Week Eight Review

Three Up

SM East

The Lancer's 13-12 victory over SM Northwest was one of the bigger upsets of the season in the Sunflower League. After a tumultuous 0-3 start it looked as if the Lancers were on pace for another very mediocre season. Since that time the team has gone 4-1, and with their victory Friday night they sealed a playoff berth.

Olathe Northwest

Olathe Northwest may have represented themselves poorly against the other Olathe schools, but they will be making the playoffs in 2009, which is ultimately the bigger goal. Granted, the Raven's two district wins have come against teams that are a combined 0-16, but the dominate fashion of their victories provides evidence that the team may be clicking.

Olathe North (below)

The Eagles took care of business for the eight time this season, and their star running back James Franklin was able to rest the entire second half. The victory over Blue Valley West sealed the district crown, and with a win against Olathe South on Friday the Eagles will also stake claim to an outright Sunflower League title. It would be the school's first since 2004.

Three Down

SM Northwest

By losing to SM East on Friday the Cougars were officially eliminated from playoff contention. No one saw this coming. The team played inconsistent football throughout the year, but it appeared the duo of Matt Nowak and John Hauk would be enough to propel the team to the playoffs. In the end the end the Cougars had no such luck.

Olathe South

Much like SM Northwest, the Falcons possessed a decent group of talent, but were haunted by inconsistency and a difficulty schedule. When reviewing the Falcon's stats more closely it also became obvious that the team struggled to score as many points as their stats would indicate. Tanner Dutton routinely passed for 250+ yards, but often that would only equate to one or two touchdown passes. With defensive liabilities the Falcons couldn't come through in district play.

SM South

At one point in time it looked like SM South had turned the corner and had a decent shot of improving to 4-3 through seven games. Things did not go their way and two consecutive losses have eliminated the Raider's playoff chances. With Olathe East on tap for week nine, that fourth win looks even more elusive.

Individual Highlights

**SM East's Kevin Hertel caught touchdown passes of 14 and 43 yards--the Lancers only scores of the game. The last touchdown was ultimately the score that elevated SM East to the win.

**Olathe North's James Franklin only ran the ball in the first half, but still totalled 159 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

**Josh Lemke, Brandon Bouvilom, and Cullen Phillips combined for seven touchdowns in Olathe Northwest's 63 point offensive performance. Phillips had touchdowns runs of 10 and 49 yards, Bouvilom had runs of 1 and 24 yards, and Lemke threw touchdown passes of 23, 29, and 34 yards.

**SM West's DJ Balazs collected his 20th career victory as a starting quarterback in the Viking's 49-7 victory Friday night. Balazs joins an elite group of Sunflower League quarterbacks who have accomplished the feat. Here is a list of some of the most recent members:

Name, school, graduation year, wins

Derek Miller, Olathe East, 2006, 31

DJ Balazs, SM West, 2010, 20

Tyler Lawrence, SM West, 2006, 20

**Olathe East's Hayden Groves ran the ball 22 times for 166 yards and one touchdown. He also caught a 19 yard touchdown pass in the Hawk's victory.

Week Nine Power Rankings

1. Olathe North (8-0): The Eagles are one win from claiming their first Sunflower League crown since 2004.

2. Lawrence Free State (6-2): The Firebirds will be looking to give Olathe Northwest a reality check.

3. SM West (7-1): The Vikings are peaking at the right time; their 49-7 win on Friday shows that both their offense and defense are well prepped for the playoffs.

4. Olathe East (5-3): If the Hawks take care of business against SM South they will be looking at their eighth straight playoff appearance.

5. Olathe South (4-4): A season that once showed alot of promise will be over all-to-soon for the Falcon faithful.

6. Olathe Northwest (4-4): The Ravens are already in the playoffs, but their game against Lawrence Free State will be a gut check.

7. SM East (4-4): The Lancers have already qualified for the playoffs and get a chance at their rival SM West on Friday, a team they haven't beaten in over a decade.

8. SM Northwest (4-4): The Cougars are a better team than their 4-4 record shows, but they were never able to put it all together in 2009.

9. SM South (3-5): The Raiders have nothing to lose against Olathe East; a four win season should be good motivation for the Green and Gold.

