'll need to keep up the production to keep the Pioneers in games and to maintain his spot on the list, with so many nipping at his heels.

Honorable Mention: Venus Triplett, Olathe North; Cole Murphy, Olathe North; Luke Taylor, SM East; Drew Green, Lawrence; AJ Verdini, SM West; Jake Seurer, Olathe South; Jalen Branson, Olathe East; Mitchell Tyler, SM East; Tom McCue, Olathe South.

Passing Yards
AJ Verdini, SM West: 601, 4 TDs
Cole Murphy, Olathe North: 519, 4 TDs
Joe Dineen, Free State: 424, 7 TDs
Will Schneider, SM North: 358, 2 TDs
Christian Blessen, SM East: 320, 4 TDs
Connor Leach, Olathe East: 315, 5 TDs
Jake Seurer, Olathe South: 310, 5 TDs
Landry Hodges, Leavenworth: 261, 2 TDs
Nyle Anderson, Lawrence: 253, 2 TDs
Jack Hatzfeld, Olathe Northwest: 238, 1 TD
Cole Dahlquist, Olathe Northwest: 182, 2 TDs
Chase Allen, SM South: 180
Jake Horner, SM Northwest: 99

Rushing Yards
Luke Taylor, SM East: 432, 2 TDs
Jason Randall, Leavenworth: 376, 3 TDs
Venus Triplett, Olathe North: 335, 5 TDs
Tom McCue, Olathe South: 312, 2 TDs
Joe Dineen, Free State: 304, 3 TDs
Ra'Keim Abdul, SM South: 299, 2 TDs
Cole Murphy, Olathe North: 292, 6 TDs
Cody Sestrich, Olathe Northwest: 266
Christian Blessen, SM East: 260, 5 TDs
Jordan Brown, Olathe East: 252, 2 TDs
Jalen Branson, Olathe East: 238, 3 TDs
Drew Green, Lawrence: 188, 1 TD
Jake Horner, SM Northwest: 155, 1 TD
Mitchell Tyler, SM East: 155, 1 TD

Receiving Yards
Andre Maloney, SM West: 261, 3 TDs
Chase Gitlin, Olathe Northwest: 200, 2 TDs
Justin Hobbs, SM West: 158, 1 TD
Mitchell Tyler, SM East: 158, 2 TDs
Josh Moore, Olathe North: 156, 2 TDs
Nick Perez, SM North: 155, 1 TD
Jesse Patterson, SM North: 135, 1 TD
Nathan Power, Olathe Northwest: 132, 1 TD
Zay Boldridge, Lawrence: 126, 1 TD
Isaiah Ross, Leavenworth: 119, 1 TD
Alec Dean, SM East: 110, 2 TDs
Blake Winslow, Free State: 109, 3 TDs

Tackles
Devin Shockley, SM Northwest: 44
Jake Seurer, Olathe South: 41
Drew Green, Lawrence: 37
Nathan Guthrie, Olathe East: 36
Kyle Ball, SM East: 35
Jadon McGaha, Olathe North: 29
Cooper Arner, SM West: 28
Jesse Kendricks, Olathe North: 28
Andre Pettie, SM West: 28
Rider Terry, SM East: 27
Jordan Donnelson, Leavenworth: 26
Steven Miller, Olathe South: 26
Marcel Spears, Olathe North: 25
Lucas Werner, Free State: 25

Sacks
Jarred Donnelson, Leavenworth: 4
Blake Winslow, Free State: 4
Keith Loneker, Free State: 3
Jimmie Swain, Olathe North: 3

Forced Fumbles
Parker Evans, Olathe East: 3
Cooper Arner, SM West: 2
Adam Harter, Olathe Northwest: 2
Jake Hoskins, SM Northwest: 2
Mitchell Tyler, SM East: 2
Ethan Wall, Olathe Northwest: 2

Fumble Recoveries
Drew Green, Lawrence: 4
Branden Trinkle, Olathe East: 2
Ethan Wall, Olathe Northwest: 2

Interceptions
Joel Spain, Free State: 3
Ra'Keim Abdul, SM South: 2
Kyle Evans, Olathe East: 2
Adam Harter, Olathe Northwest: 2
Braxton Love, Olathe East: 2
David Spivak, SM East: 2
Charlie White, SM East: 2

Kick Return/Punt Return Touchdowns
Jake Horner, SM Northwest: 1 KR TD
Andre Maloney, SM West: 1 PR TD
Venus Triplett, Olathe North: 1 PR TD

Social Media Standings

Follow me on Twitter @eliunderwood. I will follow you back. Followers with the most interactions (retweets, favorites, questions, comments, etc.) earn the mod cred for themselves and their school in the standings. Also, student attendance at football games (while not necessarily involving social media) does factor in as well. Remember to hash tag your Tweets and game scores with #SFLfball.

ATTENTION: For next week's Social Media Standings, I will post the top #SFLfball related Vines that are Tweeted to me by noon on Saturday. Get creative, support your team, and make something awesome happen. Like always, players, students, parents, fans, etc. are all encouraged to participate. Tweet your Vines to me @eliunderwood. I'm expecting some awesome work!

Week Three Standings
For week three I've ranked the schools, featuring each school's top Tweeters, in addition to some of the top Tweets sent my way from those selected.

1. Olathe South
A game on the complete opposite side of the Sunflower League territory didn't stop the South Side Birdhouse from showing up in droves. They're relentless, they Tweet like pros and Friday nights are always more entertaining when Olathe South is in a good game.

@DanGoodnow18 - "interception falcons!! WE HAVE WON 18-16"
@clairesunn
@K1Suellentrop8 - "@eliunderwood is magic. He knew how good that ONW-SME game was going to be."
@M_McCurdy15 - "Olathe South kicks all ass, bruh."
@falcon259

2. Lawrence
The 0-3 start has done little to slow the enthusiasm of the Chesty faithful, but that's LHS football for you. Their clash with Olathe South this Friday on social media alone seems worthy of the matchup.

@Coachbonn - "got to give [Drew Green] Honey Badger status for 3rd in league in tackles and 2 sacks and multiple trucks running the rock!"
@theRev_Carnahan - "the Drew Crew tried to do what the Strauss House could not, in the end too much Maloney."
@pubhouse_nation
@Ddderrick23

3. Lawrence Free State
The Firebirds picked up activity this past week, and while they still trail Olathe South and Lawrence by quite a bit, they're improved over last fall. I'm interested to see if the few die-hards can rally the rest of their fanbase around #SFLfball on Twitter (yes, that's a challenge, especially with the Vines this week -- I've seen the Lip Dub video).

@JBane87 - "Revenge is a dish best served on Fridays."
@Coemoe13 - "better be writing about Joel Spain. He is a stud and only a junior"
@A_Kiss18

Honorable Mention: SM East, SM West, SM South

Sunflower League Week Three Review

Free State's Bryce Torneden. LJWorld.

