Top Sunflower League Quarterbacks since 2000

Derek Miller

*Disclaimer: No current Sunflower League players were eligible in the selection process.

1. Derek Miller, Olathe East, 2003-2005

Miller is kind of like the Dan Marino of the Sunflower League of the past 11 seasons.  He was an absolutely phenomenal quarterback--in my opinion the best--yet his inability to ever win a title did, in some ways, tarnish his legacy just a bit.  He went 31-4 in three years as a starter, with three of the losses coming in the playoffs.  No quarterback has won more than 21 games since 2000, and the only player currently in scope is Olathe South's Frankie Seurer who has 19.

2. Travis Jackson, Olathe South, 1998-2000

In 1999 Jackson threw for 2,685 yards and 17 touchdowns in leading Olathe South to their first ever state championship game.  Had it not been for mononucleosis he likely would have had an even better senior season, but the illness took its toll and he didn't complete the season.  He still passed for 1,220 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2000, however.

3. Camren Torneden, Lawrence Free State, 2006-2008

The "Tornedo" inherited the reins at the quarterback position as a junior and didn't let go, leading Free State to unprecedented levels.  He led the Firebirds to a 9-4 record and a state championship berth in 2008, and he followed it up by leading the team to an 8-3 Sectional Round berth in 2010.  In his two years as the starter he passed for 2,404 yards and 23 touchdowns, and rushed for 2,297 yards and 24 touchdowns.

4. Mack Brown, SM North, 2002-2004

SM North was running the spread back in early 2000s, but people just didn't know to call it that yet.  Brown, playing under his dad Sam Brown, passed for 2,100 yards and 22 touchdowns as a junior, then nearly matched those numbers as a senior, in the process earning offers from Colorado and Ole Miss.

Alex Carder

5. Alex Carder, SM Northwest, 2005-2007

We still haven't figured out if Carder was arrogant, cocky or just downright oblivious to all social cues, but on the field he was a heck of a quarterback for the Cougars--and there's a very solid chance he'll be selected in the 2013 NFL Draft.  In his career he completed a hair under 50% of his passes for 3,457 yards and 22 touchdowns.  He also added 524 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground in that time span.

6. John Martin, SM North, 1999-2001

I don't have the official stats, but Martin passed for over 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns in his career at SM North.  The passing combination of Martin to his top two receiving targets, Nathan Winslow and Brooks Faddis, proved lethal.  As a senior in 2001 he led the Indians to a Sub-State appearance.

7. Blake Lawrence, SM West, 2004-2006

Lawrence only started at quarterback for one year at SM West, but he did well enough in the time period to earn an offer from Missouri to play quarterback.  During the 2006 season he passed for 1,346 yards and 15 touchdowns, in addition to rushing for 483 yards and 16 touchdowns.

8. Ryan Murphy, Lawrence Free State, 2004-2006

Murphy began the pipeline we now know as the Free State quarterback position, and for that he deserves at least some mention on this list.  He had a 15-7 record as a starter, accumulating 3,518 passing yards, 1,710 rushing yards, and 50 combined touchdowns in his two years as the starting quarterback.

9. John Schrock, SM East, 2008-2010

Schrock didn't earn the starter title until his senior year, but he took full advantage of the opportunity once it presented itself.  As a senior he helped lead the Lancers to their winningest season ever at eight wins by passing for 1,634 yards and combining for 25 touchdowns.  He was Colorado's third-string quarterback as a true freshman this past year.

10. Dustin Moomau, Olathe North, 2002-2004

September 2004: Moomau keeps the ball on a veer-option play and bolts through a hole in the middle of the opposing defense.  He trucks the safety, but gets tripped up when his cleat gets caught in the facemask of this safety as he attempts to literally run him over.  I've been told that Moomau stood up and asked the player "what's it like catching a cannon ball?"  Most of us will never know, but in his one season as a starter he was like a cannon ball for defenses, passing for 1,007 yards and nine touchdowns, and rushing for 1,273 yards and 21 touchdowns in leading Olathe North to a 12-1 record.

Great Week One Games of the Past

Ryan Torain had a quiet junior season in
2002 at SM Northwest, but he broke out in
week one of the 2003 season and went on to
rush for over 1,900 yards.  He then starred at
Arizona State, and now he plays for the
Washington Redskins.

Sure the first week of the season doesn't hold playoff implications, but many times it is a tremendous gauge for the new star players and top teams of the Sunflower League.  Here is a look back through the decade at some of the top games and performances from week one games (this year's first Friday of play is September 2).