10. SM North (2-6): The Indians two wins came against winless Lawrence and Leavenworth.

11. Lawrence (0-8): It's time to see who wants it more.

12. Leavenworth (0-8): See Lawrence.

Game Scores and Notes

Week Eight Game Results

Olathe North 49, Blue Valley West 8

After a less-than-impressive performance from Olathe North in week seven, the Eagles came out and dominated Blue Valley West from the opening whistle. Olathe North's defense held Blue Valley West to two first half first downs, and the score at the half favored the Eagles 35-0. Olathe North's James Franklin only carried the ball once in the second half, but still closed out the game with 16 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

Blue Valley 42, Olathe South 14

For the second week in a row Blue Valley came out with an offensive attack the had been hiding all season, and this time around it got an Olathe school. The Falcons from Olathe South failed to eliminate many of the mistakes that have been haunting them the entire season, most notably defensive liabilities. Tanner Dutton completed 21 of 29 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown for Olathe South, but once again the offensive fireworks weren't enough to collect the victory.

Olathe East 49, Blue Valley North 35

Blue Valley North literally used every page of the playbook to get a victory, but in the end Olathe East came out on top. A fake punt touchdown pass bumped Blue Valley North to a quick 7-0 lead, before Olathe East separated themselves and had gained a 28-7 lead by the start of the fourth quarter. From there, Blue Valley North ripped off four touchdowns (three on Danny Dolen touchdown passes). However, Olathe East scored three touchdowns of their own to grab a 14 point victory.

Lawrence Free State 42, Lawrence 14

In a sad reminder of the times for Lawrence alumni, LHS remained winless, this time in the form of a 28 point drubbing from their cross town rival. Free State's Camren Torneden (below) opened play with a 71 yard scamper to put Free State up seven--ultimately the touchdown was an omen of things to come. Lawrence lost fumbles on their next two possessions which led to easy Free State scores. The Chesty Lions have their last chance of victory against Leavenworth this Friday in a clash of winless teams.

Olathe Northwest 63, Leavenworth 0

Olathe Northwest broke the school record for points in a game for the second week in a row with their 63 point shutout of Leavenworth on Friday. The Ravens, who sealed a playoff berth with the win, were led by were led by their usual skill position players Josh Lemke, Brandon Bouvilom, and Cullen Phillips, who combined to score seven touchdowns.

Blue Valley Northwest 34, SM South 0

It appears as though Blue Valley Northwest is peaking at the right time of the season--an unfortunate draw for the Raiders from SM South. Blue Valley Northwest scored all of their 34 points in the first half of the game, feeding off of two Koby Chadick touchdown passes of 25 and 34 yards.

SM East 13, SM Northwest 12

In perhaps the biggest stunner of the 2009 season thus far, SM East was able to pull out a one point victory in their second district game and ultimately secure a playoff berth. An early defensive touchdown for SM Northwest put the Cougars up 6-0, but a botched extra point ended up costing them in the end. SM East was able to produce its 13 points off two touchdown passes to Kevin Hertel, while SM Northwest was only able to add two more field goals in the game.

SM West 49, SM North 7

Statistically SM West played one of their more sound games of the season in handing SM North it's sixth straight loss. SM West scored two defensive touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns, and one passing touchdowns in jumping to a 49-0 advantage at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Vikings will square off against their rival SM East--who is also 2-0 in district play--for the district championship on Friday.

Sunflower League Extra

Top Five Player Ratings

Player Ratings are subject to change on a week-to-week basis

1. James Franklin, running back, Olathe North: Franklin's 241 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries pushed his season rushing total to 1,600 yards. He has now scored 21 touchdowns for the Eagles.

2. DJ Balazs, quarterback, SM West: Balazs (below) looked nearly flawless in passing for 106 yards Friday night, but it was his 69 yard touchdown run out of the shotgun formation that really raised some eyebrows. Balazs is now one win short of recording his 20th career victory as a starter.

3. Camren Torneden, quarterback, Lawrence Free State: Torneden had another amazing game scoring five touchdowns in three different manners. He passed for 155 yards and one touchdown, rushed for 21 yards and three touchdowns, and returned a punt 71 yards for a score.

4. Brandon Willingham, running back/defensive back, Olathe East: In his team's week seven loss Willingham ran the ball 29 times for 163 yards. Willingham was the go to player for the Hawks all night, gaining crucial yardage throughout the contest, and almost willing the team to a comeback victory.