Three Up

Lawrence
It is extremely rare for me to put a team in the 'Three Up' category after a loss, but I think the Chesty Lions -- despite losing in the waning seconds to SM West -- found their swagger in the loss and could be a completely different looking team from here on out.

SM East
Could anyone have mapped a more exciting start to the Dustin Delaney era? Two blowout victories followed by a last second victory on a Hail Mary on a day known as "Lancer Day" among the SM East faithful.

Lawrence Free State
After trailing 20-7 at halftime, the Firebirds clicked in the second half and rattled off three touchdowns in an impressive offensive display. Theirs and SM West's comebacks in week three have set up a phenomenal mid-season game between the two this week at Free State.

Three Down

Olathe Northwest
The Ravens have plenty of positives to take away from their close loss to SM East. They fought hard, never gave in, and even converted a pressure packed two-point conversion to take a late lead in the fourth quarter. But I'm not sure I've ever seen a Sunflower League team lose an upset bid on such a heartbreaking last play.

Olathe East
The Hawks, at 1-2, have led in the fourth quarter of both their losses. Granted, they've played as tough of a schedule as anybody in the league, but they've had some bad defensive lapses in each game. Clean up the lapses and I could see them finishing the regular season 7-2.

SM North
Giving up 62 points hurts. Bad. But the Indians' Performance Line (0 wins, 21 points scored, 142 points allowed) through three weeks is still 34 points above the baseline worst we've seen in the modern era, courtesy of the 2009 Leavenworth Pioneers who through three weeks had the most awful PL (0 wins, 6 points scored, 161 points allowed) we've ever witnessed.

Week Three Players of the Week

Ra'Keim Abdul, SM South: Abdul recorded three rushing touchdowns and 110 yards rushing on 17 carries, in addition to returning a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown, and recording an interception to seal the victory.

Venus Triplett, Olathe North: In a dominating victory against SM North, Triplett carried the ball 23 times for 236 yards and three touchdowns -- more than doubling his output from the first two weeks of the season.

Week Four Power Rankings

1. SM West (3-0): Good cop -- the Vikings have found a way to win all three of their games despite playing well below their ceiling. Bad cop -- the Vikings will get smoked on Friday if they play the way they did the first 46 and a half minutes against Lawrence.

2. Lawrence Free State (3-0): The Firebirds, like the Vikings, haven't exactly been world-beaters since their week one thrashing of SM North. Still, they came back and beat a very good Olathe East team this past week and they'll be playing for Sub-State revenge this Friday.

3. SM East (3-0): To be fair, most of us expected the Lancers to begin the season 3-0. Week four is when the team will begin showing their true colors, as they start a five game stretch that includes Olathe North, SM South, Free State and SM West.

4. SM South (2-1): The Raiders quietly put together an impressive first-third of the regular season. Their remaining schedule isn't exactly daunting, and includes two teams who are currently 0-3. Their next two games will set the tone for what to expect from them in districts.

5. Olathe North (2-1): The only thing the Eagles proved this past week was that they could score a ton of points against the league's worst team. Their matchup this Friday with SM East is intriguing on many levels and I could really see it going either way.

6. Olathe East (1-2): The Hawks' record is quite deceptive, and I think this will be the lowest they dip in the rankings. Matter of fact, don't be surprised if the Hawks carry a six-game winning streak into the playoffs. They'll likely be favored in their next five games.

7. Olathe South (2-1): The Falcons pulled out a gritty and impressive road win this past week at Leavenworth. That being said, it's still very difficult to gauge this team's potential. For now, they're 2-1 with a good shot of finishing above .500 on the regular season.

8. Olathe Northwest (1-2): Change is subtle. While the Ravens' last-second loss to SM East seemed almost cliche given the program's repeated near-misses, the effort and fact they stormed back to gain the lead with under a minute remaining is a hint of where this program's headed.

9. Lawrence (0-3): Something clicked for the Chesty Lions, despite their loss. Maybe it was the 13-play, 94-yard drive they used to tie SM West late. Maybe it was the 62-yard Nyle Anderson touchdown run to gain the lead. Or maybe the Chesties are just sick of losing.

10. Leavenworth (1-2): I can't fault the Pioneers for dropping a close one to Olathe South. But if they want to gain the league's respect, they really need to take care of business against SM Northwest this week. Everyone knows Leavenworth has talent, but not everyone knows if they can turn it into victories.

11. SM Northwest (0-3): The Cougars finally came through in the scoring category, but of course it was their defense which allowed 21 points (on top of a defensive touchdown) which came back to haunt them. Maybe they'll finally put it all together when they host Leavenworth this Thursday.

12. SM North (0-3): The more repetitions the young Indians get, the better. The 48-point loss to Olathe North was pretty bad on the surface, but sometimes it's the blowout losses that make a team hungry and fuel the intensity going forward.

Sunflower League Week Three Game Recaps

From left: SM East's Luke Taylor and Christian Blessen, and Olathe Northwest's Adam Harter
combined to score five of the game's seven touchdowns. Photo KC Star.

SM East 27, Olathe Northwest 22

In my years of watching Sunflower League football I've never seen a game with as exciting of finish as this one. In Chip Sherman's first game against his old school, SM East, his new team came within three seconds of notching a huge upset, but it was the Lancers' game to win. Things started in the first quarter when SM East capped off a methodical drive with a three-yard touchdown run from Christian Blessen. Olathe Northwest matched the score in the second quarter when Adam Harter picked off a Blessen pass and returned it for a touchdown. The Ravens successfully completed a two-point conversion to go up 8-7, which held through halftime.  In the third quarter Olathe Northwest put together a nice drive and capped it off with a seven-yard touchdown run from Harter to extend the lead to 14-7. SM East answered right back when Luke Taylor took a carry 69 yards for a touchdown, but a botched extra point attempt left the Lancers down 14-13.

After that neither team was able to score until late in the fourth quarter. Olathe Northwest looked to be in position to ice the game -- gaining possession of the ball and driving into Lancer territory with under three minutes remaining -- but Cole Dahlquist was sacked on a fourth down play and fumbled the ball. SM East's Sam Williams picked up the loose fumble and returned it 78 yards for a score. A successful two-point try put SM East ahead 21-14. But it wouldn't end there.

Dahlquist found receiver Andrew Steinhauser on a 42-yard pass on Ravens' next possession, to get Olathe Northwest into scoring position. A few players later Dahlquist hit Chase Gitlin on a slant route for a touchdown to pull to within one. The Ravens elected to go for two, and cashed in when Gitlin caught a dump pass and basically used his size to overpower a few SM East defenders and go in for two points, which gave Olathe Northwest a 22-21 lead with 30 seconds remaining.

