[Not So] Bold Sunflower League Predictions for 2012

Kyle McFarland.  Lawrence Journal World.

1. Lawrence and Free State quarterbacks Brad Strauss and Kyle McFarland, respectively, become the fifth and sixth quarterbacks of the last 10 years to accumulate over 1,000 yards passing and rushing in the same season.  They will join Free State quarterbacks Ryan Murphy, Camren Torneden, Dylan Perry and Olathe North great Dustin Moomau on the list of quarterbacks from the Sunflower League to do so over that time period.

2. There will be movement out of the Sunflower League cellar.  As in, this won't be your older brother's SM South and Leavenworth.

3. Gene Wier's Olathe North ballclub won't win a league title for the first time in his last nine seasons as head coach of the program (Olathe North won SL titles from '95 through '02, the last eight seasons Wier spent at the school before heading to Texas).

4. This will be the proverbial "Year of the Quarterback" in the Sunflower League, with headliners such as Jordan Darling, Frank Seurer, John Blazevic, Strauss and McFarland leading the charges of their respective offenses.  At least one of those players will find themselves among the Simone finalists in December.

5. Lawrence will win 10 or more games for the first time since 2005 and Olathe East will add their 13th consecutive winning season and 11th consecutive playoff berth.

6. The winner of the colossal week five Olathe South vs. Lawrence matchup will finish the regular season undefeated and claim the Sunflower League crown outright.

7. Olathe South's Braden Smith will garner scholarship offers from the rest of the "Who's Who" of college football powers within the next six months, including Alabama who is close to offering but hasn't yet pulled the trigger. SM West's Austin Chambers will also see his offer list grow and at least one other player in the league who does not currently have an FBS will receive one.

8. There will be at least four players on my post-season Elite Eleven team that I did not do a Player Spotlight on and that may or may not have been mentioned, in an capacity, to this point in time on the Sunflower League Football Blog.

9. Some time around week six I will get slightly tired of blogging five or six times a week and struggle to get all of my posts up on time and people will get to work and see I haven't posted and email me with innocuous comments like "Are we getting stats this week?" or "I haven't seen the new Power Rankings, when should I expect those?"  And I will receive at least ONE not so innocuous email from at least ONE not so innocuous parent/patron/"kid who goes to his high school football team's games to 'be seen' and hit on girls and make resoundingly shallow masculine statements common of male high school students of that age who go to games to 'be seen'"/grandparent/creepy uncle about how I am not writing enough about their team, our about how deeply, personally unfair it is that I spelled so-and-so's name wrong or about how I "really have no idea what I'm doing or writing about, do I?"

10. I will enjoy writing about the Sunflower League in 2012.  Thoroughly.

2012 Player Spotlights: Austin Chambers

Austin Chambers.

Austin Chambers
SM West
  
Position: Offensive/Defensive Line
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 295 lbs.
Year: Junior
  
Stat to Note
After a stellar sophomore campaign in which he earned Second Team All-Sunflower League honors as an offensive tackle, Chambers earned his first FBS offer from the University of Kansas this past weekend.

Scouting Report
Chambers has one attribute you can't teach--size.  He's going to be one of, if not the biggest, players in the Sunflower League in 2012.  Say what you want about size being overrated but there's a reason college coaches at the FBS level offer based on size before anything. 

Chamber's nickname isn't "Smash" for aesthetic purposes either.  The kid absolutely flattens defensive lineman and linebackers alike with his strength and mass advantage.  If you watch his film it's basically a lesson in how to pancake a defender.  While he'll need to work on his mobility in the passing game, he has his run blocking skills (SM West's forte) down pat.

I'll be shocked if KU is the only FBS offer Chambers receives in his recruitment process.  He just began tapping into his potential as a sophomore and it was good enough to rank him among the top 10 offensive lineman in the league last season.  He has as much potential as anybody given his attributes and tremendous athleticism.  How far SM West goes in 2012 could hinge directly on their ability to run the football on the right side of their offensive line, which will be anchored by Chambers.

Sunflower League Extra

Free State's Kyle McFarland (right) was able to come down
with the game sealing interception over Olathe Northwest's
Willie Cauley (behind) in helping Free State to a 20-14 win.
Photo courtesy the Lawrence Journal World.

Top 5 Player Ratings

1. Brad Strauss, Quarterback, Lawrence
Week Seven Stats: 15-of-23 passing, 194 yards, 3 TDs; 10 rushes, 50 yards, 1 TD

No one player means more to his team that Strauss.  He boosted Lawrence to one of their biggest victories in the last five years when they took down Olathe North on Friday.  More importantly, Strauss has returned Lawrence High football to respectability, and then some.  And how is this for a stat: the lowest offensive yardage total Strauss has put up this season was his 249 combined rushing and passing yards in week six against SM South.