5. Kirk Resseguie, running back, Lawrence Free State: Resseguie rushed for 132 yards and three touchdowns in Free State's 55-0 victory over Leavenworth. Resseguie's touchdowns came on runs of 1, 3, and 10 yards.

Honorable Mention: Tanner Dutton, Olathe South; Matt Nowak, SM Northwest; Tre Walker, Olathe North

Week Seven Power Rankings

*Power Rankings are subject to change on a week-to-week basis

**See previous post for commentary on Power Rankings

1. Olathe North (7-0)

2. Lawrence Free State (5-2)

3. SM West (6-1)

4. Olathe East (4-3)

5. Olathe South (4-3)

6. SM Northwest (4-3)

7. Olathe Northwest (3-4)

8. SM South (3-4)

9. SM East (3-4)

10. SM North (2-5)

11. Lawrence (0-7)

12. Leavenworth (0-7)

Stat Check

Sunflower League Leaders

Passing Yards

Tanner Dutton, Olathe South: 1,795

Ryan Goodburn, SM North: 801

DJ Balazs, SM West: 790

Camren Torneden, Lawrence Free State: 784

Carter McEntee, Olathe East: 748

Matt Nowak, SM Northwest: 723

Robby Moriarty, SM East: 532

Josh Lemke, Olathe Northwest: 456

John Schrock, SM East: 419

David Blazevic, Olathe North: 359

Grant Hilton, SM South: 337

Mark Dabeck, Leavenworth: 310

Chris Gaston, Lawrence: 131

Rushing Yards

James Franklin, Olathe North: 1,600

Hayden Groves, Olathe East: 780

Kirk Resseguie, Lawrence Free State: 757

Brandon Willingham, Olathe East: 742

Tyrae Jenkins, Lawrence: 657

Johannes Swanepoel, SM South: 610

Camren Torneden, Lawrence Free State: 543

Kendall Kelly, SM North: 513

Cordi Pascal, SM West: 508

Brandon Bouvilom (below), Olathe Northwest: 484

Barry Sargent, Olathe South: 472

Victor Simmons, Olathe North: 455

John Hauk, SM Northwest: 452

Josh Lemke, Olathe Northwest: 426

Warren Brown, Leavenworth: 393

Receiving Yards

Marquis Addison, Olathe South: 728

Chris Fields, Olathe East: 459

Kendal Harland, Olathe South: 349

Antonio McFadden, SM South: 273

Grant Ellis, SM East: 245

Chris Mansker, SM Northwest: 244

Connor Stremel, Lawrence Free State: 242

Will Maynard, SM North: 230

Keene Niemack, Lawrence Free State: 222

Aundre Allen, Lawrence Free State: 221

Jason Peete, Olathe North: 219

Kevin Hertel, SM East: 214

Kevin Webster, SM West: 213

Arthur Rucker, SM North: 204

Tackles

Austin Fulson, Olathe East: 95

Adam Olsen, SM South: 88

Darrin Sorrem, Lawrence: 71

Gavin Blankenship, SM South: 69

Tanner Ginavan, Olathe South: 67

Trip Hiller, Olathe South: 63

Dylan Hanson, Olathe South: 62

Chandler Smith, Olathe Northwest: 62

Brandon Willingham, Olathe East: 61

Derrick Crandall, SM South: 56

Delon Barbour, Olathe East: 53

Rodney Harris, Olathe East: 53

Seth Krug, Olathe Northwest: 52

Interceptions

Brad Gourley, Olathe South: 5

Stephan Mangelsdorg, SM Northwest: 3

Jason Peete, Olathe North: 3

Stephem Anselmi, Olathe Northwest: 2

Ricky Ashley, SM South: 2

Delon Barbour, Olathe East: 2

Will Greenhaw, SM Northwest: 2

Kevin Hertel, SM East: 2

Adam LeBlanc, SM West: 2

Brandon Willingham, Olathe East: 2

Game Scores and Notes

Week Five Game Results

Olathe North 42, SM North 0

While Olathe North kept it's title as the lone undefeated team in the Sunflower League, the Indians from SM North lost their third straight game. The contest might as well have been called the James Franklin show. He ran the ball 23 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns in just three quarters of work. Olathe North will now begin preparing for their upcoming showdown with the red-hot Free State Firebirds--a game that has stood out on the Sunflower League calendar for weeks.

