Week two of The Pick List features a battle of ranked 8 Man teams out of the South Central Border League, and key match-ups that will go a long way in deciding the Heart of America, Central Prairie, and Flint Hills League champs. Each Thursday throughout the regular season, The Pick List will feature six of the best match-ups across the state, and we will make our predictions on a handful of other games.
Feature Games of the Week:
8M-II #5 Caldwell (1-0) at 8M-I #5 Central Burden (1-0)
In a match-up of state ranked teams, Caldwell (#5 ranked in 8-Man II) travels to Burden to take on the Central Raiders (#5 ranked in 8-Man I).
The game features a battle of two of the top quarterbacks in all of 8-Man football in Caldwell's Braden Lebeda and Central Burden's Bo Savage, Coach Jeff Savage's son.
Jeff Savage has his rebuilding project in full swing in season two after going 7-3 with the Raiders in 2009 following a short, successful stint as the coach at Quivira Heights.
Bo Savage continues to pile up passing numbers in his junior season throwing for 275 yards and seven touchdowns in last Friday's win over Flinthills after throwing for 2,200 yards and 36 TDs last year as a sophomore.
The dual-threat Lebeda passed for 128 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 80 more yards on the ground in leading the Blue Jays to a 43-14 win over traditional 11-Man playoff qualifier and new 8-Man team, Sedan.
Keep an eye on Central Burden's Ky Biddle who could be the x-factor in this one after moving from running back - where he gained nearly 1,000 yards and scored 15 TDs last season - to wide receiver.
Biddle was a force in the secondary last season picking off seven passes.
Our Pick: Caldwell 45 Central Burden 33
KC Sumner Academy (1-0) at KC Harmon (1-0)
The Sumner Sabres will meet the Harmon Hawks on Friday at Art Lawrence Memorial Stadium in what may be the feature match-up of the season in the newly reformed Kansas City-Atchison League. Both teams are coming off of impressive wins and represent the only two KCAL teams to win in the season’s opening week.
Sumner stepped outside of the KCAL in week one and slipped by a Jefferson West team that reached the second round of the 4A playoffs in 2009.
Quarterback Armond Brisbane and wide receiver Benny Parker each had a hand in three touchdowns as the Sabres won 40-37.
Brisbane completed 16 of 23 attempts for 262 yards and two scores on the night, while running for another.
Parker was on the receiving end of those two touchdown passes as part of his five-catch, 132-yard receiving performance. He also added would add a 7-yard touchdown run.
Both Sumner and Jefferson West scored five touchdowns on the night. The difference in the game turned out to be Sumner’s ability to convert on all five two-point conversion attempts, while the Tigers elected to kick extra points on three of their five scores.
Coach Calvin Davenport has a Harmon football program that is trying to turn the corner.
Prior to last Friday’s win over Washington; the Hawks had won just six total games over the past six seasons. But expectations are a bit higher this season after brothers Herman and Isaiah Ming transferred to the school from Schlagle.
Herman (6-1, 190), a senior wide receiver, and Isaiah (5-8, 190), a junior tailback, figured to make an immediate impact for the Hawks this season.
The duo didn’t disappoint against Washington as Isaiah rushed 12 times for 133 yards and five touchdowns, while his elder brother did a little bit of everything. Herman finished with nine carries for 63 yards; caught three passes for 53 yards and a touchdown; intercepted a pass on defense; and set the Hawks up with several long kickoff returns.
Add into the mix dual-threat quarterback Victor Simmons, and the Hawks have some true offensive weapons. Whether or not those weapons will translate into a winning season and a playoff appearance remains to be seen. But for the first time in at least seven seasons there is a buzz about Harmon football, and that buzz could grow louder with a win over Sumner on Friday night.
Our Pick: Sumner 38 Harmon 20
Ell-Saline (1-0) at 3A #3 Hutchinson Trinity (1-0)
This match-up features two of the state's top quarterbacks in Ell-Saline's Tate Omli and Trinity's Derek Racette.
Omli opened the season with 277 yards on 21 of 27 passing - including 11 consecutive completions to start the game - and had a hand in each of the Cardinals six touchdowns in their 41-0 win over Bennington. He completed touchdown passes of 2, 20, 6, and 2 yards and ran for touchdowns of 1 and 17 yards.
Ell-Saline's Kaleb Whitehair was Omli's favorite target with 10 catches for 156 yards and touchdown receptions of 20 and 6 yards.
Racette threw for 265 yards and five touchdowns in Trinity's 62-13 pounding of Cheney.
Michael Mesh caught four touchdown passes and Brandon Koenigsman picked up 110 yards and two touchdowns in the ground game.
Ell-Saline is looking to avenge last year's 34-0 loss to Trinity in week five of the season.
Our Pick: Hutch Trinity 33 Ell-Saline 14
2-1A #4 Olpe (1-0) at Caney Valley (1-0)
This week’s feature match-up in the southeast part of the state is 2-1A power Olpe visiting Caney Valley.
The Eagles broke in several new starters last week in a thrilling 33-27 overtime win against reigning Tri-Valley League co-champ Cherryvale.
Senior running back Linden Stueve rushed for 108 yards on 30 carries and scored four touchdowns, including the game winner in overtime after a Cherryvale interception. Stueve also caught a 38-yard scoring strike from new quarterback Jake Brinkman who threw for 140 yards.