2003 - SM Northwest 36, Lawrence Free State 15, at SM North District Stadium

SM Northwest's Ryan Torain, currently a running back with the Washington Redskins, truly welcomed himself to the Sunflower League with a monster game in which he rushed for 179 yards and four touchdowns on runs of 73, 31, eight and 25 yards.  He added a fifth touchdown on a 95-yard kickoff return.

2003 - SM North 7, Olathe North 6, at ODAC

Did this game prove to be such a bad omen for Olathe North? No, they still claimed the 2003 6A state title after battling through a three-loss season, but it certainly showed the Eagles, and the league, that things were going to be different without Gene Wier.  Olathe North added two early field goals and maintained a 6-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.  SM North was able to put together a drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Mack Brown to Brooks Faddis.  SM North added the extra point and held on to end Olathe North's 38-game winning streak.

2004 - SM West 19, SM South 14, at SM South District Stadium

To most SM West faithful this was the sort of "turning point" in the program in the mid-2000s.  SM South scored an early touchdown to jump up 7-0.  SM West responded with a touchdown of their own, but they botched the extra point.  Next, SM South's Eric Monroe scooped up a fumble (one of six SM West fumbles that day) and took it 53 yards for a touchdown midway through the game to put SM South up again, 14-6.  SM West responded with two touchdowns, one of which came in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter, to claim the lead and the victory.  SM West would reel off wins in eight of their next 11 games in 2004.

2005 - Olathe South 21, Olathe North 14, at ODAC

Olathe North had waxed the floor with Olathe South in 2004, winning 31-7 in a blowout.  Olathe North lost quite a bit of talent (and their head coach John McCall) but most felt the Eagles would reload as usual--that proved to be quite wrong.  Olathe South was able to hold off the Eagles by a touchdown, much because of senior running back Devin Cummings who had rushing scores of 47 and nine yards that day.  Olathe North went on to lose their first three games and finish a lowly 6-5 (lowly by Olathe North standards that is).  Olathe South put together a very solid 9-2 season, losing in Sectionals to Lawrence.

Olathe South got off to a good start in 2007 with their
opening game win against Free State.  The team finished
the regular season with a 6-3 record, but won three games
in the playoffs to reach the state title game.  The finished
the season with a 9-4 record as the 6A state runner-up.

2007 - Olathe South 34, Lawrence Free State 27, at Haskell Stadium

Olathe South might have generated more hype prior to the 2007 season than just about any team I've seen.  The Falcons were wizards in 7-on-7 during the summer months and they even won a national tournament hosted at the University of Nebraska.  The Falcons were the unanimous choice as the top team in the league by the coaches. 

In this game they looked the part--quarterback Mike Keese passed for 289 yards and three touchdowns and the best part was that the Falcon defense didn't even have to show up and they still won!  That turned out to be the team's achilles heel as they lost three regular season games that year, all three times allowing 20 or more points.  They got their act together in the playoffs and fought their way to the title game where they fell short against Hutchinson.  One thing's for sure--this team was an juggernaut when it came to passing the football.

2009 - Olathe North 71, Leavenworth 6, at Abeles Field

Unlike most of the previous games this one wasn't even close.  However, this game was kind of the moment where the SL collectively realized that Olathe North was going to be good... really good.  Simone Award winner James Franklin had his most modest stat line of the season in this game rushing for a mere 132 yards and two touchdowns, and current K-State linebacker Tre Walker added three rushing touchdowns of his own.  This was the start of Olathe North run to a perfect 13-0 record and 6A state championship crown.

Top Sunflower League Games in 2011

Week 1

Last season Olathe East manhand-
led Olathe North, 25-0, in the regu-
lar season game between the two
teams.  Olathe North avenged the
loss with a 13-6 Sub-State victory.

Olathe North at Olathe East

The first week of the season starts off with a bang as the top two teams in my Power Rankings face off at CBAC.  This is a heated rivalry and Treshawn Root's transfer to North from East just adds more fuel to the fire.  More importantly, I think we'll get a good handle on how much talent both of these squads have compared to their team's of 2010.

Week 2
Lawrence at Olathe South

Will Olathe South’s returning defensive starters make up for their losses on the offensive side of the ball? Can Brad Strauss take his game and Lawrence High’s to the next level?

Week 3
Olathe North at SM West

Last season Olathe North embarrassed SM West in week one scoring the first 29 points of the game. From then on SM West was good, but they never seemed to have the confidence of a team that was going to do anything in the playoffs. This time around SM West would love nothing more than to sneak up on the Eagles and claim a victory.

