Throughout the season, Class 3A has easily seen the most rankings shakeup on a weekly basis. Class 6A, though, is second with multiple changes. After the Round of 16 playoff games, that trend continued with Class 3A and Class 6A having multiple positions change in the top-5.
Notably, Class 6A’s Gardner-Edgerton, Lawrence Free State and Lawrence, ranked No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 all lost. The trio is all from the Sunflower League.
In 3A, No. 4 Colby and No. 5 Jefferson West both lost and dropped out of the rankings.
Additionally, both eight-man classifications, which have seen little movement in the last several weeks, both had a change at least one change.
In Division I, Clifton-Clyde lost and went 9-1 for the second straight year. Hodgeman County moved into the poll. In Division II, Frankfort took its second loss to Hanover this year. Frankfort was ranked fourth. Now, St. Paul is fourth, and Thunder Ridge stands fifth.
Here are the rankings headed into the state quarterfinals:
Class 6A
The only constant is No. 1 Derby, which moved to 10-0 and won its 23rd straight contest. The defending state champion and No. 1-ranked Panthers easily defeated Wichita West, 49-13. Derby will play host to Manhattan.
No. 2 Topeka High improved to 9-1 and vaulted from fifth to second behind more than 350 rushing yards from Ky Thomas. Topeka High knocked off Lawrence, 56-35, and is in the state quarterfinals for the second straight year.
Topeka High gets a rematch versus Junction City (8-2) in a matchup of Centennial League rivals. In Week 4, JC beat Topeka High, 48-41, at Hummer Park on a TD pass with less than a second left. Topeka High is into the quarterfinals for the second straight year, the first time in school history it’s accomplished the feat.
Blue Valley (7-3), Manhattan (9-1) and Olathe North (8-2) round out the final three spots in the poll. After a rare 4-5 season in ’18, Blue Valley is back in the quarterfinals after a 24-7 victory versus Olathe East – one of several victories for the Eastern Kansas League over the Sunflower League.
No. 3 Blue Valley will get a rematch with Blue Valley North (5-5), which pulled the 42-41 upset against Gardner-Edgerton. Gardner-Edgerton committed six turnovers, and BVN stopped the Trailblazers’ potential game-winning two-point conversion with under a minute to go. Blue Valley defeated EKL rival Blue Valley North, 34-7, in Week 2. Two years ago, the teams met up in the semifinals, and Blue Valley North beat Blue Valley in double overtime.
No. 4 Manhattan defeated Lawrence Free State, 49-28, behind a big ground game and will face Derby in the quarterfinals.
No. 5 Olathe North is the only Sunflower League team left after an expected big win versus KC Wyandotte, 56-13. ON gets another EKL team, Blue Valley West (7-3) this week.
Class 5A
A slight change in this week’s rankings. St. Thomas Aquinas and Wichita Northwest are No. 1 and No. 2, and Mill Valley and Bishop Carroll flipped spots at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. De Soto again stands at fifth.
No. 1 Aquinas (9-0) has won 21 straight games. Aquinas earned its second win against St. James Academy this year with a 34-7 victory. Aquinas has never lost to SJA in school history.
No. 2 Wichita Northwest (10-0) continues with its big turnaround defensively with just 69 points allowed, the best in the classification. Northwest defeated Great Bend, 48-14, the second win versus the Panthers this year.
No. 3 Mill Valley has navigated a challenging Eastern Kansas League stretch with a 42-6 win versus Olathe West. Olathe West coach T.J. O’Neill is a former Jaguar assistant coach. Mill Valley (7-3) bumped up a spot with the big victory.
The Jaguars have had a big season on both sides, notably defensively. Olathe West had scored 28 points a game entering the contest, but Mill Valley held the Owls to just eight first downs.
No. 4 Bishop Carroll (8-2) defeated Andover, 35-7, and gets the rematch versus Wichita Northwest. The two City League rivals met up in Week 1 and the playoffs in ’18 and again in the season opener this year. Northwest is 3-0, though all three contests are close.
No. 5 De Soto (10-0) defeated Shawnee Heights, 31-0, the second straight year De Soto beat Shawnee Heights in the regular season and playoffs. The Wildcats will likely have easily their strongest test of the year with a matchup versus Mill Valley this week.
