Class 6A
We can’t say enough about the program that Rick Wheeler has built at Wichita Heights.
Fresh off of the school’s first state football championship, the Falcons have rolled to an undefeated start despite losing several key players off of last year’s team.
Matt Reed remains the key to the Falcon offense at quarterback, but backs Marquel Moore and Kenneth Iheme have emerged in helping Heights average nearly 54 points per game.
Will they be challenged this season?
While it hasn’t looked like it thus far, several teams loom as possible contenders.
Manhattan is unbeaten entering a touch district which includes rival Junction City, and 5-1 Washburn Rural.
In the east, Olathe North, Olathe South, and Olathe East have all beaten each other up a bit, and Blue Valley Northwest is a dark horse who has narrow losses to ranked 5A opponents Bishop Miege and Blue Valley.
EAST
District 1
· KC Wyandotte (2-4) – The Bulldogs may enter with the best record in the district, but they haven’t exactly had a lot of success this season. They have only two wins even though they haven’t played a 6A school all season. Wyandotte’s two wins are against two 2-4 teams in 5A’s KC Washington and 4A’s KC Sumner. The Bulldogs lost 28-6 to a 4A’s Atchison in Week 2.
· Shawnee Mission North (1-5) -- The Indians have only one win, but they play a much more difficult schedule than KC Wyandotte. They’ve faced some of the state’s best teams in Olathe North and Lawrence Free State. This past week, Shawnee Mission North hung in there against 49-40 against an Olathe Northwest team with a .500 record.
· Shawnee Mission Northwest (1-5) – Like Shawnee Mission North, the Cougars have played a difficult schedule in the Sunflower League. They posted a 23-20 win against Olathe Northwest but lost 42-35 to a Shawnee Mission South team that SM North beat 26-22 in Week 1. Senior running back Danny Manning has rushed for 601 yards and four TDs on only 123 carries. The Cougars advanced to the second round of the playoffs last year before falling 14-7 to Olathe East.
· Leavenworth (0-6) – The Pioneers have played the difficult competition in the Sunflower League just like Shawnee Mission North and Shawnee Mission Northwest. The difference is that the Pioneers haven’t been able to earn a victory. Olathe Northwest beat Leavenworth 40-14 in Week 1.
Key Game: (Wk 7) SM North at SM Northwest; (Wk 8) KC Wyandotte at SM North; (Wk 9) SM Northwest at KC Wyandotte
Winner: SM Northwest
Runner-up: SM North
District 2
· Shawnee Mission East (3-3) – While Illinois-commit Elliot Faerber gets all the attention of opposing defenses, Connor Rellihan is actually the leading receiver for Chip Sherman’s Lancers. Rellihan has racked up 435 receiving yards and five scores, while Faerber has 318 yards and two touchdowns. The Lancers have yet to string together back-to-back wins this season.
· Shawnee Mission West (3-3) – The Vikings have lost as many as three regular season games for the first time since 2007 when they finished 5-4. That ’07 team was the last not to reach the playoffs as well. Tim Callaghan hopes that quarterback Armani Williams (734 yards; 5TDs) and running back Tre’ Burt (490 yards; 5TDs) have enough firepower to carry West to a fourth straight postseason.
· Shawnee Mission South (1-5) – The Raiders’ only win came in a 42-35 shootout over Shawnee Mission Northwest. Junior Gabe Guild has done his part – leading the Sunflower League with 1,090 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Guild rushed for 339 yards in the win over Northwest.
· Blue Valley North (0-6) – Entering district play last season, the Mustang defense had surrendered 37 points per game. A year later, BV North hasn’t improved on that side of the ball as the Mustangs are now giving up 46.5 per contest, including 77 against top-ranked Blue Valley in Week 5.
Key Game: (Wk 7) SM South at SM West; (Wk 8) SM West at SM East; (Wk 9) SM East at SM South
Winner: SM East
Runner-up: SM West
District 3
· Olathe South (6-0) – Coming off of their 29-10 win over Olathe North, the Falcons look to continue momentum in a tough district. Olathe South’s run game has been balanced, and Frankie Seurer Jr’s been able to keep opposing defense off balance by throwing for more than 700 yards and five touchdowns. Linebacker Remington Whitley leads the Sunflower League in stops at more than 15 per game.
