Sunday, September 29, 2013

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.

2 comments:

Free State Fan said...

Way to go, FS. Great win. Now we get to see how you respond with the target on your back. It's not an easy burden to bear. Stay focused, stay hungry, continue to share the ball, have each others back and you'll be fine. Go 'Birds!

EagleSenior said...

ON suffered an almost identical situation as the SMS game when a huge Cole Murphy run was brought back by a holding call.