State Semifinals Preview

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The two most successful programs in Class 6A over the past seven seasons will meet at the Olathe District Activity Center on Friday night.  Rivals Olathe East and Olathe North will meet for the second time this season, but this time the stakes are much higher. The winner will punch its ticket to the state championship game in Topeka next week.

Olathe East shocked much of the state by shutting out the defending champion Eagles 25-0 on September 17^th this season. It wasn’t so much that the Hawks came out on top, but the way they won by limiting Olathe North’s signature running game. In that earlier meeting, the Eagles could manage only 149 total yards against the Hawk defense. While on the other side of the ball, Brandon Willingham rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns to pace Olathe East. Treshawn Root also contributed to the Hawk attack by rushing for 73 yards on the night. 

Both teams enter this semifinal having survived through last week’s terrible weather and field conditions. Olathe East broke a 7-7 fourth-quarter tie with an 89-yard Austin Fulson touchdown run to slip by Shawnee Mission Northwest, 14-7. Olathe North compiled just 72 yards of total offense in a 17-0 shutout of Olathe South. The Eagles struggled getting traction as Victor Simmons and Adonis Saunders were held to just 53 combined yards. The duo has rushed for more than 2,750 yards this season. 

Olathe East has also had to rally from a 16-0 halftime deficit to escape Lawrence Free State 20-16 in the first round. The Hawks will need another big performance from Willingham and Fulson who are their offensive leaders with 1,660 and 850 rushing yards respectively. Most importantly, Olathe East must control the line of scrimmage as they did in the earlier meeting, and negate big plays from Simmons and Saunders. Still Olathe North has the big game experience with last season’s title run and look for the Eagles to exact their revenge where it matters most. 

 

The two remaining unbeatens will square off in the western side of Class 6A as Dodge City travels to Wichita to take on the Heights Falcons. 

Wichita Heights looks to return to the 6A state championship game where they fell 37-3 to Olathe North last fall. Heights has been among the 6A favorites all season, and has occupied the top spot in the Kpreps.com rankings since week four. The Falcons are lead by a balanced rushing attack featuring Dreamius Smith and Daniel Deshazer. Smith has rushed for 1,432 yards and 29 touchdowns this season, including 373 yards and five scores in the Falcons’ two playoff wins. Deshazer has accounted for 1,046 yards and 13 scores this season, and quarterback Matt Reed is also a threat to run. Smith has committed to continue his football career at Kansas, while Deshazer has signed to wrestle at Oklahoma.

Dodge City entered the playoffs as a bit of an unknown having rolled through a regular season schedule that included only one team that finished with a winning record. But the Red Demons quieted all doubters last week with a 41-20 pasting of previously unbeaten Manhattan. The momentum from that victory has many people in the southwest corner of the state believing that the Red Demons can get back to the state title game for the first time in 25 years. To do so, they’ll need to continue to ride the athleticism of quarterback Jared Helfrich. The senior signal caller has produced big numbers with both his arm and legs this season, including 280 yards rushing in their two playoff wins. He and running back Parker Davis are just a couple of Dodge City’s scoring threats. 

The Red Demons will certainly be the biggest challenge yet for Wichita Heights. The Falcons struggled last week against Junction City, failing to pick up a first down in the second half of an 18-15 win. But Heights speed on defense and relentless rushing attack on offense should be enough to get them back to Topeka for the second consecutive season. 

 

The Gardner-Edgerton Trailblazers and the Blue Valley - Stilwell Tigers will butt heads for the second time this season. The first time around in Week 9, Gardner-Edgerton quarterback Bubba Starling rushed for 256 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-21 win.

Expect more of the same in the rematch.

The speedy Starling has rushed for 2,022 yards and 26 touchdowns on 143 carries for an amazing average of 14.1 yards per tote. The Nebraska commit has rushed for at least 100 yards in 10 of the Trailblazers’ 11 games.