· Olathe East (5-1) – The Hawks have found an answer in replacing Brandon Willingham, Austin Fulson, and transfer Treshawn Root in their backfield. The duo of Kendall Kelly and John Kelsh has combined for more than 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns. Although East is 5-1, three of their wins have come by single digits.
· Blue Valley Northwest (3-3) – Mike Zegunis’ Huskies struggled to a 2-7 record in 2010, but are one of the better .500 teams in the state this fall. BV Northwest’s was blown out by Gardner-Edgerton, but have since suffered losses to Bishop Miege and Blue Valley – Stilwell by a combined four points. Garret Fugate is a talented quarterback that will put plenty of pressure on opposing defenses.
· Blue Valley West (3-3) – The Jaguars have wins over Living Word Christian (Mo.), winless Blue Valley North, and one-win Blue Valley Southwest. Their season took a huge blow when DeSean Warren was lost for the season due to an injury in a summer camp.
Key Game: (Wk 7) Olathe South at BV Northwest; (Wk 8) BV Northwest at Olathe East; (Wk 9) Olathe East at Olathe South
Winner: Blue Valley Northwest
Runner-up: Olathe South
District 4
· Olathe North (5-1) – North’s backfield duo of Orange Mooney and Treshawn Root has combined for more than 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. Quarterback Jordan Bruce has thrown for 833 yards and 11 scores, and Tanner Gentry has more than 500 yards receiving and nine touchdowns.
· Lawrence (4-2) – Lawrence quarterback Brad Strauss will go over 2,000 yards of total offense this week. The senior has thrown for 1,303 yards and eight touchdowns, while rushing for 647 yards and 10 more scores. Strauss has also been dangerous in the return game; taking the opening kickoff back 96 yards for a touchdown in the Lions’ Week 6 win over Shawnee Mission South.
· Lawrence Free State (4-2) –Quarterback Kyle McFarland leads the Free State offense having accumulated more than 1,500 yards of offense from scrimmage. McFarland has thrown for 831 yards and nine touchdowns, while rushing for 700 yards and six more scores.
· Olathe Northwest (3-3) – Raven quarterback Dalton Rook leads the Sunflower League in passing with 1,365 yards and 14 touchdowns, but is expected to miss the district opener. Whoever fills in for Rook at quarterback will have 6-10 Willie Cauley as a target at wide receiver. Cauley has 831 yards and 11 touchdowns receiving this season.
Key Games: (Wk 7) Lawrence at Olathe North; (Wk 8) Olathe North at Free State; (Wk 9) Lawrence at Free State
Winner: Olathe North
Runner-up: Lawrence
WEST
District 5
· Manhattan (6-0) – It hasn’t always been pretty, but the Indians enter district competition with an unscathed record. Manhattan edged Class 4A’s Topeka Hayden 22-17 in the opener and escaped 26-19 against a Shawnee Heights team that has won only one game all season. However, the Indians have the talent to compete with any team in the state as they boast the likes of running back Ty Suggs and defensive back Deante Burton. Suggs rushed for 156 yards and three TDs this past Friday against Topeka Highland Park. Burton had a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown in a rout of Topeka Seaman two weeks ago.
· Junction City (5-1) – For the second consecutive season, the Blue Jays rattled off five wins to open the season before suffering their first loss to Emporia. The Spartans (2-3) beat Junction City by identical scores of 28-21 each year. Digging deeper, you realize the Blue Jays’ five wins this season have come against teams with a combined 5-25 record. Salina South is the best of those five with a 2-4 record, and Junction City escaped 33-28. Still, the Blue Jays made it to the second round of the playoffs last year and played state champion Wichita Heights to an 18-15 score. Plus, Junction City is only three years removed from a state title.
· Washburn Rural (5-1) – The Junior Blues hope this will be the year they can get over the hump. The past two seasons, they have entered districts with a 5-1 record only to lose the final three games and miss the playoffs. Rural appears to have the talent to break that streak. Senior quarterback Skylar Curtis has passed for 660 yards, while rushing for 614 this season. Running back Brandon Dozier has rushed for 375 yards on only 34 carries for an 11-yard per carry average, but has missed Rural’s last three games.
· Topeka High (3-3) – The Trojans appear to have taken a step back after a 6-3 season a year ago. They enter with a .500 record but haven’t beaten a team with a winning record. Topeka High also gave Topeka Seaman its only win of the season with a 14-6 loss in Week 3. Junior Eli Weinbrecht leads the team in rushing with 523 yards on 86 carries.
