Sunday, October 13, 2013

Sunflower League Week Six Game Recaps

Olathe North's Jadon McGaha (left) and Jesse
Kendrick
s helped the Eagles force three LHS
turnovers, meanwhile limiting the Chesty Lions
to 181 yards of total offense. Photo LJWorld.
Game of the Week
Lawrence Free State 17,
SM East 10, OT

It looked like we were going to see the fourth rendition of "Lancer Magic" in as many weeks, and in some respects, we did. Free State took a 10-0 lead to halftime after Joe Dineen found Blake Winslow on a 14-yard touchdown pass and Alex Trent made a 25-yard field goal. In the third quarter SM East put together a 14-play drive that was capped off with a one-yard touchdown run from Christian Blessen to make things 10-7, Free State. SM East wasn't able to score again until the final minute of the fourth quarter.

The Lancers gained possession, put together a late drive, and tied the game with a 28-yard field goal from Colin Burns with just 34 seconds remaining, forcing overtime. Free State scored first in overtime, on a 10-yard run from Stan Skwarlo, to go up 17-10. Two early runs resulted in losses of yardage for SM East, and then two passes fell incomplete as Free State came away with the late victory.

Olathe Northwest 18, SM West 10

There was a valiant display of sportsmanship and Sunflower League camaraderie as both Olathe Northwest and SM West joined together to honor SM West's Andre Maloney, who tragically passed away last Friday night following an in-game stroke. After a scoreless first quarter, Olathe Northwest connected on a 35-yard field goal from Robert Boschma to go up 3-0. SM West answered with a touchdown on a 35-yard pass from AJ Verdini to Justin Hobbs to go up 7-3. The Vikings added a 41-yard field goal from Tyler Thayer to make things 10-3, but Olathe Northwest answered just before the half on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Cole Dahlquist to Chase Gitlin. A successful two-point conversion put the Ravens up 11-10 at intermission. In the third quarter Olathe Northwest added a second touchdown on a six-yard run from Cody Sestrich to make things 18-10, which proved to be the final score.

Olathe North 28, Lawrence 0

Olathe North was able to end Lawrence's mid-season surge, emphatically. Olathe North scored their first touchdown towards the end of the first quarter on a 64-yard touchdown run from Venus Triplett. Early in the second quarter, LHS made their way into scoring position, but an overthrown pass was picked off by Isaiah Simmons and returned 95 yard for a touchdown to put Olathe North up 14-0. The Eagles pounded in another score on a 31-yard run from Triplett later in the quarter to take a commanding 21-0 lead to halftime. The fourth touchdown of the night for Olathe North came late in the third quarter when Triplett added another score on a one-yard touchdown run.

Olathe East 31, Leavenworth 13

Olathe East jumped out to an 18-0 first half advantage which proved to be enough to maintain a lead for the rest of the way. Following an early safety, the Hawks were able to connect on a 22-yard field goal from Chris Diddle to go up 5-0 in the first quarter. They added touchdowns on a 57-yard run from Parker Evans and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Connor Leach to Braxton Love. Olathe East led 18-0 at halftime. In the third quarter Leavenworth got on the board with a drive and a three-yard touchdown run from Landry Hodges. The Pioneers cut the lead to 18-13 when Jason Randall took a carry in from 37 yards out early in the fourth quarter. But two late touchdowns from Olathe East -- a 35-yard pass from Leach to Love and a one-yard run from Jalen Branson -- put the game out of reach.

Olathe South 20, SM Northwest 14

The Falcons quietly won their four game of the season, putting together a nice second half comeback to collect the victory. SM Northwest jumped out to a 12-0 first quarter lead on a 60-yard touchdown run from emerging sophomore Duron Lowe and a seven-yard touchdown run from Laphonso McKinnis. The extra points failed on both touchdowns, and the Cougars took a 12-0 lead to halftime. In the third quarter Olathe South pushed to a 13-12 lead on two touchdown by Kyhiem Matthews, on runs of two and 35 yards. Olathe South padded the lead when Jake Seurer found Cameron White on a 33-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to go up 20-12. A late SM Northwest safety made up for the two missed extra points, but they weren't able to get any closer.

SM South 24, SM North 6

The game got off to a slow start, but SM South was able to separate themselves down the stretch. After taking a 3-0 lead, the Raiders added a touchdown on a 30-yard pass from Chase Allen to KJ Edwards to go up 10-0. In the third quarter Allen found Nick Oliver on a 24-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders a 17-0 lead. In the fourth quarter SM South pushed the lead to 24-0 when Anton Bland picked off a Will Schneider pass and took it back 70 yards for a score. SM North's score came later in the quarter when Schneider found Nick Perez on a touchdown pass.

3 comments:

SMEaster1214 said...

I was at the LFS v SME game and you're correct Eli. It looked as though SME was going to pull off another stunner. It was a terrific game though. Not always pretty to watch if you like offense but I would say both defenses are, by far, the 2 best in the SFL-with SMS being a somewhat distant 3rd.
While LFS prevailed, what was a most pleasant surprise to me was how SME was able to keep up with their speed. Yes, FS had 2 TD's but the scoring drives were less then 15 yards each. The only other time FS came even close to scoring was the FG in the 3rd. Once again, turnovers killed the Lancers as they lost 4 fumbles (7 total) and threw an interception. One of the fumbles they managed to keep may as well have been a 6th turnover as it was a muffed pitch on 3 & 6 that resulted in a 9 yard lose. My thought was that SME, if needed, would have gone on 4th down as it occurred around mid field but because of the 9 yard lose they elected to punt. This team will make some serious noise in the PO's if they can protect the ball...hell, 3 turnovers a game would be awesome! Anyway, great game and, in my mind, SME certainly, (hopefully), gained some respect around the league.

On another note, kudos to all the SFL schools for their support of the Maloney family and Andre's memory! It was somewhat chilling, and very heart breaking, when i saw both coaching staffs with the T-shirts that ONW (?) made! I witnessed much of the generosity of both the LFS and SME fans and was absolutely blown away!!!

Free State Fan said...

This was an 'instant classic' type of game where both teams pushed the other all game long. FS was able to force most of those fumbles and got the one pick that made the difference. The only knock I have was that both offenses looked painfully predictable. No real attempts as deception. With these two defenses holding fast, it was bound to be low scoring. I am proud of FS! This was their 4th tough game in a row (OE, SMW, ON and SME in consecutive weeks) and they came out 3-1. Check the league (and state) power rankings. That's decent football against the best teams on this side of the state.

Speaking of teams around the state, how'd ya like to be in district 7 where 3 teams are currently 0-6 with the "leader" at 2-4. Move FS out west and put us in that district!!!!!!

Austin Lockwood said...

Lawrence's main issue in my opinion was their passing game. I dont know the full stats but it felt like the QB started out 0-6 before making a simple 1-yard screen pass. Then there was the two interceptions that helped ON a lot.