The Kansas high school football season is officially underway and the Kpreps Friday First Look provides our initial reaction to some most notable games and performances of the week.
It was an exciting opening week that resulted in eight ranked teams losing their season-opener, and several schools ending long losing streaks.
Let’s take a look at those and some of the other more notable results from Week 1.
Bishop Miege tops Blue Valley North in Game of the Week
Bishop Miege raced out to a 20-0 lead at home and then held off Class 6A’s second-ranked Blue Valley North Mustangs, 27-20.
The Stags, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, began the game with an interception by Rishi Rattan that turned into an early touchdown. Rattan fumbled before crossing the goal line, but Grant Fussell recovered in the end zone to give Miege the early lead.
After that, senior running back Brison Cobbins added a pair of touchdown runs for a 20-0, first-quarter lead.
But Blue Valley North would battle back in the second quarter with a short Khalil Allen touchdown run, then sophomore quarterback Henry Martin would connect with Theo Grabill to pull within 20-12.
The Mustang defense would later force a safety to pull within 20-14 at halftime.
Each team would trade a score in the third quarter.
Miege quarterback Tim Dorsey connected with Phillippe Wesley on a 24-yard strike to extend the Stags’ lead to 27-14.
Martin and Blue Valley North would answer right back with a scoring strike to Shawn Hendershot to pull within 27-20.
The Kpreps Game of the Week as voted on by the fans featured Class 4A’s top-ranked Bishop Miege Stags hosting Class 6A’s second-ranked Blue Valley North Mustangs.
From there, the Miege defense would hold on for the 27-20 win.
Cobbins rushed for 110 yards and a pair of scores, while new Miege quarterback Tim Dorsey passed for 165 yards and a touchdown.
Martin led Blue Valley North with 306 yards passing and a pair of scores. Grabill, the St. Thomas Aquinas transfer, caught 15 balls for 125 yards and a score.
----
Wichita Northwest tops Bishop Carroll
Quarterback Reagan Jones connected on a late touchdown pass with Zion Jones to lift No. 2 Wichita Northwest to a 21-17 victory over No. 3 Bishop Carroll.
The win was the Grizzlies fifth in the last six meetings between the two schools separated by less than two miles.
Northwest grabbed a 2-0 lead early after Carroll quarterback Aidens Neidens was flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone. After a Carroll field goal, Northwest’s Julius Bolden provided the first touchdown of the game and an 8-3 Grizzly lead.
Carroll took a 10-8 lead into halftime as Neidens connected with Oscar Gallardo for a touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Reagan Jones would hit Zion Jones for a short touchdown and a 14-10 Northwest lead.
Carroll would come right back with Neidens rolling left and finding Noah Ferguson behind coverage in the end zone for a 17-14 lead.
Northwest would have the final answer with under four minutes left as Reagan Jones lofted a ball towards the end zone and Zion Jones leaping to pull down the eventual game-winning score.
-----
St. Thomas Aquinas stymies Blue Valley
Defending Class 5A champion St. Thomas Aquinas Saints looked every bit the favorite to repeat after a 48-19 dismantling of Blue Valley.
Aquinas quarterback Blake Anderson started the scoring with a touchdown run and added three touchdown passes in the first half as the Saints built a 41-0 lead. Anderson connected on scoring strikes to Tommy Carroll, Isaiah Gavin, and Tank Young.
Young, a returning 2,000-yard rusher, also added a touchdown run to go along with his 72 yards on the ground.
The Saints’ defense held Blue Valley to just over 200 yards of total offense.
-----
Blue Valley West rallies late to top Mill Valley
Blue Valley West trailed 14-0 at Class 5A No. 4 Mill Valley entering the fourth quarter. That’s when Riley Cummings got going.
Cummings rushed for four touchdowns in the fourth quarter – including the game-winner with 18 seconds left – as the visiting Jaguars topped the host Jaguars, 28-21.
A Mill Valley fumble eventually led to Cummings’ first touchdown. The host Jaguars fumbled the ensuing ki9ckoff which set up Cummings again to tie the game at 14-14.
The Blue Valley West defense stiffened and forced a Mill Valley punt. Shortly after, Cummings was in the end zone again to give West its first lead, 28-21, with more than six minutes remaining.
Mill Valley would tie the game on a long touchdown pass from Cooper Marsh to Ty Reishus, but Blue Valley West would drive the field again culminating in Cummings late game-winning touchdown.
Cummings finished with 168 yards on the ground to go along with his four scores.
Blue Valley West senior wideout David Brown caught eight passes for 87 yards. Thomas Cook led the West defense with 8 tackles, including two for loss.
