Regional Recap

Olathe North 42, SM East 14

Olathe North took home a 28 point victory Friday night using their quarterback rotation of David Blazevic and Victor Simmons to perfection. Blazevic hit Jason Peete on a 60 yard touchdown strike before Simmons scored on a 26 yard option keeper with 2:40 remaining in the first quarter. The Eagles slowed in the second quarter, and SM East closed the margin to seven points before the half when John Schrock hit an outstretched Kevin Hertel with a 26 yard touchdown pass. The second half, however, was all Olathe North. Three touchdown runs and a 49 yard touchdown pass from Blazevic to Adonis Saunders (below) put the Eagles up comfortably in the victory.

Blue Valley Northwest 38, Olathe Northwest 25

Blue Valley Northwest quarterback Koby Chadick came out determined to get his Huskies to the next round of the playoffs--207 rushing yards and five touchdowns later his team came out on top. Olathe Northwest, who was making their second playoff appearance in school history, stayed competitive throughout the game on several big touchdowns from Devon Boyce but it wasn't enough. Chadick threw a touchdown pass to Matt Ornduff in the first quarter, and went on to add at least one touchdown run in each of the last three quarters. Blue Valley Northwest will face rival Blue Valley next week in a rematch of a Sectional round thriller from 2008.

Blue Valley 42, SM West 18

For the second year in a row SM West faced an upstart Blue Valley school district team in the first round of the playoffs, and came up short. Blue Valley was led by senior quarterback Anthony Abenoja (below) who scored a combined six touchdowns--three rushing and three passing. The 42 points were the most a SM West defense has given up since losing 42-0 to Olathe North on September 17, 2004. In his last game as the SM West quarterback DJ Balazs completed 10 of 23 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns.

Lawrence Free State 38, Olathe East 7

In a strong defensive effort, Lawrence Free State held Olathe East to a mere 132 yards of total offense, allowing the lone touchdown on a 73 yard pass from Carter McEntee to Chris Fields. In total five different Firebirds scored touchdowns in addition to a field goal by Gabe Ballard-Hanson. With the victory Free State avenged a week one loss to the Hawks. The Firebirds other blemish came against Olathe North, a team they will be facing Friday.

Week Four Review

Three Up

1. SM Northwest

After taking care of Leavenworth 34-0 on Thursday, the Cougars sit at 3-1 with their one loss coming to conference powerhouse Olathe North. More importantly, it appears that SM Northwest has hit their stride, feeding off the abilities of Matt Nowak, John Hauk, and KC Waterman.

2. Lawrence Free State

Since stumbling in week one, the Firebirds have looked more and more like the team their 6A state runner-up team from 2008. After putting on an impressive display in a victory over SM West Saturday, it looks like Free State is capable of beating anyone in the league. Their much anticipated battle with Olathe North in two weeks should sum things up well.

3. Olathe South

For once it was the Falcons who made a comeback to collect a victory. Olathe South used a versatile aerial attack to come back from a 14 point halftime deficit to defeat SM North. The Falcon's offense is legit, its just a matter of when they get things together on the defensive side of the ball.

Three Down

1. SM North

After a great 2-0 start, Kendall Kelly (below) and SM North have been less than impressive in the past two weeks. The Indians followed up a blowout loss to Lawrence Free State by blowing a 14 point halftime lead against Olathe South. Maybe the most disheartening thing for the Indians was that they were outscored 28-7 in the second half of their loss to Olathe South.

2. SM West

The Vikings inability to score has been their achilles heel this season and it finally caught up with them against Lawrence Free State. SM West had an ample amount of opportunities to match Free State's 22 points, but failed to do so on several occasions.

3. Olathe East

The Hawks have played, without a doubt, the toughest schedule of any team in the Sunflower League and now sit at a disappointing 2-2. Their four opponents have a combined record of 12-4 (two of the losses Olathe East dished out), but after playing Olathe North on Friday it appears the Hawks will have a much easier run to finish off the season.

Individual Highlights

**Olathe North's James Franklin carried the ball 25 times for 218 yards and two touchdowns. His touchdowns came on runs of 35 and 63 yards. Teammate Tre Walker (below) also chipped in 19 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown.

**SM Northwest quarterback Matt Nowak had another solid game, completing 10 of 13 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns.

**Lawrence Free State running back Kirk Resseguie had 22 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns. In the past two weeks combined Resseguie has rushed for 302 yards and six touchdowns.

**Olathe North's Jason Peete only had one catch Friday, but it was a big one--a 71 yard touchdown that put Olathe North up 14-0 on Olathe East.

Week Five Power Rankings

1. Olathe North (4-0): The Eagles finished off their rival Olathe East fairly easily, and still remain the team to beat in the Sunflower League, and Class 6A.

2. Lawrence Free State (3-1): The Firebirds have been getting more impressive every week and with the exception of Olathe North, you really can't say that about any other team in the league.

3. SM West (3-1): SM West is still a top three team in the league, but their offensive woes need to be addressed.

4. Olathe East (2-2): The Hawks finished off their brutal stretch 2-2; winning out the rest of the regular season is a definite possibility.

5. SM Northwest (3-1): Two consecutive wins have been impressive by the Cougars, and it looks like they are coming together as a unit.

6. Olathe South (2-2): Unfortunately, offense generally isn't noted for winning championships. The Falcons have a great offense, but the improvement needs to happen defensively.

7. Olathe Northwest (2-2): Olathe Northwest had a nice 25-7 victory over SM South, but to get respect in Olathe they need to defeat their city foes.

8. SM North (2-2): The Indians are backpedaling after a great start to the season. Facing Olathe North this Friday probably won't help the situation.

9. SM South (2-2): The Raiders are working hard to capture their first respectable season in years.

10. SM East (1-3): The Lancers finally garner a victory for new head coach, Chip Sherman. Now let's see if they are capable of doing it again versus Leavenworth.

11. Lawrence (0-4): The Chesty Lions 0-4 start is quite the contrary to where their program was at 15 years ago.

12. Leavenworth (0-4): Leavenworth's battle to not be the worst Sunflower League team ever is getting tricky. They have now been outscored 195-6.

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.