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| Olathe North quarterback Cole Murphy orchestrated a late touchdown drive to give the Ealges a win to begin the season. Photo KC Star. |
Olathe East 23
In what turned out to be a classic display of skill and athleticism, two of Olathe's most heated rivals went punch for punch deep into the fourth quarter before settling things. Olathe East got on the board first after gaining excellent field position on a botched Olathe North punt, and finding the endzone six plays later on a six-yard touchdown run from Jalen Branson. Olathe North came back and answered with a 13-yard touchdown run from quarterback Cole Murphy, but missed the extra point. Later in the half Olathe North's Venus Triplett took a punt back 67 yards for a touchdown to give the Eagles a 13-6 advantage at halftime.
In the third quarter Olathe North's first possession ended in a punt that was snapped through the back of the endzone -- Olathe East pulled to within five at 13-8. Olathe East scored again when they capped a drive with a four-yard touchdown pass from Connor Leach to Colby Stone to go ahead 16-13. Olathe North answered right back on a drive and touchdown run from Triplett to go back in front 19-16. And of course right on cue with the course of the game, Olathe East drove and Leach found Connor Alexander on a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Hawks a 23-19 lead with 7:45 left in the fourth quarter. But it didn't end there -- a 12-play, 68-yard drive by the Eagles closed the final page on this game, as Triplett took a carry in from 12 yards out to give Olathe North a 26-23 lead, which proved to be the final score.
Olathe South 33, Lawrence 20
For the 33rd game in a row Olathe South started a Seurer brother at the quarterback position -- Jake, the new starter who took the reins from older brother Frank, did not fail to disappoint. In total he completed eight of 13 passes for 219 yards and four touchdowns. The scoring began when Olathe South got on the board with a 27-yard field goal from Logan Swartz early in the first quarter. LHS answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Nyle Anderson to Zay Boldridge. Olathe South countered with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Seurer to Tom McCue, before LHS drove and tied things with a one-yard touchdown run from Kieren Severa. A second Swartz field goal made things 13 all at halftime. Olathe South managed two more Seurer scores on passes to McCue and Dresden Wilbur to give the Falcons a 27-13 edge. LHS countered one last time when Anderson found Adam Hayes on a 40-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to pull within seven, but Olathe South answered on the next possession with an 83-yard touchdown pass from Seurer to Cameron White to effectively end the game.
Lawrence Free State 47, SM North 7
Free State head coach Bob Lisher couldn't have scripted a better beginning to the Firebird's season. On the third play from scrimmage the Free State forced a fumble and Keith Loneker recovered the ball in the endzone for a touchdown. The onslaught continued as Free State added three more first quarter touchdowns -- an eight-yard pass from Joe Dineen to Blake Winslow, a four-yard run from Stan Skwarlo and a 27-yard pass from Dineen to Loneker. In the second quarter the Firebirds added another 19 points on three more touchdowns, this time a 35-yard run from Carson Bowen, a five-yard run from Skwarlo and a one-yarder from Dineen. With a 47-0 halftime lead Free State called off the dogs and didn't score again. SM North's lone touchdown came on a three-yard run from Dominic Degraffenreid-Snell in the fourth quarter.
Olathe Northwest 21, SM Northwest 14, 2 OT
In the battle of the Northwests (both of whom went 2-7 last fall), the Olathe group came out on top, but it proved to be one of the most exciting regular season games in the history of both schools. Cole Dahlquist scored first for Olathe Northwest on a 15-yard option keeper in the first quarter after the Olathe Northwest defense forced an early turnover. SM Northwest matched the score and things held up at seven though the fourth quarter, forcing overtime. SM Northwest had the first possession and scored on a run from Jake Horner. Dahlquist found Chase Gitlin on a touchdown pass to match things at 14 and take the game to a second overtime. Olathe Northwest started with possession and scored on a Dahlquist run to go up 21-14. SM Northwest made it all the way to the one-yard line but running back Jacob Gilliam was stopped a yard short on a 4th and 1 play to end the game.