But there was more. SM East used a decent kick return and three consecutive completions on out routes to advance the ball into Olathe Northwest territory with just three seconds remaining. Sitting at the 36-yard line, the Lancers dialed up a Hail Mary from Blessen (coincidence?) aimed towards the middle of the endzone. The ball was tipped first by a Raven defender, then bounced around a bit, before SM East's Alec Dean reached for and snagged the ball out of the air to score a touchdown, with no time remaining on the clock.

Lawrence Free State 28, Olathe East 26

Olathe East came out with a chip on their shoulder, jumping to a 13-0 lead, but the momentum slowly shifted in Free State's favor as the game continued. The two early touchdowns came on runs of 28 and 35 yards by the Hawks' Jordan Brown and Jalen Branson. Free State answered early in the second quarter when Joe Dineen capped off a drive with a nine-yard touchdown run, but Olathe East got the last score in before the half when Connor Leach capped an Olathe East drive with a five-yard touchdown run of his own. The score gave Olathe East a 20-7 halftime lead. Early in the third quarter Dineen found Zach Bickling on a 38-yard touchdown pass to pull to within six points. In the fourth quarter the Firebirds took their first lead of the game when Dineen connected with Keith Loneker on a 14-yard touchdown pass, to go ahead 21-20. The aerial assault added another touchdown midway through the quarter on a 46-yard pass from Dineen to Joel Spain, making things 28-20. Olathe East had one final response -- a drive and two-yard touchdown run from Brown to pull to within a two-point conversion with just over a minute remaining. But Brown was stuffed on the conversion attempt and Free State was able to close out the victory shortly thereafter.

SM West 14, Lawrence 13

Lawrence brought an old-school mentality to Overland Park and nearly knocked off SM West, but in the end their upset attempt came up 13.4 seconds short. The only score of the first half came when SM West's Mario Louis scored a touchdown on a 19-yard run on a third and long play. The Vikings took the 7-0 lead to halftime. The third quarter was another stalemate, before LHS made their move in the fourth. First, the Chesty Lions manufactured a 13-play (all runs), 94-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at seven. SM West was forced to punt on their next possession. Facing a 4th and 1 at their own 38-yard line, with 1:35 remaining, LHS quarterback Nyle Anderson took a naked bootleg around the left end and went untouched 62 yards for a touchdown with just 1:26 remaining. The PAT attempt was blocked by Lee Spight -- perhaps the most pivotal play of the game when all was said and done -- but LHS had a 13-7 lead. SM West's Andre Maloney was able to return the ensuing kickoff to the Vikings' 44-yard line. A few wild pass plays later, SM West's AJ Verdini found Maloney in the endzone on an eight-yard touchdown pass, with 13.4 seconds remaining. A successful PAT and a Justin Hobbs interception a few plays later closed out the game for the victorious Vikings.

Olathe South 18, Leavenworth 16

Former head coaches went 0-2 against their former schools this week. Mark Littrell's team lost to his old program, Olathe South, in what turned out to be a pretty entertaining game. After a scoreless first quarter, Leavenworth notched a 24-yard field goal from Jake Boyce to go ahead 3-0. Olathe South answered with two touchdowns from Tom McCue -- and eight yard run and a 70-yard catch and run from Jake Seurer -- to give the Falcons a 13-3 edge. Logan Swartz knocked a field goal through for the Falcons shortly after, as they took a 16-3 lead, but Leavenworth answered with a drive and a 10-yard touchdown run from Jason Randall. At the half Olathe South led 16-10. Olathe South managed a third quarter safety to go up 18-10, before Randall added his second touchdown of the night for the Pioneers on a 36-yard run. However, a missed two-point conversion attempt kept Leavenworth from tying the game. A scoreless fourth quarter made for Olathe South's second victory of the young season.

SM South 28, SM Northwest 21

Most of the time the major scoring takes place in the second half when defenses are worn down. That wasn't the case in this game, as the teams combined for six first half touchdowns, and just one score in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. The Raiders scored first when Ra'Keim Abdul returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown early in the first quarter, giving SM South a 7-0 edge. The lead jumped to 14-0 when Abdul capped off a Raider drive with a seven-yard touchdown run later in the quarter. SM Northwest answered on the ensuing kickoff, as Jake Horner returned the ball 94 yards for a touchdown to make things 14-7. On the very next drive, however, Abdul punched in his third touchdown of the game on a six-yard touchdown run to put SM South up 21-7. SM Northwest put together a nice drive a bit later, and capped it off with a 19-yard touchdown run from Horner. A successful two-point conversion made things 21-15, SM South. The Raiders matched it with a final score -- on a one-yard run from Chase Allen -- just before the half to go up 28-15. Horner added a late touchdown for SM Northwest in the fourth quarter, making things 28-21, but the Cougars weren't able to get any closer than that.

Olathe North 62, SM North 14

No box score was reported. After Olathe North's stale offensive performance against SM South last week, in which they only score seven points, the Eagles came out firing, putting up 62 points -- a league high this season. SM North was actually only down 27-14 early in the third quarter when they scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Will Schneider to Nick Perez, but that was as close as they would get. Olathe North rattled off 35 straight points to close out the game.

Week Three Game Scores

Friday, Sept. 20

Olathe North 62, SM North 14
SM West 14, Lawrence 13
Lawrence Free State 28, Olathe East 26
SM East 27, Olathe Northwest 22
Olathe South 18, Leavenworth 16
SM South 28, SM Northwest 21

Sunflower League football to split into divisions, beginning in 2014

In 1999, Olathe South closed out their season in the 6A
title game against Garden City (Kan.), then played the
first game of the 2000 season against Muskogee (Okla)
High School. Open scheduling ended in 2004 with the
addition of Olathe Northwest to the Sunflower League.

Article written by Johnny Carver, special to the Sunflower League Football Blog.

A proposal was voted on and passed by the principals of the Sunflower League schools on Wednesday, effectively changing the look of the league for years to come.  The league’s 12 teams will be split into two divisions for football only, which will allow for the first week of the season to be for open scheduling.  This will take effect next season.

“You’re not going to see two divisions split six and six,” said Olathe Northwest athletic director, Jay Novacek.  “The way that it works out is that you would have two Olathes in one half, and two Olathes in another half.  You would have the two Lawrences split.  Then the five Shawnee Missions split three and two, along with Leavenworth going to the unbalanced side.  That would be done by random draw.”

The divisions will by separated in two year cycles, with each of the league's school districts being evenly distributed.  Jason Herman, Olathe North athletic director, headed this movement.

“The idea came from the coaches,” he said.  “The creation that followed was made by me and it was what I figured they wanted.  It was brought to my attention, because I’m considered the leader of football in the Sunflower League.  I took it and ran with it.”

Currently, league play is reserved for the first seven games of each member school’s seven games against league foes in odd years, and the last seven games against league foes in even years.  With the new change, league play will only be for games two through six, in which each team will play their other division members.  