-----
Defending champion Central Plains falls to Ness City
There may not have been a team as dominant as Central Plains was on their way to an undefeated state championship in 2018. But several starters who received all-state recognition a year ago have graduated.
On Friday, Ness City scored in the closing seconds to escape Claflin with a 36-30 over 8-Man, Division-I’s fourth-ranked Oilers.
The Eagles played Central Plains tough in last season’s opener, eventually falling 30-14. The Oilers would only allow 20 more total points the remainder of the season.
----
Great Bend rallies late, survives in OT
The Great Bend Panthers completed an improbable rally in the final minute to force overtime and eventually defeat the Andover Trojans 13-10.
The Panther defense held Eli Fahnestock and company to ten points in the first half, while Greg Sommers, Zach Seymour, and Carsyn Schooler each recovered fumbles. A 49-yard field goal from David Kemp send the Trojans to the halftime locker room leading 10-0.
Great Bend finally got on the board with 49.5 seconds left in the game when they blocked a punt in the endzone for a safety.
The Panthers would then engineer a perfect may-day drive culminating in a 44-yard pass from Dalton Miller to Alex Schremmer to get the game within two as time expired. The play has been called by fans and coaches alike as “The Miracle on Morton Street”. The two-point conversion pass from Miller to Schremmer was also good to complete the comeback.
In overtime, Andover’s Kemp missed wide right from 22 yards out, while Great Bend sophomore Angel Razo drilled a 27-yard field goal to win the game. The game winner was Razo’s first ever field goal in a game situation.
----
Hoisington wins at Pratt
Hoisington ended a two-game losing streak to Pratt by controlling Friday night’s contest, 37-13.
Wyatt Pedigo led the Cardinal attack with 109 yards rushing and a touchdown. Hunter Morris added 85 yards on the ground and three scores.
The Cardinal defense forced five Pratt turnovers in spoiling Brent Hoelting’s debut as head coach of the Greenbacks.
-----
Rossville tops Centralia
There was plenty of uncertainty as to who would replace Garret Carver as Rossville’s quarterback. Sophomore Torrey Horak got the start and looked very similar to his record-setting brother, Tucker, from a few years earlier.
Horak threw two touchdown passes to Bo Reaves and rushed for another score as the Bulldawgs, ranked No. 4 in Class 2A defeated Centralia, 28-8.
-----
Hanover pulls away from Pike Valley
Coming into Friday’s game, several questions surrounded Hanover’s inexperience. Could the defending state champion extend their winning streak after losing a big part of their offense?
In the early going against Pike Valley, it looked like those questions were legitimate as Hanover was uncharacteristically locked in a tight, 20-14 game at halftime.
But something happened in the locker room for Matt Heuer’s squad because they would come out and post 38 unanswered second half points and cruise to a 58-14 victory over Pike Valley. The win was Hanover’s state leading 39th consecutive victory.
---
Valley Heights runs past from Troy
On Friday night, Troy and Valley Heights came together to honor former Valley Heights coach Lew Whitson who passed away in a car accident in the offseason. Both the Trojans and Mustangs came out of the locker rooms arms interlocked in solidarity and paid tribute to the man simply known as “Coach Lew”.
Once on the field, Valley Heights dominated after a scoreless first quarter. The Mustang defense picked off a pair of passes in the last minute of the first half, both of which led to quick scores. Valley Heights headed into the locker room leading Troy 38-0. Valley Heights added two more scores in the second half to take the opening game of the 2019 season, 52-0 over Troy.
-----
Andale rolls past Mulvane
Andale scored 21 points in the second quarter in pulling away from Mulvane for a 43-7 victory on Friday night.
Senior quarterback Easton Hunter rushed for four touchdowns to lead the Indian offense. Andale rushed for 423 yards on the night, led by Gabe Ungles’ 112 yards and a score.
Always a strength, the Andale defense looked in mid-season form in holding the Wildcats to 32 yards rushing on 26 attempts.
----
Paola throttles Bonner Springs
Fifth-ranked Paola opened Frontier League play with a dominating 48-21 win over an experienced Bonner Springs team.
Five different Panthers scored on the night with four of those coming in the first half as Paola built a 35-7 lead. Garrett Williams rushed for two scores and passed for another to Even Peuser. Evan Phillips and Fletcher Aude also added touchdowns for the Panthers.
Connor Hasz added a pair of second-half touchdowns as the lead grew to 41 points.
