We’ve now surpassed the mid-point of the Kansas high school football season. There’s still a lot of uncertainty across the board as district play begins in the smaller classes while league races heat up for the larger schools.
Here is our initial observations and some highlights from an exciting Week 5.
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The Silver Lake Eagles not only improved to 4-1 Friday night by beating the Rock Creek Mustangs 13-3, they also delivered coach C.J. Hamilton his 336th career victory.
The win gave Hamilton the state record for wins, eclipsing former Clifton-Clyde coach Ed Buller’s longtime mark of 335.
Silver Lake limited the Rock Creek offense to 35 yards in the second half. Peter Pfannenstiel led the Eagles with 154 rushing yards on 19 carries.
Rock Creek suffered its first loss of the season.
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In the Kpreps.com Game of the Week as voted on by the fans, top-ranked Meade won the showdown of unbeatens, 34-16 over #3 Stanton County. The Buffaloes scored the first 21 points of the game thanks to two Trevin Wiens touchdown runs. Wiens would add a third score later in the game as the Buffaloes remained the team to beat in District 8, and perhaps the state.
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After a scoreless first quarter, Tanner Fisher broke loose for a 64-yard touchdown run to get Buhler off and running to a 21-0 lead over Mulvane. Fisher finished the night with 198 yards rushing and two touchdowns as the Crusaders won 31-21 despite six turnovers. The Buhler defense was also stout, limiting Mulvane to just 16 rushing yards on the season.
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The Great Bend Panthers picked up their second win of the season and moved to 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference with a 28-7 win over Dodge City. The Panthers continue to have the Red Demons number having won 10 straight in this series until Dodge City won 31-14 a year ago.
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After trailing St. Thomas Aquinas 18-13 at halftime, Bishop Miege used three defensive touchdowns in the second half to overwhelm the Saints, 48-24. Aquinas led 24-20 when Miege returned a fumble for a touchdown; then followed that with a score on offense before returning another fumble and interception for scores to pull away.
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De Soto scored with 15 seconds left to take their first lead in a 14-13 win over Louisburg. Louisburg had one last second attempt at a Hail Mary, but the receiver was stopped at the De Soto 10-yard line. Garrett Griffin rushed for more than 200 yards for Louisburg.
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Quarterback Michael Glatczak rushed for 293 yards and two touchdowns as Centralia knocked Doniphan West from the ranks of the unbeaten, 38-15. Glatczack also intercepted Mustang freshman quarterback Tristan Speer twice in the game.
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Coffeyville scored on a long touchdown pass with 1:18 remaining and converted a two-point attempt to edge Independence 28-27 in a battle of Montgomery County rivals.
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Pittsburg High routed Labette County 48-0 in a game that feature a running clock in the fourth quarter. The Purple Dragons have still never lost to the Grizzlies on the football field. The win sets up a showdown in Week 6 with rival Fort Scott for a change to win the SEK League title outright. Fort Scott Tigers fell behind 14-0 to Columbus before rebounding to win 43-22 and remain unbeaten.
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Pawnee City (Neb.) entered Friday’s action unbeaten at 5-0, and remained that way after throttling traditional Kansas power Hanover, 90-52.
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Macksville outscored Pretty Prairie 30-0 in the second half to pull away for a 52-26 win. Trailing 26-22 at halftime, the Mustangs got two touchdown passes from Seth Filbert to Adam Oak and two Filbert touchdown runs to widen the margin. Both team entered this game undefeated, and the win gives Macksville the upper hand in 8-Man District 5.
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How good is Kiowa County’s Ross Binford? The senior went off again this week rushing for 405 yards and eight touchdowns in the Mavericks’ 72-44 win over South Central. Binford has already rushed for 1,604 yards on the season; including a 473-yard performance one week ago in which he also scored all 62 of his teams points.
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Gabe Guild rushed for 339 yards and three scores as Shawnee Mission South won a shootout over Shawnee Mission Northwest, 42-35.
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The Frontier League continues to be one of the strongest and most competitive leagues in the state. On Friday, Derek Webb rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw for a third as Eudora upset #4 Paola 18-10. Paola looked like the dominant team in the Frontier League, but Eudora now appears to be the frontrunner for the league title having already beaten Louisburg, De Soto, and now Paola.
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