This idea was proposed in order to give schools the opportunity to play competition outside of the league.  In the current (and soon to be former) format, Sunflower League teams are locked into preset league and district games.  They do not have the opportunity to schedule opponents or travel elsewhere for competition.

“I think what is in the best interest of the league is to promote our league elsewhere by playing other schools outside of it,” said Herman.  “I think it promotes our athletes.  There’s a lot of great football being played in the western part of the state, and these matchups between them and us are currently only available in a state playoff situation.”

Novacek helped Herman promote this change by going to each of the Sunflower League schools to meet with each athletic director to explain how the change is beneficial.  He agrees that it is in the best interest of the league.

“I think it’s important to give our students the opportunity to play schools that aren't in our league,” Novacek said.  “The way it currently stands, we play all of our games in the same repetitive places.  We wanted to have the opportunity to play teams that we don’t normally see around here.”

Another benefit of the new scheduling is that it allows schools to see more exposure.  It has been discussed that multiple schools in the league are interested in having games broadcast on national television networks like ESPN and Fox Sports.  

Playing out-of-state competition would increase the chances a league school would be able to appear on one of these nationally televised games.  In general, the most targeted areas for team travel will be western Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri among other states in the Midwest.

Athletic directors in the Olathe School District believe there is no reason for this plan to be opposed.  However, the plan drew criticism when it was proposed, particularly with Shawnee Mission schools.

“I like the tradition of getting your games out of the league,” said Shawnee Mission Northwest athletic director, Richard Grinage.  “I like the fact that we currently play all of the Shawnee Missions every year.  By making this change, depending on how the districts end up, there could be a situation where all of the Olathe or Shawnee Mission schools don’t play each other.”

There is a possibility that rival teams within the league would not play one other with the new system.  KSHSAA, the association in charge of high school activities for the state of Kansas, sets the final three games of the season for each 6A school.  These games are called district games, and they determine who moves on to the state playoffs.  

These districts are separated geographically in two-year cycles.  If two schools are separated in separate divisions and are not in the same district, there is a possibility that those two teams would have a two-year hiatus in their matchup.

The solution for this, Herman says, is that they can use the open week to schedule the other team, should they choose to.

“There is a way to shuffle things around,” he said.  “I want to guarantee that each Olathe school plays two of the others with the possibility of scheduling that third matchup.  I want to make sure the Shawnee Mission schools are guaranteed to play three of the other schools with the possibility of playing the fourth.  They could use their open week to schedule games with each other if they choose.”

Grinage has stated that Shawnee Mission Northwest will likely use their extra game to make sure that the schools within the district play each other.

“We will typically get our games out of the league,” Grinage said, “but [this decision] allows those schools to do otherwise if they choose to.”

Herman says that Olathe North will take full advantage of their new opportunities.

“We would definitely look west or outside of the state,” he said.  “We’re not interested in playing another team in the league.  We want to give our players new scenery.”

Novacek says that Olathe Northwest will also look elsewhere for competition with their open week.  He cited the fact that all other sports besides football have the opportunity to travel.  He also thinks this open week will be beneficial to the football program.

“Hopefully,” he said, “it will shed some light on how good our team is.  If we go out and beat some of these teams, it would put us on the map.”

Although there was some opposition, the proposal was passed as expected -- much to the delight of the coaches in the league, whom Herman says need to start immediately preparing for next season.

“I told the coaches that this has a very good chance of passing, and if it does, they need to start working on scheduling those games now.  After the districts are set in October, we will be setting the league schedule for the next two years.”

Johnny Carver, jrcarver24@gmail.com

Week Three Pick 'Em Selections and Standings

Make your Sunflower League game predictions in the comments section of this post. Standing will be updated weekly by TheImpaler.

Sunflower League Week Three Game Previews

Alec Dean and SM East will put their 2-0 record
on the line against their former head coach.
Photo by Marisa Walton, SME Harbinger.

Game of the Week
Olathe Northwest (1-1) at SM East (2-0) at SM North District Stadium

This is the game of the week for one reason: Chip Sherman. To give a brief synopsis (for those of you who missed it), Sherman took over as SM East's head coach in 2009 and quickly took the program to new heights, including a league title in 2010 that was the program's first since 1966.

This past offseason, shortly after Olathe Northwest's former head coach Todd Dain announced he was resigning as head coach to enter the high school administration tract, Sherman accepted the head job with Olathe Northwest.

After two weeks Sherman's Ravens look decent, but still rough around the edges. SM East on the other hand has played about as well as any team in the league under the tutelage of new head coach Dustin Delaney. Emotion stemming from this will probably be much higher on the Lancer side, but it will be fun to see how it all plays out.

Olathe North (1-1) at SM North (0-2) at SM North District Stadium (Thursday Game)

Olathe North lost a close game last week, and I can guarantee you they've had a tough week of practice leading up to this Thursday contest with SM North. Meanwhile the Indians are a team with literally zero outside expectations who have an excellent opportunity to develop and fly under-the-radar in Don Simmons' inaugural season with the club. This game projects as a blowout in Olathe North's favor, but you can never rule out a team on the other sideline with a veteran head coach and nothing to lose like SM North.

Lawrence (0-2) at SM West (2-0) at SM South District Stadium (Thursday Game)

This sets up as the quintessential "trap game" for SM West. Look at the facts: the Vikings are 2-0, they'll be playing the biggest game of the regular season next Friday, and they're facing a team in Lawrence who sits at 0-2 and has looked lifeless in the second halves of their two games. And it's a Thursday game to boot. The Vikings will be favored on paper but Lawrence is as hungry for a win as any team in the league. The Chesty Lions haven't played well, but they have a solid core battle-tested players who could come up big in any game.

Olathe East (1-1) at Lawrence Free State (2-0) at Free State Athletic Stadium

The Hawks and Firebirds have had some epic games in the past decade, and we're hoping this game will live up to the hype as well. Who can forget when these two matched up last November in a heated Sectional game? Olathe East's Al Smith was rebuked by the Free State faithful for what they deemed an intentional helmet-to-helmet hit on Tye Hughes.  Meanwhile, the Olathe East folks were upset about a loose ball that was ruled a fumble and returned for a touchdown by Free State's Blake Winslow (a play which probably shouldn't have been ruled a fumble upon further review). There's only been four weeks of games since then, but they're back at it again in week three. Don't expect anything less than a dandy -- if history is any indication.

SM Northwest (0-2) at SM South (1-1) at SM South District Stadium

Can we just set the over/under at 7 on this game? SM Northwest shut out Free State in the first half of Friday's game, and only allowed seven points during regulation in week two against Olathe Northwest. SM South only allowed 10 points to SM West in week one, and held Olathe North to seven last Friday. But here's the kicker -- the two teams have combined to score just 30 points in four games, and only 23 of those came in regulation. Provided nobody breaks things open early, I'm expecting a defensive brawl in this game. First team to 10 wins.