2. Willie Cauley, Wide Receiver, Olathe Northwest
Week Seven Stats: 4 receptions, 60 yards, 1 TD

Cauley had his worst game of the season with several miscues, including three dropped passes, coming in the second half of Olathe Northwest's six-point loss against Free State.  We'll give him the benefit of the doubt, considering the Raven's normal starting quarterback, Dalton Rook, was injured and wasn't throwing the passes.

3. Gabe Guild, Running Back, SM South
Week Seven Stats: 22 carries, 160 yards, 1 TD

Guild continues to be the main bright-spot for SM South.  His yards per carry average is up to 8.18, and he's running away with the regular season rushing title, sitting 334 yards ahead of the number two rusher in the league.

4. Tanner Gentry, Wide Receiver, Olathe North
Week Seven Stats: 9 receptions, 163 yards, 3 TDs

Gentry is due for some love.  His efforts certainly haven't been the cause of Olathe North's struggles the past two weeks--in fact, Gentry has amassed 233 receiving yards and three reception touchdowns in that time span, perhaps his most productive two week stretch of the season thus far.

5. Kyle McFarland, Quarterback, Lawrence Free State
Week Seven Stats: 14-of-20 passing, 145 yards, 1 TD; 18 carries, 73 yards; 1 defensive interception

McFarland sealed the deal against Olathe Northwest with a four quarter interception against Cauley, a receiver who had seven inches on McFarland.  After winning the starting quarterback job following the second week of the season McFarland has produced impressive numbers for Free State (he ranks fourth in the league in passing and fifth in rushing), including helping the team to wins in five of their last six games.

Honorable Mention: Remington Whitley, Olathe South; Orange Mooney, Olathe North; Connor Middleton, Olathe Northwest; Treshawn Root, Olathe North; John Kelsh, Olathe East; Kendall Kelly, Olathe East; Dalton Rook, Olathe Northwest; Jordan Bruce, Olathe North

First and Ten

1. An honest rating of the talent level across the Sunflower League this season on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best?  I would go with a 5.  Players like Brad Strauss and Willie Cauley would have been dominant in any season the past 10 years, but overall I've found that it's hard finding the top five talents in the league every week because the consistency just hasn't been there--normally the hard part is deciding who doesn't get on the list each week, but not this season.

2. The most pleasantly surprising players this season have been, in no particular order, Cauley, Gabe Guild, Treshawn Root, Dalton Rook, Kyle McFarland, Remington Whitley, and Jordan Ward.  Most of these guys were hardly even on the radar in week one.

3. This could be the first time in, well, decades, that the 6A East representative is not from the Sunflower League.  BV Northwest handled Olathe South last week, and they're as hot as any team in Kansas right now.  The Huskies most highly touted teams of recent years (2004 and 2005) bowed out early in the playoffs, so we'll see if they buck that trend this time around.

4. Despite having lost two straight games, I still fully expect Olathe North to make a run through the playoffs to the state championship game.  Heck, they've made it to at least the Sub-State round in 12 of the last 16 years!

5. Speaking of the number 12, with their six wins, Olathe East has guaranteed themselves a 12th straight winning season.  Jeff Meyers reloads his talent as well as anyone, and that's a fact.

6. Two teams remain in the running for the Sunflower League crown.  In odd years league records are based on the first seven SL opponents for each team.  Right now, the standings for the two contenders are Olathe South at 6-0 and Olathe East at 5-1.  Olathe South has already clinched a share of the title, but Olathe East can get in on a share of the league title if they defeat Olathe South in week nine.  League championships don't mean a thing in Kansas, but players do earn a "Sunflower League Champions" patch on their letter jackets (and who's going to complain about that?).

7. The SL may be void of division one offensive lineman this season, but keep an eye out in the next two years.  Olathe South sophomore Braden "Gigantor" Smith stands 6-foot-6 and weighs in at around 275 pounds.  He benches 380 pounds and he's only 15.  He's been a focal point of Olathe South's successes this season and I can only anticipate him getting bigger, stronger, and meaner in the seasons to come.  To the north, SM West sophomore Austin Chambers checks in at 6-foot-5 and weighs 290 pounds.  He too has been a focal point of his team's success.  Often times the main reason lineman don't go division one has to do with their lack of size.  Size isn't an issue with either of these kids--and clearly the talent is there or else they wouldn't be starting as sophomores.  It also helps that both play (and do very well) in other sports when they're not on the gridiron, which just goes to show their athletic versatility.

8. Two of the more underrated playmakers in the league include SM North's Mason Perez and SM Northwest's Jake Horner.  Perez has recorded nine touchdowns this season, and six of those have come on plays of 40 yards or longer.  Horner has returned two kicks for touchdowns, not to mention a 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown in week two against SM West that nearly propelled his team to victory.  He's also averaging 33.4 yards per return on kickoffs.  While neither player is on a stellar team, both are stellar athletes that have a knack for making big plays.