Class 4A
No change in the top-5.
No. 1 Bishop Miege (8-2) easily rolled over Bonner Springs, 57-16. Miege, the five-time defending state champions, will face Tonganoxie in the quarterfinals.
No. 2 McPherson (10-0) had lost to Goddard in the state semifinals last season and narrowly pulled off a 14-8 victory versus the Lions on Friday. McPherson will be heavily favored versus under .500 Arkansas City in the quarters.
No. 3 Paola (10-0) beat KC Piper, 42-14, the second win versus KC Piper this year. Paola defeated KC Piper, 43-16, in Week 6. The game was tied at seven after the first quarter before Paola scored 21 points in the second quarter. Paola has a win improvement for a fourth straight year and has won double-digit games for the first time since an 11-2 year in 2013.
No. 4 Tonganoxie (10-0) beat Spring Hill, 45-24, as Cooper Cunningham cleared 2,000 rushing yards this year. The Chieftains are 10-0 for the first time in school history.
No. 5 Andover Central (9-1) beat Augusta, 45-7, and will face Buhler (8-2) in the quarterfinals. Both of these teams were 5-5 last year.
Class 3A
No. 1 Andale (10-0) continues to lead the classification in scoring offense and scoring defense. Andale beat Clearwater, 49-0, the second win against the Indians this year. Andale has double-digit victories in all three falls under coach Dylan Schmidt. Andale will travel to Beloit for the quarterfinals.
No. 2 Topeka Hayden (9-1) beat Jefferson West, 14-6, the second win versus Jeff West by one-score this year. Hayden lost in the Round of 16 last year, but the Wildcats played in the semifinals in ’15 and ’17 and was state runner-up in ’16.
No. 3 Frontenac (10-0) beat Galena, 20-6, in a matchup of CNC rivals. In Week 4, the Raiders won at Galena, 27-14. Frontenac is at Topeka Hayden.
No. 4 Cheney (8-2) is in the rankings for the first time this year and has a six-win improvement over last season. Cheney will be at Scott City (8-2) in the quarterfinals. Both of the Cardinals’ losses have come against Garden Plain and Andale, teams that are undefeated. Cheney beat Wichita Collegiate, 30-13.
In Week 8, Cheney lost to Andale, 29-22, easily the Indians’ closest game of the year. The Cardinals have tied the best finish in school history with quarterfinals in ’91 and ’17.
No. 5 Perry-Lecompton (7-3) is also in the rankings for the first time this year. The Kaws have their best showing since an ’08 runner-up finish, which is the top finish in school history. Perry-Lecompton defeated Holton, 35-21, after a 14-7 loss to Holton in Week 2.
Class 2A
No changes in this week’s poll.
No. 1 Hoisington (10-0) easily defeated Lakin, 48-7. The Cardinals have three-digit winning seasons in the last five years. Hoisington will play host to Garden Plain in the quarterfinals.
No. 2 Silver Lake (10-0) beat Riverton, 62-21. The Eagles continued its remarkable run with its fourth straight double-digit winning season under the state’s all-time winningest coach C.J. Hamilton. Silver Lake has won at least nine games every year since a 6-3 mark in 2000, according to Kansas Football History. The Eagles will face Riley County in the quarterfinals. In Week 3, Silver Lake won 25-0 at Riley County.
No. 3 Garden Plain (10-0) beat Belle Plaine, 56-0. Garden Plain has earned double-digit victories for the first time since a 10-2 mark in ’16.
No. 4 Riley County (8-2) defeated Southeast of Saline, 14-8. Riley County is 3-1 versus the Trojans since the start of 2018 and has beaten Southeast of Saline in the playoffs the last two years.
No. 5 Humboldt (10-0) earned a 60-14 win versus Southeast-Cherokee, the second win versus Southeast this season. Humboldt will face Nemaha Central. The Cubs won 50-18 over the Lancers in Week 8.
Class 1A
No changes in the rankings as the class continued to have big margins of victory, outside of Jackson Heights’ 6-0 overtime win versus Valley Heights, and Colgan’s 29-21 win versus Hillsboro.