Olathe South (1-1) at Leavenworth (1-1) at Pioneer Stadium

This matchup is like a less dramatic version of the SM East vs. Olathe Northwest game. Leavenworth's new head coach, Mark Littrell, spent 10 years as Olathe South's head coach from 1998 to 2007. Following the 2007 season he left Olathe South to join Gene Wier's staff in Texas, and he stayed in the Lone Star State until this past spring when he took the open Leavenworth job. I say less dramatic because, to put it mildly, the last time Littrell was head coach at Olathe South the Falcon's current seniors were in 6th grade -- so it's been awhile. As far as the actual game is concerned we should learn quite a bit about both these teams. Their two combined wins have come against teams with combined records of 0-4. Their two combined losses have come against teams with combined records of 4-0. That's layman's terms for we haven't really figured out either of these teams just yet.

Sunflower League Extra & Social Media Standings

Joe Dineen, right, combined for 302 yards of total
offense and three touchdowns in Free State's
20-3 victory against SM Northwest. LJWorld.

MVP Ratings
Player ratings are subject to change on a weekly basis.

1. Joe Dineen, Quarterback, Lawrence Free State
Week two stats: 9-of-18 passing, 136 yards, 2 TDs; 21 carries, 166 yards, 1 TD; 10 tackles

Dineen (as expected) is developing into Free State's latest, great dual-threat quarterback. But none of those prior quarterbacks won a state title or a Simone. Can Dineen be the first (at both)?

2. Andre Maloney, Cornerback, SM West
Week two stats: 4 catches, 122 yards, 1 TD; 10 carries, 35 yards; 1 PR TD; 4 tackles

On Friday Olathe South showed that even with excellent safeties, it's very difficult to contain the league's fast player -- Maloney -- when he wants to run a deep route. There are very few, if any players in the league who'll be able to match up with him.

3. Christian Blessen, Quarterback, SM East
Week two stats: 6-of-13 passing, 116 yards, 2 TDs; 9 carries, 128 yards, 2 TDs

Blessen has been about as efficient as a quarterback can be through two weeks. His time as a starting receiver last year is carrying over very well into the option game, and his production doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon.

4. Ra'Keim Abdul, Safety, SM South
Week two stats: 21 carries, 71 yards; 12 tackles, 1 interception

In addition to putting up an impressive stat line, Abdul also garnered his first FBS offer (New Mexico) and helped his Raiders to their biggest victory of the last decade. Talk about an impressive Friday.

5. Jason Randall, Running Back, Leavenworth
Week two stats: 17 carries, 156 yards, 1 TD; 3 catches, 60 yards, 1 TD

Randall jumped back into the rankings after a stellar performance against SM North, including making a one-handed catch and touchdown run that may be the play of the year in the Sunflower League.

Honorable Mention: Jake Seurer, Olathe South; Connor Leach, Olathe East; Venus Triplett, Olathe North; Mitchell Tyler, SM East.

Stat Check

Passing Yards
AJ Verdini, SM West: 388, 3 TDs
Jake Seurer, Olathe South: 254, 4 TDs
Connor Leach, Olathe East: 240, 5 TDs
Nyle Anderson, Lawrence: 229, 2 TDs
Christian Blessen, SM East: 220, 3 TDs
Jack Hatzfeld, Olathe Northwest: 217, 1 TD
Joe Dineen, Free State: 209, 4 TDs
Landry Hodges, Leavenworth: 180, 2 TDs
Will Schneider, SM North: 175
Cole Murphy, Olathe North: 167
Chase Allen, SM South: 144
Cole Dahlquist, Olathe Northwest: 100, 1 TD

Rushing Yards
Luke Taylor, SM East: 276, 1 TD
Joe Dineen, Free State: 224, 2 TDs
Jason Randall, Leavenworth: 222, 1 TD
Christian Blessen, SM East: 193, 4 TDs
Thomas McCue, Olathe South: 190, 1 TD
Jordan Brown, Olathe East: 175
Ra'Keim Abdul, SM South: 167
Cole Murphy, Olathe North: 166, 2 TDs
Jalen Branson, Olathe East: 139, 2 TDs
Cody Sestrich, Olathe Northwest: 135
Venus Triplett, Olathe North: 99, 2 TDs
Mitchell Tyler, SM East: 97, 1 TD
Cameron White, Olathe South: 96

Receiving Yards
Andre Maloney, SM West: 179, 2 TDs
Zay Boldridge, Lawrence: 126, 1 TD
Mitchell Tyler, SM East: 126, 2 TDs
Chase Gitlin, Olathe Northwest: 112, 1 TD
Nathan Power, Olathe Northwest: 103, 1 TD
Justin Hobbs, SM West: 91, 1 TD
Connor Alexander, Olathe East: 89, 3 TDs
Dresden Wilbur, Olathe South: 88, 1 TD
Nick Oliver, SM South: 87, 1 TD
Cody Sestrich, Olathe Northwest: 84
Cameron White, Olathe South: 83, 1 TD
Blake Winslow, Free State: 80, 3 TDs

Tackles
Kyle Ball, SM East: 29
Jake Seurer, Olathe South: 23
Randal Byers, Olathe Northwest: 20
Eli Pruss, Olathe Northwest: 18
Cooper Arner, SM West: 17
Jordan Donnelson, Leavenworth: 17
Ra'Keim Abdul, SM South: 16
Queston Bradley, Olathe Northwest: 16
Andre Pettit, SM West: 16
Devin Shockley, SM Northwest: 16
Kyle Evans, Olathe East: 15
Keith Loneker, Free State: 15
Lucas Werner, Free State: 15

Sacks
Blake Winslow, Free State: 4
Kyle Ball, SM East: 2
Dominique Berry, SM South: 2
Jarred Donnelson, Leavenworth: 2
Shane Hofer, Free State: 2
Sam Pottenger, SM East: 2
Lee Spight, SM West: 2
Alex Turnbull, SM North: 2

Interceptions
Kyle Evans, Olathe East: 2
Joel Spain, Free State: 2
Charlie White, SM East: 2

Kick Return/Punt Return Touchdowns
Andre Maloney, SM West: 1 PR TD
Venus Triplett, Olathe North: 1 PR TD

*Lawrence and Olathe North did not submit defensive statistics.

Social Media Standings

Follow me on Twitter @eliunderwood. I will follow you back. Followers with the most interactions (retweets, favorites, questions, comments, etc.) earn the most cred for themselves and their schools in the standings. Also, student attendance at football games (while not necessarily involving social media) does factor in as well. Remember to hash tag your Tweets and game scores with #SFLfball.