Olathe South 26, Lawrence 23

Despite playing their best game yet, the Lawrence Lions were unable to notch a victory against Olathe South's spread attack. Lawrence jumped out to a 15-0 lead on touchdown runs from Tyrae Jenkins and Christopher Gaston, but the lead would not hold. Olathe South scored 26 unanswered points before the Lawrence chipped in a fourth quarter score.

Olathe East 7, Olathe Northwest 0

Olathe East's Brooks Smith punched in an 11 yard touchdown run in the first quarter for the Hawks, and that would turn out to be all she wrote. The Sunflower League's lowest scoring affair thus far was the epitome of smashmouth football. Olathe East's Brandon Willingham rushed for 168 yards on 19 carries, while Olathe Northwest's Brandon Bouvilom led the Ravens with 63 yards rushing on 15 carries. Ultimately, Olathe East's opening drive score was the game winner.

Lawrence Free State 42, SM Northwest 0

Everyone knows that Lawrence Free State has been playing well lately, but their clobbering of SM Northwest really put an exclamation point on the idea. The Firebirds rushed for 445 yards in the game, 201 coming from running back Kirk Resseguie (below), and 152 coming from Camren Torneden. SM Northwest quarterback Matt Nowak's 76 yards passing and 15 yards rushing weren't nearly enough to keep the Cougars competitive in the game.

SM West 37, SM South 14

After a less-than-impressive first half, SM West outscored SM South 21-0 in the third quarter to grasp control of the game. Leading the Vikings were DJ Balazs who completed 12 of 20 passes for 151 yards and one touchdown, and running back Cordi Pascal who ran the ball 16 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

SM East 34, Leavenworth 7

Leavenworth, like Lawrence, displayed their best for parts of their game Friday. The Pioneers were able to hold SM East scoreless in the first quarter before the Lancers took off en route to 34 points. Leavenworth's lone score came in the fourth quarter on a three yard run by Cody Frazee. SM East on the other hand has won its last two games after beginning the season 0-3.

Week One Review

Three Up

1. Olathe North
Any questions as to whether or not Olathe North was worthy of the hype they had received over the summer were answered in their 71-6 trouncing of Leavenworth. Granted, Leavenworth has been a perennial cellar-dweller in the Sunflower Conference, but dropping 71 points on any team is impressive. James Franklin and Tre Walker combined for five rushing touchdowns--the combo of those two is probably going to be a common thread throughout the season.

2. SM North
For the first time in head coach Ryan Majors five years at the helm, the Indians won the opening game of the season. A nice victory on the road at Lawrence should instill quite a bit of confidence in the group, and with Leavenworth on the schedule for Week Two, the Indians could be looking at their first 2-0 start in years.

3. Olathe East (below)
No Derahn Williams, Rick Settle, or Jake Woten? No problem. The Hawks made a big statement in Week One by taking down last season's 6A State-Runner Up in Lawrence Free State. It doesn't seem to matter who graduates from Olathe East, the program continues to reload. Now the true question is whether or not the Hawks can maintain the success throughout the season.

Three Down

1. Lawrence Free State
Maybe the Firebirds are just slow starters. With the exception of the 2006 season, Lawrence Free State has never been a team that starts the season real hot. Regardless, the Firebird's loss to Olathe East on Friday was a flat out let down. Their five turnovers certainly didn't help, and it makes you wonder how much the loss of Chucky Hunter is going to hurt the team.

2. Lawrence
The Chesty Lions had a great chance to break in their new stadium with a victory against the Indians of SM North--but an anemic effort on the offensive side of the ball made their first game at their new stadium a snooze fest. The Chesty Lions lost 17-14.

3. SM East
Obviously the Lancer's new head coach Chip Sherman has a proven track record and a great coach, and his influence on the program should take hold soon--but just not yet. The Lancers came out flat and were beat down by Olathe Northwest in a 29-7 loss.

Individual Highlights

**Olathe South quarterback Tanner Dutton passed for 315 yards and one touchdown against SM West, but despite the lofty number the Falcons lost, 29-23.

**Olathe North's Jason Peete returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown, while also helping the Eagles to a defensive domination of Leavenworth. After a dominate junior season, Peete looks on track to being one of the Sunflower League's top defenders again in 2009.