Week 4
SM Northwest at Lawrence Free State

I put this game on here because both these teams employ exciting offenses and this game could feature offensive fireworks if both teams’ new starters at the skill positions are comfortable by this point in the season.  It would have been fun seeing a game between these two with Stephen Mangelsdorf and Dylan Perry battling it out at their respective quarterback positions.  Maybe the new starters will be just as exciting?

Week 5
SM East at Lawrence

I have a feeling this could be a fun game to watch.  Both teams feature great talent at the skill positions (Strauss, Anthony Buffalomeat, Elliot Faerber, Adam Lowe, etc.), and Lawrence offensive coordinator Mack Brown will be facing his dad Sam Brown’s (SM East’s athletic director) ballclub.

Week 6
Olathe South at Olathe North

This will be the final tune-up week before district play begins.  Olathe North has won the last four games in the rivalry including a 17-0 shutout of Olathe South in Sectional play in 2010.  Neither team will want to start districts coming off a loss.

Week 7
SM North at SM Northwest

The “Hula Bowl” is conveniently placed at the start of district play for both of these teams. I say that because the other two teams in the district are Leavenworth and Wyandotte, and both SM North and SM Northwest will probably be favorites to win both of those games. This early matchup could be for the district title.

Week 8
SM West at SM East

Last year SM East beat SM West for the first time in over a decade. You think the Vikings want their beloved Nut Cup Trophy back?  This game will also probably feature the top two teams from the Shawnee Mission School District and so there are also bragging rights associated with that.



Lawrence High and Lawrence Free State
have battled it out for bragging rights
since their initial meeting in the fall of
1997 (shown above).



Week 9

Lawrence at Lawrence Free State



This annual Lawrence High vs. Free State game is probably the league’s most heated rivalry. Had Free State not been built in the late 1990s, Lawrence High would probably still be one of, if not the league’s top dog—and this idea has resonated with the LHS faithful since the split.

Also, since this is the last game of district play a shot at the playoffs could also be on the line for one or both of the teams.

Photos courtesy the Kansas City Star and the Lawrence Journal World.

Sunflower League All-Decade Team: Brooks Faddis

Name: Brooks Faddis
School: Shawnee Mission North
Graduated: 2004
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 170lbs.
Position: Athlete

With Brooks Faddis the question wasn’t about what position he was playing, but rather how much damage he was going to inflict on the opposition. Faddis, who possessed some of the best wheels of any player during the decade, was along with Anthony Parks only the second player on the list to gain All-State recognition in two different years at two different positions.

Everyone in the SM North program knew Faddis was a special talent, but it wasn’t until the fifth game of the 2001 season (Faddis’ sophomore year) against SM South that the KC metro really knew about him. Splitting duties at the quarterback, receiver, defensive back, and return positions, Faddis had a game for the ages. He caught five touchdown passes of 41, 20, 78, 46, and 25 yards, threw a 35 yard touchdown pass, rushed for 25 yards, returned a punt for 40 yards, and intercepted a pass. His five touchdown catches had come among nine catches for 289 yards. Faddis’ performance in the game earned him national recognition with Scout.com where he was mentioned for having had one of the best games of the 2001 season. SM North failed to make the playoffs, but Faddis received All-Sunflower League honors for his efforts.

As a junior in 2002, Faddis started at quarterback, defensive back, and returned punts. With Faddis as the signal caller SM North won their district, before losing in the Regional round of the playoffs, finishing 6-4. Faddis passed for 15 touchdowns and rushed for 10, and was named First Team All-State Class 6A at the quarterback position following the season.

As a senior in 2003 Faddis was converted back to his more natural position of receiver on offense, while young gun junior Mack Brown took over at quarterback. Faddis also started at defensive back and as a return man.

Faddis and Co. had the first game of the 2003 season circled on their calendars all offseason. The game was against Olathe North, who was coming off a third straight 6A state championship and boasting a 38 game win streak. The head coach of Olathe North’s dynasty, Gene Wier, had left to coach in Texas following the 2002 season, and long time Olathe North assistant John McCall had taken over the head coaching duties prior to the 2003 season. With the majority of the Kansas City metro rooting for an upset, SM North delivered. The game was relative stalemate throughout, but it was a 15 yard touchdown catch by Faddis that gave SM North the necessary points to win. The Indians ended Olathe North’s win streak with a 7-6 victory.

SM North once again went 6-4 and lost in the first round of the playoffs, but Faddis’ efforts were well documented. After the season he was named First Team All-State Class 6A as a receiver, his second consecutive year on the team. Faddis went on to play at Central Missouri, where he enjoyed success early on as a receiver before several knee injuries ended his playing career.