1. Olathe South
Will anyone ever be able to dethrone the South Side Birdhouse? Even trailing 16-0 at halftime of last Friday's game, the Falcon student body was able to orchestrate a massive #FeedTheFalcons Tweetathon at me, not to mention I must have had 75 new Falcon followers on Twitter. Simply put, Olathe South sets the standard for Social Media Standings. Everyone else is just competing for second at this point (but that's not to say another school couldn't take the top spot with a more impressive week...). But seriously, over 450 students, at a road game?

Top Tweeters
@clairesunn
@DanGoodnow18
@K1Suellentrop8
@Treasure_Chesh

2. Lawrence Free State
The Firebirds have quietly climbed up to the #2 spot in the Social Media Standings. Could they make a push at #1? Sure, but it's going to take quite a bit of effort to grab the number one spot. In the meantime, I've added quite a few new followers from Free State land this week, not to mention increased interactions. Keep it up, Firebirds.

Top Tweeters
@JBane87
@A_Kiss18
@Coemoe13

2. Lawrence
Forget the 80-20 rule, with the Chesty Lions this season it's been more like the 95-5, but the two most active Twitter followers - the Rev and pubhouse_nation, have defined the term "Sunflower League football interaction" through two weeks of play. The Chesty Lions brought it on Twitter last fall, let's see if they can get back to that level this year.

Top Tweeters
@pubhouse_nation
@theRev_Carnahan
@Trae_Green

Honorable Mention: SM West, SM East, SM South

Sunflower League Week Two Review

The SM East defense has smothered their two opponents,
only allowing three points. Photo LJWorld.

Three Up

SM South
The Raiders collected their first victory against Olathe North since 1993, and in doing so sent a message to the rest of the league to watch out for the Green & Gold the rest of the year.

Leavenworth
After practically not showing up in week one, the Pioneers got back on track with a 33-0 against SM North. Sure, the Indians are considered the worst team in the league, but you've got to take care of the games you're supposed to take care of.

SM East
The Lancers looked great for the second week in a row. They match up well with their old coach and Olathe Northwest this Friday, and a 3-0 start to the season would be impressive -- and make 4-0 seem that much more probable.

Three Down

Lawrence
The Chesty Lions have struggled to put together complete efforts for four quarters in each of their first two games. A visit to SM West this week doesn't exactly help their cause in that regard.

SM North
The Indians have been outscored 77-7 through two weeks of play. That basically tells its own tale. The positives remain in the fact that 15 of their 22 starts are non-seniors.

SM Northwest
The Cougars really don't have anything to hang their heads on, but an inept offense cost them the opportunity to pull off a major upset of Free State. They need to get their offense on track, and soon.

Week Two Players of the Week

Christian Blessen, SM East: The Lancers have had excellent quarterback play the past four years, and it's continued this year with Blessen, just in more of a running capacity. On Friday he ran the ball nine times for 128 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to completing six of his 13 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

Andre Maloney, SM West: Maloney has established himself as the most valuable all-purpose player in the league. Against Olathe South he caught four passes for 122 yards and a touchdown, carried the ball 10 times for 35 yards and returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown.

Week Three Power Rankings

1. SM West (2-0): The Vikings' defense has been -- for the most part -- stellar, having only allowed 11 points through two games. While they haven't blown either of their opponents out they appear to be on the cusp of getting rolling as a unit.

2. Lawrence Free State (2-0): The Firebirds will be able to "out-athlete" basically every team they play. They weren't crisp for three quarters against SM Northwest, but their team speed and tackling abilities kept the game at a basic tie early on until they were able to pull ahead.

3. SM East (2-0): The Lancers' performance line through two weeks (2 wins, 60 points scored, 3 points allowed) is absolutely phenomenal, especially considering they underwent a coaching change in May. They have one more game to build before they hit a ridiculously tough stretch for five weeks.

4. Olathe East (1-1): Teams ranked #4 through #7 are basically interchangeable at this juncture in the season, but I gave the Hawks the nod for now. The reason? Jeff Meyers' teams, in an almost robotic form, always perform better as the season continues.

5. SM South (1-1): After two weeks it looks as if SM South is in the league's top half of teams, which is something we haven't been able to say in more than a decade. If they take care of business the rest of the way there's no reason they shouldn't be able to break their string of losing seasons.

6. Olathe North (1-1): After an impressive week one win against Olathe East the Eagles reminded us of their youth in an underwhelming performance at home against SM South. The program is yet to display any semblance of sustained consistency in tenure No. 2 under Gene Wier.

7. Olathe South (1-1): The Falcons got the short end of the stick this week coming off a loss (I could justify ranking them as high as #4), but they have plenty of time to prove themselves going forward. Their performance against SM West wasn't great, but it also wasn't awful for a young team.

8. Olathe Northwest (1-1): Save a late second quarter comeback, the Ravens of Friday looked much like the Ravens of the past nine years (offensive production but little defense to match it). That's got to change, and quickly, if Olathe Northwest wants to accomplish anything new this year.

9. Lawrence (0-2): The Chesty Lions have had a rough go of it through two weeks, but that was pretty much expected with all the starters they had to replace. It doesn't get any easier in week three traveling to SM West, but a win would completely make up for any initial shortcomings.

10. Leavenworth (1-1): The drive for .500 has the Pioneers playing a third home game in a row this week against Olathe South. Coming away 2-1 in this stretch would be huge in terms of building momentum for the remaining six games.

11. SM Northwest (0-2): The Cougars need to find an offense, and quickly. Their defense has played well through two weeks but at a certain point the offense needs to catch up. On the bright side, it looks like the Cougars have one of the best kickers in the state in Jonathan Killeen.

12. SM North (0-2): As stated earlier, the majority of the Indians' starters are juniors and sophomores. But its their freshman quarterback, Will Schneider, who is most intriguing. Already standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 185 pounds, with impressive poise for a 14-year-old, you just get the feeling he will have a very good career.

Sunflower League Week Two Recaps

Juanyae Stallings and SM West rolled past Olathe
South despite not doing much in the running game.
Photo KC Star.

Game of the Week
SM West 23, Olathe South 8

The battle of the last two 6A state champions was won through the air, surprisingly, considering both teams have traditionally lived on the run game. After Olathe South was unable to score from the three-yard line on one of their first quarter drives, SM West regained possession and a few plays later AJ Verdini found Andre Maloney on a 72-yard post route to put the Vikings up 7-0. Later in the half Verdini found receiver Justin Hobbs on a similar play, this time from 54 yards out.  A Tyler Thayer field goal gave the Vikings a 16-0 halftime lead.  In the fourth quarter Maloney iced things when he returned a punt 55-yards for a touchdown. Olathe South got on the board in the fourth quarter when Tom McCue took a carry in from 19 yards out to make things 23-8.

