Sectional Recap

Olathe North 41, Lawrence Free State 28

Last season Olathe North met Lawrence Free State in the Sectional Round of the playoffs only to go on to play one of their most lackluster games of the season, resulting in a 10-6 loss. The Eagles were apparently dead set on returning the favor this season. Olathe North quarterback Victor Simmons (below) scored the first of his two touchdowns in the opening quarter to put the Eagles up 7-0. Free State's Camren Torneden connected with Keene Niemack on an 11 yard touchdown pass to tie things up, before Simmons added another touchdown run before the half to give Olathe North a 14-7 edge.

Free State's Matt Cole scored on a one yard touchdown run to even the score at 14 early in the third quarter, but the Firebirds were never able to gain the lead. Touchdown runs by James Franklin and Tre Walker gave the Eagles a 14 point lead, which provided ample cushion for the win.

The most telling stat of the game was Olathe North's run production. The Eagles ran the ball 63 times for 414 yards--and threw zero passes. James Franklin's accounted for 247 of those yards, and in doing so broke Darren Sproles career rushing record at Olathe North. Franklin now sits at 5,434 career rushing yards (Sproles' record was 5,230).

Blue Valley 17, Blue Valley Northwest 14 (All Star Video Sports Highlights)
For the second consecutive year Blue Valley will be advancing to the Sub-State round of the playoffs by way of defeating Blue Valley Northwest. This year's game nearly provided as much drama as last year's matchup. The scoring started when Blue Valley Northwest's Koby Chadick threw a perfectly timed pass to receiver Blake Heenan who took the catch 67 yards for a touchdown. Blue Valley responded with a 13 yard pass from Anthony Abenoja (below) to Jacob McDermott, and then later on a 42 yard field goal by Austin Johnson.

Before halftime Chadick reminded people why he is a Simone-Award candidate running seemingly untouched 52 yards for a touchdown, giving Blue Valley Northwest a 14-10 edge. The game reached a stalemate for the better part of the second half before Blue Valley broke into Blue Valley Northwest territory in the fourth quarter. Abenoja connected on a flare route to McDermott, who somehow found his way into the endzone to push Blue Valley to a three point lead, which would turn out to be the game winner.

Blue Valley has now won four straight games after starting the season 1-6. For Blue Valley Northwest, a fourth quarter score from Blue Valley once again keeps them from advancing to the Sub-State round of the playoffs.

News and Notes

**The Simone Award candidates were announced this past weekend. The four players up for the illustrious Simone Award are Olathe North's James Franklin, Blue Valley Northwest's Koby Chadick, Winnetonka's Darryl Jobe, and Blue Springs Darrian Miller.

**Olathe North's Lucas Vincent is among the four finalists for the Buch Buchanan Award, given annually to the most outstanding lineman/linebacker playing class 5A or 6A football in the KC Metro.

Sunflower League Extra

Three Up

Olathe North

The Eagles (below) won the Sunflower League title and closed out an undefeated regular season for the first time since 2004. After five years of ups and downs Olathe North is once again a heavy favorite to win a state championship.

Lawrence

The Chesty Lions had one of their worst seasons in school history, but were able to aviod a winless season with an overtime victory against Leavenworth. For that reason alone the Chesty Lions get a thumbs up for the week.

Sunflower League teams in the playoffs

Overall the Sunflower League did well, qualifying for six of a potential eight playoff positions in the Class 6A playoff bracket, including the top three seeds.

Three Down

Olathe South

At one point in the season the Falcons stood at an impressive 4-2, but the team took a nosedive in district play. Olathe South's three losses to end the season will leave the program with a nasty taste in it's mouth during the offseason.

SM North

Olathe South's three losses seem bad, but pale in comparison to the Indian's seven straight. The problem with all the losses was that SM North never appeared to be that bad of a team. They just never seemed to get any lucky breaks when it really mattered.

Olathe Northwest

For now it looks like the two game explosion was more a product of the opponents than the Olathe Northwest talent. The team received a reality check at the hands of Free State this past weekend, and it will take alot for the team to bounce back against Blue Valley Northwest.

Individual Highlights

**Olathe North's James Franklin eclipsed 5,000 career rushing yards with a 20 carry 168 yard game on Friday. He also added two touchdowns and now has 1,927 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns on the season.

**Lawrence Free State's Kirk Resseguie rushed for 182 yards and a touchdown in his team's victory. Resseguie has gone from relative obscurity being one of the league's top backs in the course of one season--quite an impressive feat.

**In his last high school game SM Northwest's John Hauk battered SM North for 221 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 36 carries.

**SM West running back Will Livingston score three rushing touchdowns for SM West, and ultimately broke SM East's upset chances on a 90 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

**Lawrence Free State's Keene Niemack (below) scored three touchdowns via three different methods. He had an 86 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, a 16 yard touchdown run, and caught an eight yard touchdown pass.

Final Regular Season Power Rankings

1. Olathe North (9-0): The Eagles took the outright Sunflower League crown and look primed for a title run.

2. Lawrence Free State (7-2): Last year's playoff run is still fresh on the Firebird's minds.

3. SM West (8-1): The Viking's defense has been tops in the league and will be key in the teams's matchup with the high powered Blue Valley offense this Friday.

4. Olathe East (6-3): The Hawks have now qualified for the 6A state playoffs eight straight years.

5. SM East (4-5): SM East is quickly losing their "Smurf" image and this year's playoff berth is promising for the program.

6. SM Northwest (5-4): The Cougars inconsistancies got the best of them in the end, but they were still one of the better teams in the Sunflower League.

7. Olathe South (4-5): The Cardiac Kids couldn't put it all together this season; the one thing we do know is that Jeff Gourley's aerial attack is steadily improving within the program.

8. Olathe Northwest (4-5): The Raven's still can't manage to win big games; they have a chance to change that image this week against the one-loss Blue Valley Northwest Huskies.

9. SM South (3-6): The Raiders of 2009 were definitely the best team Brandon Claypool has put together thus far as the head coach at SM South.

10. SM North (2-7): How good, or bad were the Indians in 2009? It's hard to say, but at least they took care of business against the two opponents they should have beat.

11. Lawrence (1-8): A collective sigh from LHS alumni could be heard around Lawrence, KS after the Chesty Lions punched in their game winning touchdown in overtime.

12. Leavenworth (0-9): Leavenworth finished without a win, but their last loss to Lawrence could have gone either way.

Players to Watch in 2009: Keene Niemack

**For the upcoming weeks and months I will be compiling my list of the top players to watch for in the Sunflower League for the 2009 season. The list should be a good transition into the football season, and should help to provide a little more information on the top returning players in the league. The first player: Lawrence Free State senior Keene Niemack.

Name: Keene Niemack

School: Lawrence Free State

Year: Senior

Position(s): WR/DB

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 170 lbs.

Notes: Niemack played his first two varsity football seasons at 2A-1A Lyndon High School. At Lyndon, Niemack accelled as a defensive back and running back, while also dominating the Track and Field scene. A move to Lawrence in 2008 sent Niemack to Lawrence Free State, where he promptly made an impact for the football team.

Niemack saw the majority of his playing time on the defensive side of the ball in this past season, playing at linebacker and defensive back positions. Niemack's biggest game of the 2008 season came in the Sub-State matchup against Blue Valley, when he intercepted two Anthony Abenoja passes, one of which prevented a sure-fire Blue Valley touchdown. With one year under his belt, Niemack's transition to the size and speed of Class 6A football should be complete, and Niemack should make even bigger strides for the 2009 season.

Photo Courtesy John Henry, LJworld.com