And the rushing prowess doesn’t end there. Senior running back Brett Jensen has rushed for 1,401 yards and 23 touchdowns, including a 184-yard and three touchdown effort in the first game against Blue Valley.

The Trailblazers are running for 430.5 yards per game.

However, it doesn’t mean the Tigers aren’t perfectly capable of earning the victory. They are at home this time and boast a 10-1 record for a reason.

In order for Blue Valley to have a chance, it must force Gardner-Edgerton into passing situations. While Starling has the athletic capabilities to throw, the Trailblazers haven’t had a lot of success at it. Starling is 38 of 81 passing (46 percent) for seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

Blue Valley linebacker Ian Allen will need to have a good game in order to keep Gardner-Edgerton’s running game in check. Blue Valley free safety Kevin Foote also will be back after missing the first game with an injury.

The other side of the 5A bracket sees another rematch from district competition as the Bishop Carroll Eagles and the Hutchinson Salt Hawks will tangle for a second time this season.

In the first meeting, Hutchinson committed seven turnovers but were able to hold on for a 21-14 victory. Carroll played strong defense, limiting Hutchinson to 249 yards of offense and winning in time of possession.

However, the Eagles were unable to come up with the victory.

That may be an opportunity lost as Hutchinson is unlikely to turn the ball over seven times again.

The Salt Hawks will look for senior running back Ben Heeney, who has rushed for almost 2,000 yards on the season, to have a better go around this time. Carroll’s defense limited him to less than 3 yards a carry with 80 yards on 27 attempts. Heeney has turned it back on the past two games, rushing for 529 yards and nine touchdowns in the playoffs.

Carroll’s defense will need big games from linebackers Aaron Jackson and Beau Bell and free safety Max Martinez.

After losing their first two games of the season, the Paola Panthers are only one win away from the Class 4A state championship game.

The only problem is that Louisburg, an unbeaten team that defeated them 21-3 during districts, stands in their way.

The Louisburg Wildcats have cruised through most of the season as 12 points is their smallest margin of victory .

Louisburg’s win over Paola was a defensive battle. The Wildcats limited Paola star running back Skylar Hawkins to just 21 yards rushing on 10 carries.

The Panthers also held Louisburg in check for most of the game except a late 58-yard touchdown run from Garrett Griffin and two touchdown passes from senior quarterback Kody Cook.

Buhler spoiled the Holton/Hayden rematch with a 21-0 victory in which they forced five Hayden turnovers including a 47 yard interception return for a touchdown by junior defensive back J.P. Lohrentz. Tanner Fisher and Jordan Stiles also scored touchdowns after Hayden drives ending in turnovers. The Crusaders improved to 12-0 for the first time in school history and Steve Warner is near the completion of a rebuilding process that began five seasons ago.

The veteran coach uses a strong running game out of the I-formation featuring 2,000-yard rusher Tanner Fisher, Buhler's second consecutive 2,000-yard rusher after Jorden Oden a year ago.

For Holton, different season same result under Brooks Barta.

In Barta’s 15 seasons as the head coach of the Wildcats, he's led Holton to 150 wins against only 27 losses.  While Holton has dropped two games this season, they are to 6A's Topeka High (33-22) in week one and Topeka Hayden (27-13) in week eight. But Holton has managed possibly the toughest playoff schedule in 4A edging out a quality Rose Hill team in round one, traditional 4A power Andale in round two and a surging Ulysses squad last week.

Expect a slugfest in this match-up of powerful ground games with the team holding the ball last taking a trip to the 4A title game in Salina.

Rossville will counter with quarterback Mitch Buhler. Buhler threw for 287 yards and four touchdowns in the earlier meeting. All four of his touchdown passes went to Cole Cook in that game, who caught 9 passes for 135 yards. Buhler is the key to the Bulldog offense. The senior threw 35 times for 308 yards and three touchdowns in their second-round win over Atchison County. Last week against Caney Valley, he rushed for 75 yards, threw for 105 yards, and kicked a 30-yard field goal that proved to be the deciding margin in an 18-16 victory. Buhler has thrown for 1,419 yards and 15 touchdowns on the year after throwing for more than 2,700 yards and 29 scores last season. 