SM South 10, Olathe North 7

If you go back in history to 2002, you'll notice there was one anomaly in Olathe North's 13-0 state champion season. In week four, it took the Eagles overtime to beat an 0-3 SM South team, 42-35. In the game SM South quarterback Brian Salsgiver shredded the Olathe North defense for over three touchdowns and 300 yards passing. And mind you, Olathe North had a 28-game winning streak going at the time. Well, maybe it just took 11 years for that momentum to come full circle. After a slugfest first half with little activity, SM South got on the board late when Matt Hollingsworth found Nick Oliver on a 21-yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0. Olathe North tied the game on a one-yard quarterback keeper with seconds remaining in the third quarter. SM South regained the lead when Marcelo Regis nailed a 31-yard field goal with just over seven minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. Olathe North had a few chances, but a final missed field goal in the waning minutes effectively ended the game.

Olathe East 38, Olathe Northwest 21

Olathe East entered this game hoping to not only extend their all-time record against Olathe Northwest to 11-0, but to also put to rest the mistakes that haunted them in last week's loss to Olathe North. In winning comfortably, they did both.  The Hawks jumped out to a 17-0 lead before anyone even knew what was going on. First, Connor Leach hit Nathan Guthrie on a 30-yard touchdown pass. Next, Jalen Branson capped a drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. A 34-yard field goal from Chris Diddle pushed the lead to 17. Olathe Northwest answered late in the first quarter with a seven-yard run from Adam Harter to make things 17-7. But Olathe East answered right back with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Leach to Connor Alexander, to go ahead 24-7. Olathe Northwest surged just before half on a one-yard touchdown run from Jack Hatzfeld and then a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hatzfeld to Nathan Power. Just before halftime Harter picked off a Leach pass and nearly returned it for a score, but came up short, as the Ravens headed to the half down 24-21. Olathe East was able to separate themselves in the second half, scoring on a one-yard run from Leach and a 21-yard pass from Leach to Alexander to give the Hawks a comfortable 38-21 victory.

SM East 26, Lawrence 3

Flexbone offense: 2, Sunflower League: 0, at least that's how many are reading the ledger after two weeks of play. The Lancers put together another dominant all-around performance in what seems to be becoming a trend. LHS, just like last week, kept things close in the first quarter and took the first lead on a 40-yard field goal from Ellis Springe. But from there the Lancers put a hurting on the Chesty Lions in the next quarter and a half. Christian Blessen first kept the ball and went 56 yards for a score. Early in the second quarter a Lancer drive was capped off with a five-yard run from Blessen, to put SM East up 14-0. Midway though the second quarter Blessen found a wide open Mitchell Tyler on a pass which Tyler took 76 yards for a touchdown. The final blow came when SM East was able to get into the endzone with four seconds remaining in the half, when Blessen found Alec Dean on a 10-yard touchdown pass. The Lancers didn't score after that, but they didn't need to. Their defense did all the work.

Lawrence Free State 20, SM Northwest 3

It took some time for Free State to get over their hangover from last Friday, but they managed in time to come away with their second victory of the season, and 12th in their last 14 games. SM Northwest's slow and methodical approach shut out the Firebirds in the opening half. Meanwhile, the Cougar's kicker, Jonathan Killeen, booted true a 44-yard field goal to give the team a 3-0 edge at the half. Free State finally got on the board with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter on a drive that was capped off with a three-yard touchdown run from Joe Dineen. The Firebirds added to their 7-3 lead in the fourth quarter with touchdown passes from Dineen to Blake Winslow of 22 and one yards to put the game away.

Leavenworth 33, SM North 0

The Pioneers of Leavenworth were defeated 34-0 in week one, and nearly flipped the score in a victory on Thursday. Junior Landry Hodges led the team, scoring two rushing touchdowns and passing for two others. The highlight of the night came in the third quarter when Hodges found running back Jason Randall five yards ahead of the line of scrimmage on what looked like a short completion. Randall snagged the pass out of the air, one-handed, collected himself, reversed field and took the ball 59 yards for a touchdown with the help of some ground-shaking blocks. To put it simply, we might not see a better play in the Sunflower League this year.

Olathe Northwest's Fair Catch

Nathan Power makes up one-third of
arguably the league's top receiving
trio. Mid-Statesports.com

Article written by Johnny Carver, special to the Sunflower League Football Blog.

Having three excellent receiving targets is a quarterback’s dream.  Helping graduated Olathe Northwest quarterback Holdyn Halperin finish second in the league with 2,119 passing yards last fall were Nathan Power, Chase Gitlin, and Manny Psihountas.

Halperin is gone, but Olathe Northwest has room for optimism undertheir  new quarterback due of Cole Dahlquist and Jack Hatzfeld.  In addition, Power and Gitlin have each assumed senior leadership roles, while Psihountas is becoming more comfortable on the field as a junior.  Each of the three players finished in the top 12 in the league in receiving yards last season, and all three have big expectations for this fall

* * * * * 

Power’s varsity career began when he was a sophomore in a game against Leavenworth.  He’s enjoyed every game since, and loves being under the spotlight of the game.

“The best part is playing under the lights,” said Power.  “You’re in front of half of the school doing what you love.”

Power had a successful junior season, earning Second Team All-Sunflower League honors.  He finished third in the league in receiving yards with 702.  He also led the team with three touchdown catches, and recorded 48 receptions.

“I had a good relationship with Holdyn,” he said of last season.  “We had a great connection both on and off the field and that helped.  As a whole, our offense clicked as a team.”

Although he was an effective weapon for the Ravens last year, he made many improvements over the offseason in order to make an even larger impact this season.

“I went to the gym after our morning workouts over the summer,” said Power.  “I did some auxiliary work because I wanted to weigh 190 pounds this going into this season.  If I didn’t think we did enough running in the morning, I would get it in afterwards.  I had to keep myself conditioned.”

Power seems uncertain of his future after this season, but knows that he wants to play at the next level if at all possible.

“Football is something that I love,” he said.  “I’ve put a lot of time into it, and I can’t picture myself ever not doing something football related.  Right now the goal is to play in college so we’ll see how the season goes before I can make that decision.”

He currently has interest from Central Missouri State, Butler, Drake, and Des Moines.  Gitlin, however, has caught the eye of major college coaches.

* * * * *

This summer, Gitlin went on visits to Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Missouri, Northwestern, and Ohio State.  Although he has drawn attention for his 6-foot-6, 215-pound frame, he has not received any offers -- yet.

“All of these colleges want me to put on the pounds first,” he said.  “I’m on a 5,000 calorie diet and I eat four lunches.”

Of all of the schools that he’s visited thus far, he is most intrigued by Illinois.

“Illinois’s camp was my favorite,” said Gitlin.  “The campus is great.  The coaches have a family attitude, a lot like Coach Sherman has.”