-----
Tonganoxie routs Basehor behind Cunningham’s big night
With an offensive line that returned so much experience, the potential was there for Tonganoxie to put up big numbers on the ground. That was if they could find a replacement for all-state running back Korbin Riedel who rushed for 1,500 yards last season.
Cooper Cunningham appears to have filled that void quite well. Cunningham carried 30 times for 232 yards and three scores as the Chieftains powered past Basehor-Linwood, 49-28.
Tonganoxie led 28-14 at halftime and neither team could score in the third quarter. But Cunningham exploded for two touchdowns runs in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter as the Chieftains built a 42-14 lead. Cunningham added his third touchdown later in the fourth quarter to ice the game.
In his first start at quarterback, Chase Torkelson passed for 283 yards and three scores for Basehor-Linwood.
-----
Parsons outlasts Iola in 5 OT!
In the fifth overtime, Parsons quarterback Ethan Houk connected on a pass in the left flat to Dariq Williams who avoided a tackler, broke outside and dived for the pile on. It was an incredible ending to a five-overtime thriller that saw Parsons prevail, 54-48.
Iola never trailed during regulation – leading 13-6 at halftime and adding to that lead with a safety and a short touchdown run by Zane Whitney to go up 22-6 midway through the fourth quarter.
That’s when Houk and Williams got hot.
Houk hit Williams on a 28-yard touchdown pass to pull within 22-14. Then less than three minutes later, the two connected again from 45-yards out with the two-point conversion knotting the game at 22.
The Mustangs and Vikings traded touchdown runs in the first overtime with both failing to covert their PAT.
In the second OT, Houk and Williams connected again to put Parsons up 36-28. But Iola would respond with a touchdown reception of their own by Drake Sellman. The two-point attempt was successful in forcing a third OT, tied 36-36.
Iola scored in the third over time, but the two-point attempt failed. Houk added a short touchdown run for the Vikings, but their two-point attempt was also unsuccessful.
Houk hit Williams for a 10-yard touchdown pass in the fourth OT for a 48-42 lead. The Mustangs responded with a short touchdown run to tie the game at 48 and force a fifth OT.
In the fifth OT, Houk hit Williams for the fifth time as Williams ended the game with a dive towards the pile on.
---
Riley County holds off Rock Creek
After reaching the Class 2A state championship game last fall, the Riley County Falcons had a lot of questions entering Friday night with just three returning starters on offense. Some of those questions were answered in Friday night’s 41-34 Mid-East League win over Rock Creek.
Senior quarterback Garrett Harmison threw for 245 yards and had as many touchdown passes as he had incompletions – four. All four of Harmison’s TD passes went to Avrey Brokenicky who had 161 receiving yards on the night.
In head coach Shane Sieben’s debut, Rock Creek led by 10 in the first half and 27-21 at halftime. But Riley County would score the next 21 points and hold on for the victory.
---
Osborne runs past Hill City
Last season, Osborne outscored Hill City 88-76 in a wild opener.
On Friday, the scoring wasn’t quite as prevalent, but the result was the same.
In veteran Steve Tiernan’s return to the Bulldog sideline, Osborne rushed for more than 400 yards in beating the Ringnecks, 58-20.
Returning all-state running back Darrien Holloway rushed for 161 yards and five touchdowns in the victory. Sophomore Mason Schurr added 159 yards and a score and also threw a touchdown pass.
Hill City was led by Jayce Hamel’s 187 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
---
McCarty runs wild for Cheylin
The Cheylin Cougars won their 6-man opener 76-12 over Fowler on Friday night.
Junior quarterback Colton McCarty rushed for 348 yards and four touchdowns on only 11 carries. McCarty also completed 4 of 5 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown, and returned a kickoff 79 yards for another score.
McCarty is already in his third year starting for the Cougars. He has rushed for 2,739 yards and 43 touchdowns, and passed for 1,751 yards and 36 more scores in his career.
Several schools end double-digit losing streaks
Several schools ended double-digit losing streaks with Week 1 victories highlighted by KC Harmon’s 35-0 shutout of KC Turner. The victory stopped a steak of 30 consecutive losses for the Harmon Hawks. Harmon’s last win came October 2, 2015 with a 32-16 decision over KC Washington.
Ottawa ended a 15-game losing streak with a 26-14 victory over Baldwin, and Colony-Crest outscored Hartford 52-42 to halt an 11-game winless streak.
Finally, Larned snapped a 10-game losing streak with an impressive 32-16 win over Smoky Valley. The Indians also picked up coach Tad Remy’s first victory at the school after an 0-9 initial season a year ago.
Use your Facebook account to add a comment or start a discussion. Posts are subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment.