**SM West's Alex Snook returned a late interception for a touchdown to put SM West up on Olathe South for good. Snook's efforts were the bright spot on an otherwise unimpressive effort from the Viking's defensive coverage on Friday.

**The combined effort of Josh Lemke and Brandon Bouvilom helped Olathe Northwest to a very impressive defeat of SM East. The Ravens showed off an intensity they had lacked in years past.

**Despite his team's loss, Lawrence running back Tyrae Jenkins (below) rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries.

Week Two Power Rankings

1. Olathe North (1-0): Eagles out to prove they belong with North teams of the late 90s and early 2000s.

2. SM West (1-0): Vikings grit out a tough win with their typical dosage of hard nosed running and big plays defensively.

3. Olathe East (1-0): I've said it before--2009 could potentially be Jeff Meyers best body of coaching work ever. His inexperienced squad defeated a seasoned Lawrence Free State team in impressive fashion in Week One.

4. Lawrence Free State (0-1): We'll assume the Firebirds are off to another slow start.

5. SM Northwest (1-0): Although an eight point win against SM South isn't real impressive, the fact that they did it without two of their best athletes is.

6. Olathe South (0-1): It appears that head coach Jeff Gourley will be implementing alot of passing in 2009.

7. Olathe Northwest (1-0): Olathe Northwest is above .500 for the first time ever in school history.

8. SM North (1-0): Impressive Week One win by the Indians. A 2-0 start is also achievable.

9. Lawrence (0-1): The Chesty Lions ran the ball 41 times Friday, and appeared hesitant to throw the football.

10. SM East (0-1): Chip Sherman is denied is 200th career win in a disappointing start to the season for the Lancers.

11. SM South (0-1): On a positive note, the Raiders were within eight points of beating SM Northwest.

12. Leavenworth (0-1): Not a good start to the season. The Pioneers may not buck their poor tradition anytime soon.

Game Scores and Notes

Week One Game Results

Olathe North 71, Leavenworth 6

Clearly, Olathe North was able to flex their muscles in this game. Simone hopeful James Franklin totalled 132 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Joining him in the backfield was Kansas State commit Tre Walker, who added three rushing touchdowns of his own. The Eagles dropped half-a-hundred on Leavenworth by halftime, and went on to score three more touchdowns in the second half.

Olathe East 29, Lawrence Free State 20

This game came as a bit of a surprise, but after looking at the box score it makes sense why Olathe East came out on top. Lawrence Free State, the more seasoned of the two squads, committed five turnovers, four of which came on interceptions. Firebird quarterback Camren Torneden passed for 151 yards, and rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns, but ultimately the three interceptions he threw hurt the Firebirds quite a bit. Olathe East fed off the turnovers and played a very disciplined game in coming out on top.

SM West 29, Olathe South 23

Olathe South's steady passing game was nearly enough to take down the Vikings Friday night. Falcon quarterback Tanner Dutton completed 29 of 47 passes for 315 yards and one touchdown, but SM West showed alot of grit in winning the game. Olathe South started out hitting on all cylinders--to the tune of a 13-0 lead. But SM West, led by 166 rushing yards from junior Will Livingston, battled back to gain a halftime lead. A late pick six by SM West senior Alex Snook solidified the victory for the Vikings.

SM North 17, Lawrence 14

The Indians of SM North put a bit of a damper on the night that unveiled the new football stadium at Lawrence High. SM North used a balanced rushing attack of Kendall Kelly (below) and Arthur Rucker to wear down the Lawrence front seven. Lawrence also turned the ball over three times on fumbles in the loss.

SM Northwest 23, SM South 15
Despite having two key players injured (John Hauk and Trey Jacobson), the Cougars of SM Northwest were able to grind out a win. Quarterback Matt Nowak completed 12 of his 16 pass attempts for 135 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball six times for 32 yards and a touchdown.

Olathe Northwest 29, SM East 7 (Thursday Night Game)
Chip Sherman's first game as head coach at SM East, a Thursday night contest, ends in defeat. Olathe Northwest's Brandon Bouvilom rushed for two touchdowns and helped Olathe Northwest's head coach, Todd Dain, defeat his former school.

Olathe Northwest vs SM East All Star Video Sports Highlights