Key games: Every game will be important in what is one of the more competitive 6A districts in the state.
Winner: Manhattan
Runner-up: Junction City
District 6
· Wichita Heights (6-0) – The Falcons are showing they’re the defending state champions for a reason. Only three opponents have even scored on Heights and only Wichita Northwest has come within 20 points. Heights has used a three-headed rushing attack with quarterback Matt Reed (849 yards, 14 TDs), and running backs Marquel Moore (789 yards, 14 TDs) and Kenneth Iheme (more than 800 yards, nine TDs). As a team, the Falcons entered district play rushing for 425.2 yards per game.
· Derby (4-2) – The Panthers began the season 0-2 after losses to Salina Central and Hutchinson. Since then, Derby has scored 35 points or more in every game and has not allowed more than 14. Senior quarterback Todd Freeman leads the offense for the Panthers.
· Wichita East (2-4) – The Blue Aces didn’t start district competition as well as they would like, losing 62-0 Thursday night to Wichita Heights. However, all is not lost. They will host Derby and Wichita Southeast the next two weeks and still have an outside shot of making the playoffs.
· Wichita Southeast (2-4) – The good news for the Golden Buffaloes is that they are averaging 29.6 points. The bad news is that they are allowing 35.5 points per game. Even worse, they have given up 35 points or more in four games. Wichita Southeast’s Braden Smith rushed for 217 yards two weeks ago in a 48-20 win against Wichita West.
Key Games: (Wk 9) Wichita Heights at Derby
Winner: Wichita Heights
Runner-up: Derby
District 7
· Wichita Northwest (4-2) – The Grizzlies have two losses, but those losses come against last year’s 6A state champion Wichita Heights and last year’s 5A state runner-up Bishop Carroll. And the Grizzlies gave Wichita Heights its closest game of the season. Sophomore tailback Deron Thompson leads the way with 514 yards and three TDs, while Skyler Kreibal has rushed for 472 yards and seven TDs. The Grizzlies look to get back to the playoffs and get past the first round this time.
· Wichita South (2-4) – When you take out a lopsided 52-0 loss to the dominant Wichita Heights, the Titans have won or played relatively close in the rest of their games. They played within 20 points of Kapaun Mt. Carmel and Hays. So while they probably aren’t going to win the state title, they have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs out of a weak district.
· Haysville Campus (1-5) – The Colts were able to make the playoffs last year, and they will try to do so again from a district where the No. 2 spot is up for grabs. At the beginning of the season, the Colts had high hopes with 20 letterwinners returning. They set goals of posting a winning record, beating Derby and making the playoffs. The only realistic goal remaining left is to make the playoffs.
· Wichita North (0-6) – The Redskins haven’t scored more than 14 points in a game and have allowed 50 points or more three times. Even against the lesser opponents, Wichita North hasn’t come closer than 14 points of a team this year.
Key Games: (Wk 8) Wichita South at Haysville Campus
Winner: Wichita Northwest
Runner-up: Haysville Campus
District 8
· Garden City (3-2) – The Buffaloes opened with a discouraging 30-3 loss to Class 3A Scott City, but since then they have played very respectable. They played Great Bend within a touchdown and then posted wins over Hays and Liberal. Garden City essentially had a bye week before district competition as its game against Wichita East was canceled because of inclement weather last week.
· Dodge City (3-3) – The Red Demons are focused on getting back to the playoffs after getting so close to the state championship a year ago. Wichita Heights rallied to beat Dodge City 42-38 in the state semifinals last year. The Red Demons are led by junior quarterback Taylor Murphy, who has completed 76-of-126 passes for 1,078 yards and eight TDs.
· Goddard (2-4) – The Lions are definitely consistent. They score about 21 points each game. The problem is that they consistently allow more points than that. Goddard gave up 33 points or more to Hays, Arkansas City and McPherson. On a positive note, the Lions enter district on a two-game winning streak after posting victories against Valley Center and Andover.
· Maize (2-4) – The Eagles have only two wins, but they have displayed some positives. They played within 20 points of 5A power Hutchinson and lost 21-17 to a good Salina Central team. Maize appears to be gradually improving under first-year head coach Gary Guzman.
Key Games: All of the games are important in this wide-open district.
Winner: Dodge City
Runner-up: Garden City
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