No. 1 Smith Center (10-0) easily beat Republic County for the second time this year with a 56-14 victory. Smith Center will travel to Sedgwick. Last year, Smith Center beat Sedgwick, 61-27, in the quarterfinals.
No. 2 Olpe (10-0) has two big victories versus Uniontown this year, including a 56-0 win last week. Olpe will face Centralia in the quarterfinals. Last year, Olpe defeated Centralia, 20-18, in the quarterfinals.
No. 3 Plainville (9-1) beat Ell-Saline, 53-21, in a game that had a running clock just a few minutes into the third quarter. The Cardinals have three straight postseason victories versus Ell-Saline, though the first two wins came in double overtime and on a last-second field goal. Plainville will travel to Inman, which has enjoyed its best postseason advancement in 25 years.
No. 4 Centralia (9-1) beat Northern Heights, 46-14, and has won nine straight contests.
No. 5 Sedgwick (9-0) earned its second win against Meade this fall with a 34-12 victory. The Cardinals have its third straight year of victory improvement going from 5-5 to 8-2 to 9-0.
Eight-Man, Division I
The only change came at No. 5 with Clifton-Clyde’s loss to Wichita County. Hodgeman County, which was ranked for the first several weeks of the season, is back in the poll.
However, the classification features multiple high-profile playoff games – including arguably the two best teams on the east and west matching up this week. Canton-Galva faces South Central at home, and St. Francis is at Hodgeman County. Both of these are rematches from ’18.
No. 1 Canton-Galva (10-0) defeated Lebo, 58-8. It ended the Eagles’ streak of five straight shutouts. Canton-Galva has won every game by the 45-point margin. The Eagles have allowed just 39 points this fall. Last year, Canton-Galva beat South Central, 54-52, in overtime.
No. 2 St. Francis (10-0) beat Hill City, 52-0. Sainty has three straight shutouts and has seven shutouts this year with just 42 points allowed. Last year, St. Francis beat Hodgeman County, 30-20, in the quarterfinals at home.
No. 3 South Central (10-0) knocked off Argonia-Attica, 43-6. The Timberwolves won at Argonia-Attica, 17-0, in Week 8. South Central remains the only team to defeat Hodgeman County this season.
No. 4 Madison (10-0) earned a 52-6 win versus Maranatha Academy. It marked the second win this fall against the Eagles after a 68-58 victory in Week 4. Madison will travel to Caldwell (7-3) this week.
No. 5 Hodgeman County (9-1) beat rival Spearville for the second time this fall with a 62-54 victory. The Longhorns needed a comeback after trailing 14-8 after the first quarter and 40-24 at halftime. Hodgeman County won 46-28 at Spearville in Week 7.
Eight-Man, Division II
The only change came at No. 5 when Thunder Ridge came into the rankings after Frankfort fell to Hanover.
No. 1 Osborne (10-0) earned its second win against Sylvan-Lucas this year with a 40-6 victory. Osborne will travel to South Barber (9-1). Last year, the Bulldogs won 54-8 in this matchup.
No. 2 Axtell (9-1) beat Beloit-St. John’s-Tipton, 46-0, in a rematch of Week 1. Axtell won that matchup, 58-12. The Eagles will play host to Centre-Lost Springs.
No. 3 Hanover (9-1) won at home, 36-32, versus Frankfort. In Week 8, Hanover won at Frankfort, 58-34. Hanover will be at St. Paul this week. Last year, the Wildcats beat St. Paul, 46-0, in the quarterfinals.
No. 4 St. Paul (10-0) had faced limited resistance all season, until last week. St. Paul's Week 1 win against Sedan came by 38 points and all other victories by the 45-point margin. The Indians won 28-18 versus Waverly.
No. 5 Thunder Ridge (9-1) – Thunder Ridge had just eight total wins in the last four years combined. In the last two weeks, Thunder Ridge has defeated both Gove County teams by the 45-point margin with a 50-0 win versus Quinter and 64-16 against Wheatland-Grinnell. The Longhorns will travel to Hutchinson Central Christian (9-1) this week.
Visit the Rankings page each week to view a complete list of the top five teams in each classification and how they performed last week.
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