Rossville hasn’t won the ‘War’ since 2003, so expect the Eagles to return to the title game after a one-year absence.

The Conway Springs Cardinals appear the front runner in 3A following their impressive quarterfinal win over Smith Center a week ago, but not to be outdone, the Beloit Trojans looked equally impressive in a 38-12 win over Hutch Trinity.

This is the battle of the wing offenses as Conway Springs is synonymous with single wing football in Kansas while Greg Koenig brought the double wing offense to Beloit when he took over as head coach five seasons ago.

For the Cardinals, 6-4, 220 pound sophomore Tanner Wood is the spinner back, or quarterback of the single wing. While he spends most of the time handing the ball off to Cory Misak or Brian Doffing, Wood has also been efficient through the air in completing nearly 60 percent of his passes for 500 yards with 10 touchdowns and only one interception. Wood is a formidable rushing threat as well posting 385 yards and nine touchdowns. Doffing and Misak are explosive rushing for 1,524 and 979 yards respectively with 40 total rushing touchdowns.

Beloit also features a youngster at QB with freshman Payton Vetter leading the Trojan double wing. Multiple rushing threats have emerged this season including top returning running back Luke Shamburg, who has rushed for 626 yards since coming back in week six following an early season broken collar bone. Lane Koster continued his rushing assault with 280 yards on the ground in last week's win over Trinity to push the Trojan senior over the 1,800 yard mark on the season. Vetter, Casey Smith and Bob Ludwig also get in on the action as all three have rushed for over 500 yards this season.

While Beloit is playing their best football of the season and running the ball as well as anyone in Kansas Conway Springs playoff experience gives them the edge in this one.

It was just three short weeks ago that top-ranked St. Mary’s Colgan found itself in a 14-0 hole at halftime to the Olpe Eagles. Colgan responded in that district championship game to take a 28-14 lead before winning 28-21. Now the two will meet again on the same field, but with much higher stakes. 

In the first meeting was a tale of two halves as the Olpe defense dominated the first two quarters by holding Colgan to just 50 yards of total offense in building a two-score lead. The second half was a different story as the Eagles would commit three turnovers in the third quarter that would allow Colgan to take a 21-14 lead. The Panthers would expand their advantage to 14 in the fourth quarter, and another score was negated by penalty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Meade Buffaloes have developed into one of 2A's top programs under fifth year coach Scott Moshier. Moshier's teams have ended each of the last two seasons in the playoffs with tough losses to Smith Center, in the semi-final in 2008 and the quarterfinals last year. The Buffs gave the Redmen all they could handle a year ago, but they still went home with a 10-0 defeat. Moshier is 47-10 in five seasons at Meade and an early season loss to a very good Canadian, Texas, team motivated the Buffaloes to redouble their efforts to get the team to the 2A championship game in 2010.

The Buffaloes have scored no less than 44 points in nine of the team's 10 wins this season (except a week seven forfeit by Satanta) and the defense has held six of those opponents to seven points or less. Last week the Buffs held an undefeated LaCrosse team averaging nearly 43 points a game to only 12 points in a 44-12 quarterfinal playoff win.

Stanton County has quietly put together a 10-1 season with the only loss to Meade, but that loss was a big one as the Trojans fell to the Buffaloes 46-6. Stanton County is much improved since that week five loss with multiple rushing threats highlighted by senior running back Austin Nairn. The Trojans made the state take notice with their first round 52-7 playoff win over consistent qualifier Ellis and backed it up with a 36-14 win over Ell-Saline - a game the Trojans led 30-0 at half - last week.

While Stanton County has had an excellent season under veteran coach Brent Kendrick the Buffaloes are destined to deliver Coach Moshier a trip to Hays this season.