Friday First Look (Nov. 12)

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Mother Nature played a major role in Friday night’s action ranging from rain and snow in Junction City to a constant downpour in Pittsburg. The other theme developing from Friday night is several district title rematches that will take place in next week in the semifinals. 

Four Sunflower League teams battled in the 6A east quarterfinals with the two favorites coming out on top. Defending 6A champ Olathe North shutout rival Olathe South, 17-0 to advance to the semifinals. The Eagles will take on the Olathe East Hawks who slipped past Shawnee Mission Northwest 14-7. The result will be a rematch of the week four showdown where Olathe East surprised many across the state with a 25-0 shutout of Olathe North. 

On the west side, the Wichita Heights Falcons overcame an early fumble and 7-0 deficit to rally past Junction City 18-15. Heights will return home next week to host Dodge City. The Red Demons jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Manhattan rallied to tie at halftime. Dodge City turned out to be too much though as the Red Demons knocked out second-ranked Manhattan 41-20.

Friday’s action resulted in district rematches in next week’s semifinals on both sides of the state. 

Gardner-Edgerton rolled into the state semis with a 54-0 shutout of Donnie Lockhart and Shawnee Heights. Fellow Centennial League member Topeka Seaman didn’t fare any better as the Vikings could only muster two late touchdowns in falling 45-14 to Blue Valley – Stilwell. So a rematch of the week nine game between the Trailblazers and Tigers will take place next week. Gardner-Edgerton won the previous meeting 42-21 after breaking a 21-21 tie late in the second quarter.

Same story on the west side where Bishop Carroll and Hutchinson met in district play two weeks ago, and now will face off in the semifinals next week. 

Bishop Carroll shutdown the high flying McPherson Bullpups early and held on for a 30-22 victory to advance to the 5A semifinals. Carroll’s defense chased Bullpup quarterback Tyler Matthews all over the field. McPherson scored a touchdowns with about a minute to go, but could not successfully execute the onside kick. 

Carroll will travel to Hutchinson next week in a rematch of the district championship game won by the Salthawks, 21-14. Hutchinson advanced with a 33-7 road win over Emporia at Welch Stadium, knocking out former Salthawk offensive coordinator Dustin Delaney who coaches the Spartans.

The four Frontier League schools squared off on the eastern half of 4A with District 5 members Louisburg and Paola advancing to a rematch of their week nine battle. Louisburg’s stifling defense came through with a 21-0 shutout of DeSoto. The Wildcat defense is allowing less than 10 points per game. They will get a second look at Skylar Hawkins and Paola as the Panthers avenged an early season loss by eliminating Baldwin, 21-6. Baldwin defeated Paola 32-14 to open the season in early September. The semifinal contest will be played at Paola where the two teams met in week nine with Louisburg coming out on top, 21-3.

Did we mention it was a bad night for the Centennial League? Perhaps the surprise of the night came as Buhler went on the road to Topeka and shutout Topeka Hayden 21-0. The Crusaders will learn their semifinal opponent tomorrow as Ulysses makes the long trip to Holton to take on the Wildcats.

Another district championship rematch will take place next week as arch-rivals Silver Lake and Rossville will square off in this season’s second installment of the War on 24. Silver Lake cruised to a 28-7 win over Wellsville, while Rossville held on for a narrow 18-16 win over Caney Valley. The Bulldogs and Bullpups were tied at 8 at halftime before Rossville built a 10-point lead in the second half and held on for the two-point win. Wellsville and Caney Valley completed solid seasons at 10-2 and 9-3 respectively.

On the west side of 3A, Beloit racked up nearly 550 rushing yards in eliminating Hutchinson Trinity 38-12.   The Trojans will advance to the state semifinals where they’ll face Saturday’s winner of Conway Springs and Smith Center. 

Another classification where next week’s semifinal match-ups will feature a pair of district rematches. 

St. Mary’s Colgan was dominant early in eliminating Mid East League member St. Marys 27-7 in a torrential downpour at Hutchinson Field. Colgan jumped out to an early 21-0 lead on a pair of touchdown runs by Christian Smith and another by his twin brother Zach. The early lead proved significant as the rain continued to fall, and the ball became extremely difficult to handle. Colgan will advance to the state semifinals for the 15^th time under veteran Coach Chuck Smith where they will take on Olpe.

Olpe used a strong defensive effort to shutout Michael Glatczak and defending 2-1A champ Centralia 10-0. The Eagles blocked a Centralia punt in the second quarter, recovering at the Panther 8-yard line. Three plays later, Jake Brinkman hit Jason Klumpe for the game’s only touchdown. Tanner Burenheide added a 20-yard field goal in the third quarter as Olpe was unable to punch it into the endzone on three tries from the three-yard line. Missed opportunities was the story for Centralia which actually outgained Olpe in total yards. The Panthers had the ball inside the Olpe 20-yard line three times, including twice inside the Eagle 5-yard line but were unable to come away with any points. Olpe will host Colgan for the second time this season. Colgan won the earlier meeting, 28-21.

In the west, the Stanton County Trojans claimed their second consecutive road playoff win with a 36-14 victory over Tate Omli and Ell-Saline. The Trojans led this game 30-0 at halftime and extended their lead to 36-0 in the second half. The Trojans intercepted the talented Omli four times on the night. Stanton County will get their second shot at the Meade Buffaloes next week. Meade rolled to a 44-12 road win over previously unbeaten LaCrosse. The two Hi-Plains League members met in district play in week five with Meade earning a 46-6 road win. The rematch will also be in Johnson City.

The rematch between Lyon County League rivals Lebo and Madison looked like it could produce an opposite result as the first meeting. For the first quarter at least. Lebo jumped out to an early 12-3 lead before the Bulldogs would score 48 consecutive points en route to a 51-18 win. The victory puts Madison in the Division I state championship game next Saturday in Newton. 

Hill City advanced to the school’s first ever state football championship game by doubling up Osborne 48-24. The two Mid-Continent League rivals met earlier this season in district play with Osborne getting the best of that match-up, 50-38. On Friday, however, Dylan Anderson, Adam Pfeifer, and Reggie Jordan and the Ringnecks were too much. 

The rematch of what we consider the game-of-the-year in Kansas didn’t quite live up to its predecessor. Baileyville B&B shutout Hanover in the second half en route to a 48-22 win. Hanover led 22-20 at halftime, but it was the Falcons who advanced to their third consecutive state title game while ending denying the Wildcats their fourth straight trip. 

Otis-Bison will be B&B’s opponent next Saturday in Newton as the Cougars slipped by previously-unbeaten Ashland, 26-14. Otis-Bison will attempt to win their first state championship next weekend against traditional power B&B.