SM East 34, Leavenworth 0
The Dustin Delaney era couldn't have started any better for the Lancers. After a scoreless first quarter, SM East added three second quarter touchdowns, two from quarterback Christian Blessen. A 21-0 halftime lead ballooned with two more second half touchdowns. In addition to Blessen, Mitch Tyler and Luke Taylor were also in on two touchdowns apiece.
SM West 10, SM South 3
The defending Class 6A champion SM West Vikings put out a week one performance that suggests they either had an off night, or SM South improved significantly from 2012 -- most likely the answer can be found in both options. The lone score of the first half came when SM South capped off a drive that spanned over 10 minutes with a short field goal midway through the second quarter. In the third quarter SM West, trailing 3-0, found themselves in SM South territory after a long punt return from Andre Maloney. SM South safety Ra'Keim Abdul was forced to leave the game with a bad leg cramp a few moments later. On the next play SM West sent Maloney on a post route at the replacement safety and AJ Verdini found Maloney on a 39-yard touchdown pass. On their next possession SM West connected on a 27-yard field goal from Tyler Thayer to go up 10-3, which turned out to be the final score.
12 comments:
Week 2 should tell us a lot about SMW and SMS. I suspect SMW will have a much better week this week. They may have been reading their press clippings a bit too much in the off season. I'm sure their coaches will take care of that this week.
Yeah, I think he two real questions week one left us with are
1) How good is SMS and
2) How bad is LV?
Week two should tell us alot about those questions.
@theImpaler I do agree with those questions.
I will add however, that i was much more impressed with the SME defense than i was ready to be considering all the talent and speed they lost from last years squad.
Sure, it was "only LV" but they did hold preseason MVP nod Randell to 45 yards rushing.
Tyler, Ball, Carter, Atkinson, etc...can play.
And Blessen was in much more control of the flexbone (at this point of the season) than i expected as well.
Again, i know it was LV, and it was one game but i was impressed with SME's overall performance.
It may be 3 to 4 weeks before anybody knows anything substantial about their teams, coaches included. The first week is always a "thank God we finally get to hit someone else" kind of performance. Teams begin to hit their stride after facing different levels and types of opposition. How do they handle it and which players develop to be the leaders and performers. That is what makes the early part of the season so fun IMO. Go 'Birds!
I have had four kids graduate from West and play football over the years. (2 played) I was filled with Pride last year when West won the State Championship. I was at the game Friday night and I think that our qb was jittery and they really need a stronger rb, Sterbach being gone leaves a gap for sure, but I have a hard time thinking that any team will get by West's defense. They have a kid who played a lot last year, #75, can't recall his name (Pembroke maybe) but I do remember the roster said he was a junior and he was all over South's qb. They stopped their pass game after the first down when #75 tipped it and darn near intercepted it. That kid has the body of a pro athlete and I am happy that he's coming back next year. Also, Mitch Wade is a heck of a defensive player, and big Austin Chambers sent more than a few kids hobbling off the field. They need to get their offensive act together, but their defense looks deathly. Hoping for a second State Title. I'll be looking for Andre Maloney to do some great things next week.
VP61, I also had two kids go through West (albeit band not football) and agree with everything you said except about AJ..he missed Andre high with the first pass when Andre was wide open for six but after that, I thought Verdini played on hell of a game...he got zero protection but really made things happen with his feet and was dead on target with his passes...it was the receivers who couldn't hold on to the ball that kept West to 10 points, not AJ. I expect (and hope!) it will be better next week.
Impaler: With due respect, I disagree. I think A.J. had several opportunities to make completions to wide open receivers and he held the ball too long. The kid's a great qb, I thought he looked nervous, aside from a few good passes. I am confident he will get into 'the zone' this week. By the way, the kid I was thinking of was Carter Pembridge (#75, the kid who tipped the ball). I am hoping for a fresh new edge from our Viking offense this Friday, and hoping they keep up the defensive intensity. The slow start last year didn't mean much, hope they shake it off and go for a big win.
AJ was 6 for 12 with 4 dropped balls. He missed Maloney.
Coach C, needs to recognize his talent this year and recognize his athletes are outside his tackles, let the kid air it out to Hobbs wade and Andre, ect. Arner has good hands and can run after the catch when given the opportunity.
I
Help me out for a second...what does the "V" in Leavenworth's "LV" logo stand for?
That's real talk.
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