This week, Chris Schmidt’s squad will take on the other TVL co-champ from a year ago in Caney.
Perhaps largely unnoticed, Caney Valley has had a good run in football recently posting a 42-19 record over the last six seasons with four playoff appearances.
But Criss Davis’ Bullpups have missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons after being placed in a district with CNC League powers Galena and Riverton. The Bulldogs and Rams are back in Caney’s district this season, and the addition of Cherryvale will make District One among the most competitive in Class 3A.
After losing 12 seniors off of last season’s 7-2 team, Davis’ Bullpups return seven starters on offense and four on defense.
The Caney Valley wishbone attack got off to a good start last week with a 50-0 opening rout of fellow Tri-Valley League member Humboldt.
This week’s game with Olpe will serve as a measuring stick and give the Bullpups much needed big-game experience to prepare them for district play.
Our Pick: Olpe 27 Caney Valley 21
Council Grove (1-0) at Lyndon (1-0)
Two teams loaded with experience will meet on Friday as Council Grove travels to Lyndon in the highlight of the Flint Hills League schedule in week two. The Braves and Tigers return 18 and 17 starters respectively, and both rode that wave of experience to blowout wins to open the season.
Council Grove appears poised to improve on last year’s 6-4 finish which resulted in a first-round playoff exit. No doubt the Braves have the offensive prowess to stretch defenses.
Quarterback Derek Ziegenhirt leads an offense that averaged nearly 25 points per game last season and scored 54 in their win over Chase County last week. In that game, Ziegenhirt threw four touchdown passes; all of which went to his big WR target Brock Frye (6-4, 170).
The ground game was equally effective with Derron Reddick rushing for 212 yards and three scores. The Braves will need more of the same this week to outscore Lyndon.
Lyndon used a 35-point first quarter to blow past West Franklin 49-13 last week.
Rod Stallbaumer’s Tigers return several weapons on offense including junior tailback Nick Walsh and wide receiver Trey Brown, but are breaking in a new quarterback after graduating all-state performer Derek Banzhaf.
Junior Jordan Tillman had a promising debut under center for the Tigers completing four of six passes for 71 yards and three scores.
He was helped by the Tiger running game led by Walsh’s 120 yards and a score on just 11 carries.
Lyndon will try to build momentum before competing in the toughest district in Class 2-1A with the likes of St. Mary’s Colgan, Oswego, and Olpe.
Last season, Ziegenhirt ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Braves topped Lyndon in a shootout, 34-31. Expect another high scoring affair this time around.
Our Pick: Council Grove 33 Lyndon 27
Macksville (1-0) at 8M-II #3 Quivira Heights (1-0)
The questions that come with a first-year coach were answered resoundingly as Macksville scored the final 30 points of a 36-14 victory over 8-Man II power Victoria and Jeff Kuckelman notched his first victory as head coach after eight seasons as a Mustang assistant.
Things don't get any easier in week two as Macksville travels to Bushton to take on last year's 8-Man Division II State Runner-up, Quivira Heights.
The Thunderbirds dominated rival Claflin 40-8 last week in the two team's last contest before consolidating next fall.
Senior quarterback and coach's son Gunnar Phelan picked up where he left off in 2009 by throwing four touchdown passes against the Wildcats.
Quivira Heights enters the game ranked third in the Kpreps.com 8-Man II poll while Macksville sits just outside the Division I top five.
Our Pick: Quivira Heights 26 Macksville 22
The Pick List:
4A #2 Andale (1-0) at Mulvane (1-0) – Andale
Arkansas City (1-0) at Winfield (1-0) – Ark City
Newton (0-1) at Andover (0-1) -- Andover
Andover Central (1-0) at Salina Central (1-0) -- Salina Central
Axtell (1-0) at 8M-I #2 Clifton-Clyde (1-0) – Clifton-Clyde
4A #5 Buhler (1-0) at Wellington (0-1) -- Buhler
Claflin (0-1) at 8M-II #3 Otis-Bison (1-0) – Otis-Bison
5A #1 Hutchinson (0-1) at Derby (0-1) -- Hutchinson
Washburn Rural (1-0) at Emporia (1-0) -- Emporia
Frontenac (0-1) at 2-1A #1 St. Marys Colgan (1-0) -- Colgan
Thunder Ridge (0-1) at 8M-II #2 Hanover (1-0) -- Hanover
Hiawatha (1-0) at Jefferson West (0-1) – Jefferson West
St. Paul (1-0) at Lebo (1-0) -- Lebo
Osborne at Mankato-Rock Hills – Mankato-Rock Hills
Salina South (1-0) at 5A #3 McPherson (1-0) -- McPherson
Olathe Northwest (1-0) at 6A #4 Olathe East (1-0) – Olathe East
Oxford (1-0) at South Haven (1-0) – South Haven
Phillipsburg (1-0) at 3A #5 Smith Center (1-0) – Smith Center
Wichita Collegiate (1-0) at Rose Hill (0-1) – Wichita Collegiate
6A #5 Topeka High (1-0) at Shawnee Heights (0-1) – Topeka High
St. Marys (0-1) at 3A #1 Silver Lake (1-0) – Silver Lake
St. Francis (0-1) at Norton (1-0) -- Norton
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