Olathe Northwest 48, SM South 47, 2OT

Olathe Northwest's Dalton Rook
completed 15 of 39 passes for 315
yards and three touchdowns in
the victory at SM South.  Photo
courtesy Colleen Psihountas, of
onwravens.net.

After surviving a late comeback Olathe Northwest is 2-0 for the first time in school history.  SM South on the other hand lost for the second week in a row after failing to score on their last possession--this time a two-point conversion attempt.  The game may go down as the best shootout we see in the Sunflower League during the 2011 season.

SM South got on the board first with a four-yard run from Alex Forslund in the first quarter.  Olathe Northwest responded with three consecutive touchdowns, starting with an eight-yard run from Connor Middleton, followed by a 14-yard pass from Dalton Rook to Bryce Grimm, and concluding with another run from Middleton, this time from one yard out.  Down 21-7, SM South punched in another touchdown on a 14-yard run from Forslund to pull to within seven.  Just before the half Olathe Northwest added yet another touchdown on a 17-yard run from Middleton, to put the Ravens up 28-14.

The scoring began in the third quarter when SM South's Gabe Guild ran in a touchdown from 10 yards out.  Olathe Northwest came back with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Rook to Willie Cauley to push the lead to 35-21.  With seconds left in the third quarter Guild broke free once again, taking a carry 43 yards for his second touchdown of the night.  With SM South trailing by seven, they needed a touchdown and defensive stops in the fourth quarter to have a chance to win, and they did just that.  The Raiders were able to add a touchdown on a two-yard run from Forslund, while also shutting out Olathe Northwest for the final 12 minutes of play.  Tied at 35, the game went to overtime.

In the first overtime SM South scored on a two-yard run from Forslund (his fourth rushing touchdown of the night) but botched the extra point try.  Olathe Northwest took possession and eventually scored on a one-yard run from Rook.  A simple PAT make would have ended the game, but the Ravens also botched the kick, extending the game to another overtime period.

To start the second overtime Rook hit Cauley on a 10-yard touchdown pass, and after a successful PAT attempt, the Ravens led 48-41.  SM South responded with a six-yard touchdown pass from Forslund to Guild to pull within one.  Instead of kicking the PAT, the Raiders elected to go for the win, but came up short as they were stopped on a run play.  

Guild carried the ball 19 times for 210 yards and two touchdowns for the Raiders who fell to 0-2.  Leading the Olathe Northwest rushing attack was Middleton, who finished with 113 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 23 carries.

Vikings open District Play with a Win

Thursday, October 14

SM West 23, SM South 7
While SM West didn't put up the gaudy offensive numbers they had in past weeks, the Vikings handled business accordingly in their district opener. They got on the board midway through the first quarter when quarterback Armani Williams found receiver JJ Shara on a 31-yard touchdown pass. Before halftime kicker Mark Whitrock booted a 37-yarder to put the Vikes up 10-0. In the third quarter the Vikings found the endzone again through the air, this time on a 56-yard pass from Williams to DeAndre Graves. SM South, trailing 17-0, compiled a nice drive later in the quarter and quarterback Alex Forslund put the final touches on it with a 6-yard touchdown run. From then on neither team had much success offensively, but SM West was able to add two more Whitrock field goals, from 27 and 34 yards.

**Note: Next week's matchup between SM West and SM East has been selected by KC Metro Sports as the Hy-Vee High School Game of the Week and will be televised to the metro. The last time the game between these two teams was featured as the Game of the Week was in 2005, when SM West won 17-7 after trailing 7-3 at the half.