9.  Last year the three of the four teams from the Sunflower League who made the the Sectional round of the playoffs led the league in rushing yards per game during the course of the year.  This year's top four?  Olathe North, Olathe East and SM South at 313, 283, and 277 yards per game, respectively.

10. With McFarland finding his way into this week's Top Five Player Ratings, it poses the great question of whether Free State quarterbacks are simply a product of the system?  If you remember back to the glory days of Mike Leach at Texas Tech, literally every year he would have another quarterback who would pass for 4,000 or more yards and 40 or so touchdowns.  It didn't matter who the quarterback was, they just all seemed to produce.  None of those quarterbacks had success in the NFL and basically their great collegiate stats were attributable to Leach's pass happy system.  In the SL, Free State has produced three quarterbacks since 2006 who have passed and rushed for over 1,000 yards in a single season, and McFarland could easily become the fourth in a couple weeks.  Are the Free State quarterbacks that talented, or has Bob Lisher created a fool-proof offensive system for quarterbacks to produce gaudy yardage in? 

Stat Check

Passing Yards
Brad Strauss, Lawrence: 1,501, 11 TDs
Dalton Rook, Olathe Northwest: 1,364, 15 TDs
Jordan Bruce, Olathe North: 1,084, 14 TDs
Kyle McFarland, Free State: 976, 10 TDs
Nick Pirotte, SM East: 850, 5 TDs
Frank Seurer, Olathe South: 839, 7 TDs
Armani Williams, SM West: 816, 5 TDs
John Blazevic, Olathe East: 612, 7 TDs
Mark Dabeck, Leavenworth: 586, 4 TDs
Ryan Theis, SM North: 582, 8 TDs

Rushing Yards
Gabe Guild, SM South: 1,251, 10 TDs
Orange Mooney, Olathe North: 917, 9 TDs
Treshawn Root, Olathe North: 834, 5 TDs
Connor Middleton, Olathe Northwest: 775, 13 TDs
Kyle McFarland, Free State: 773, 6 TDs
Brad Strauss, Lawrence: 705, 11 TDs
John Kelsh, Olathe East: 689, 6 TDs
Danny Manning, SM Northwest: 681, 7 TDs
Kendall Kelly, Olathe East: 652, 11 TDs
Shawn Knighton, Free State: 538, 5 TDs

Receiving Yards
Willie Cauley, Olathe Northwest: 891, 12 TDs
Tanner Gentry, Olathe North: 664, 12 TDs
Connor Rellihan, SM East: 548, 6 TDs
Anthony Buffalomeat, Lawrence: 479, 5 TDs
Ryan Patterson, Free State: 468, 3 TDs
Chad Johnson, Olathe East: 461, 6 TDs
Erick Mayo, Lawrence: 439, 3 TDs
Mason Perez, SM North: 432, 7 TDs
Drake Hofer, Lawrence: 392, 3 TDs
Joel Spiller, SM West: 335, 2 TDs

Tackles
Remington Whitley, Olathe South: 100
Alex Anthony, Olathe Northwest: 95
Jeramie Fischer, SM South: 75
Austin Jackson, Leavenworth: 70
Gage Smoots, Olathe North: 70
Tony Wagner, Olathe North: 70
Colin McCarty, SM North: 68
Alex Waugh, Leavenworth: 68
Connor Middleton, Olathe Northwest: 67
Alex Forslund, SM South: 66

Interceptions (Based on return yardage)
Calloway Schmidt, Free State: 5
Tim Mayes, Olathe Northwest: 4 (1 TD)
Isaiah Ross, Leavenworth: 4
Marcus Banks, Olathe East: 3
Kyle McFarland, Free State: 3
Remington Whitley, Olathe South: 3
Sean Wilkes, SM North: 3
Junior Williams, Olathe East: 3

Kick Return/Punt Return Touchdowns
Teddy Colbert, Olathe South: 1 KR TD
Tanner Gentry, Olathe North: 1 PR TD
Matt Elliott, Olathe South: 1 KR TD
Andy Hiett, SM East: 1 PR TD
Jake Horner, SM Northwest: 2 KR TD
Quint Kelby, SM Northwest: 1 PR TD
Avery Parker, Olathe Northwest: 1 KR TD
Mason Perez, SM North: 2 KR TD
Taylor Sheffield, Olathe South: 1 KR TD
Brad Strauss, Lawrence: 1 KR TD
Troy Wilkins, SM East: 1 KR TD
Junior Williams, Olathe East: 1 KR TD

Field Goals
Anthony Rosen, Lawrence: (3/4)
Mark Whitrock, SM West: (3/4)
Jorge Rivero, Olathe North: (3/7)
Dainan Swoope, SM South: (2/2)

Stats courtesy Mid-Statesports.com