Last season, Gitlin was named Honorable Mention All-Sunflower League for his efforts.  He finished seventh in the league in receiving yards with 533.  He also caught 42 passes and two touchdowns.

Off the field, Gitlin and Power are best friends.  But when it comes to football, they use each other as competition.  They’re most competitive with the school’s all-time reception record.

“I want to beat the receptions record,” said Gitlin.  “I’m not sure what it is, but as of right now I’m about fifteen away for a career.  But Nathan is also eight away so I have to compete with him.  That gives us some friendly competition, which isn’t bad.”

Although they both remain competitive, they still wish the best for each other and know that they both need to thrive in order to succeed as a team.

“Chase will have an outstanding season,” Power said.  “He’ll be set up in positions to where he’ll be able to make plays on the field at any time.  On the inside, he uses his size to get his body against the defender.  In practice, it usually takes about four or five guys to get him down.”

Coaches around the league will be focusing on Gitlin this season due to his size.  This is a positive to Gitlin, who believes that this will open things up for Power.

“I’m really looking forward to double coverage,” Gitlin said.  “As soon as they double cover me, they’ll have to single cover Nathan.  He’s really hard to cover.”

* * * * * 

The youngest of the trio, Manny Psihountas, played a major role on varsity last fall.  He finished 12th in the league in receiving yards with 310.  He also caught 36 passes and scored one touchdown.  His impact would not have been made without the help of Gitlin and Power.

“Nathan and Chase were a huge part in helping me mentally prepare,” said Psihountas.  “In practice, they kept me going and made sure I was giving 100 percent effort every time.  Before games, I was always nervous and they were so calm and collected.  They just led me by example.”

“We could tell that he was getting nervous,” said Power.  “We were nervous too, but we had to step up and help him prepare.”

Power seems impressed with all of the work that Manny put in over the summer and seems highly optimistic of his future.

“He has become a much better player than he was last year,” said Power.  “He is a whole lot faster.  He’ll have a great season this year.”

Each of the players attributes their success to their hard work in the off-season, particularly with running routes last season outside of practice.

“Every day throughout the summer, we ran routes,” said Psihountas.  “Before the season even started, we developed a strong chemistry.  It carried us through the offseason and allowed us to connect.”

* * * * * 

"I think the team is going to be a sleeper," said Gitlin. "I don't think anyone knows what we have. In the past, Olathe Northwest has had some below par teams. But with Coach Sherman coming in, we've been striving to improve every single week."

Through two games, Olathe Northwest stands at 1-1, with an overtime win against SM Northwest and a week two loss to Olathe East. Gitlin and Power have combined to catch 23 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns, while Psihountas, surprisingly, has yet to catch a pass.

Johnny Carver, jrcarver24@gmail.com

Week Two Game Scores

Thursday, Sept. 12

Leavenworth 33, SM North 0

Friday, Sept. 13

Lawrence Free State 20, SM Northwest 3
Olathe East 38, Olathe Northwest 21
SM West 23, Olathe South 8
SM East 26, Lawrence 3
SM South 10, Olathe North 7

Week Two Pick 'Em Selections & Standings

Make your Sunflower League game predictions in the comments section of this post. Standings will be updated weekly by the TheImpaler.

Sunflower League Week Two Game Previews

Austin Chambers and SM West will look to
extend their winning streak to 13 games
against Olathe South on Friday.  Photo
David Compton.

Game of the Week
Olathe South (1-0) at 
SM West (1-0)
at SM South District Stadium
TV: KC Metro Sports Hy-Vee High School Game of the Week 

Oddly enough, this is the only week two matchup pitting teams who both won in the opening week of the season. Coincidentally, it's also a matchup of the past two Class 6A state champions. Since 2011, Olathe South and SM West have gone 18-5, and 20-5, respectively, which accounts for the two highest win totals among league teams in that span.

Last fall the Falcons learned first-hand how difficult it was having a target on their backs in each game, and SM West is coming to terms with a similar reality this year. There's no telling how this game will go (based on week one), but if Olathe South puts together as solid of a performance as they did last week in their 33-20 win against Lawrence, they have a very good chance of winning and snapping SM West's winning-streak. For the Vikings, they have the talent to beat any team in the state -- it's just a matter of execution and attention to detail, which didn't come so easily last week.

Finally, keep an eye on the battle in the trenches. The league's top two lineman will square off when Olathe South's Braden Smith (6-7, 290) and SM West's Austin Chambers (6-5, 300) battle on both offense and defense. We've been waiting to see those two go up against each other for a year now, and it should be fun to watch.

SM North (0-1) at Leavenworth (0-1) at Pioneer Stadium (Thursday Night Game)
TV: KC Metro Sports Thursday Game

Good news for the Pioneers -- the best medicine for a bad loss is usually playing the team ranked #12 in the Power Rankings the following week. Not to mention this game is also being played at Leavenworth's home stadium. If Leavenworth takes care of business (the way they're expected to) they can develop some positive momentum going forward. But a loss would be devastating. For SM North there are no expectations, and nothing to lose. And a team with nothing to lose has everything to gain.

SM East (1-0) at Lawrence (0-1) at Lawrence High Stadium

The general consensus heading into the season was that SM East was going to take some time to develop in their new flexbone offense. Wrong. At least based on their week one victory. The Lancers now travel to Lawrence with the hopes of another stellar all-around performance, but the Chesty Lions won't roll over on their home turf. Last week Lawrence was tied at 13 at halftime, only to run out of gas down the stretch (injuries didn't help) and lose by 13. Lawrence High Stadium is not an easy place to play, and the Lancers better be prepared for a dogfight if they want to push their record to 2-0.

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

If SM Northwest's offense takes another week off then Free State will run them out of town. Last week the Firebirds blasted SM North by 40 points. SM Northwest, ranked #11 in the Power Rankings, is better than SM North, but they still don't appear to have the horses to take down Free State. If they do it would be a monumental turnaround from the way the Cougars played against Olathe Northwest last week.

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

The Battle for CBAC has ended in Olathe East's favor every time these teams have played. Does that change this year? While the Ravens did show some excellent grit down the stretch against SM Northwest, they're going to have to take their game to another level to knock off Olathe East (who mind you is still steaming from letting a late lead slip away in last week's loss to Olathe North). This one could be all Olathe East, but if Olathe Northwest can make things interesting, or even win the game, watch out for the Ravens going forward.

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

Olathe North is favored in this game, but the Eagles must tread with caution. Last week SM South put the clamps down on an explosive SM West team, and came close to tying the game late. If that Raider defense shows up on Friday there won't be a ton of running lanes for Venus Triplett or Cole Murphy to exploit. Really, this could be a statement game for either team. If Olathe North wins comfortably they can say "look at how much better we performed against SM South than SM West." If SM South picks up the win there will be no doubt the Raiders are a legitimate contender for the league crown and beyond.