Last week’s action brought major change in a couple of classifications. In Class 3A, three ranked teams lost on Friday night, while the top-ranked team in Eight-Man, Division II went down for a second consecutive week. Find out what all changes have taken place with the Kpreps Week 8 Rankings.
Class 6A
Derby cruised past Haysville Campus, 54-27, to set up this week’s showdown with Class 5A No. 3 Maize. The winner of the Panthers and Eagles game this week will be the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail – Division I champion. Last season, Derby won at Maize, 35-21.
Lawrence continues to climb the Class 6A poll after an impressive 35-10 victory over Olathe North. The Chesty Lions have delivered an incredible turnaround from last year’s 1-8 season. Lawrence takes on rival Lawrence Free State (6-1) this week. Olathe North drops to No. 4 in this week’s poll with the loss. The Eagles will close out the regular season at Olathe Northwest.
Gardner-Edgerton moves up to the No. 3 spot after blasting Shawnee Mission Northwest, 54-14. The Blazers shut down the Cougars high-scoring offense to improve to 6-1 on the season. Gardner-Edgerton will travel to take on Shawnee Mission West this week.
Finally, Topeka High remains in the No. 5 spot after an impressive 27-0 shutout of Emporia. The Trojans can clinch at least a share of the Centennial League title with a win over Topeka West this week.
Class 5A
Top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas fell behind 13-0 to Class 4A No. 1 Bishop Miege before eventually grinding out a 45-32 victory with a consistent ground game. Junior running back Tyron “Tank” Young carried 52 times for 302 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Saints offense. Aquinas has completed their regular season and will await the result of the De Soto versus Pittsburg game this week to find out their seed on the east side of 5A. A De Soto win will make the Wildcats the top seed, while a Pittsburg win gives Aquinas the top spot.
Second-ranked Wichita Northwest throttled Wichita Heights, 79-0. Yeah, you read that right. The Grizzlies led 69-0 at halftime over the Falcons (3-4). Northwest will host Wichita Southeast (3-4) this week.
Maize remains in the No. 3 spot this week after a 26-8 victory over Salina Central on Thursday night. The Eagles will travel to 6A No. 1 Derby this week.
Bishop Carroll improved to 5-2 with a 47-6 win over Wichita North on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles will close out the regular season on Friday with a trip to Wichita South.
De Soto routed Shawnee Heights, 59-14. The Wildcats captured the United Kansas Conference title with the victory and kept the top spot in the Class 5A East standings. De Soto closes out the regular season with a home game against Pittsburg (4-3).
Class 4A
Bishop Miege remains in the top spot this week despite a second loss. This time, the Stags fell 45-32 to Class 5A No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas. Miege jumped out to a 13-0 lead, but couldn’t slow down Tank Young and the Saint rushing attack. The Stags will close out the regular season at Blue Valley Northwest.
Second-ranked McPherson defeated Rose Hill, 31-7. The Bullpups voting lead over No. 3 Paola continues to dwindle with Paola listed as No. 2 on some ballots. Paola routed Eudora, 56-3, and will make the short trip east to take on rival Louisburg (5-2) this week.
Paola can share at least a share of the Frontier League title with a victory, although No. 4 Tonganoxie can also share the title with a win. The Panthers and Chieftains do not play each other this season. Tonganoxie routed Baldwin, 55-0, and will host Ottawa this week.
Fifth-ranked Andover Central handled cross-town rival Andover, 31-13. The Jaguars can solidify the No. 2 seed on the west side of 4A with a win at Ark City this week.
Class 3A
Top-ranked Andale shut out Clearwater in the second in turning a 22-12 game into a 50-12 victory. The Indians showcased an effective passing game with the return of quarterback Easton Hunter from injury. Hunter passed for 300 yards and three scores in the game. Andale will battle Cheney (6-1) for the District 6 championship this week.
The No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 teams in last week’s poll all lost on Friday night. As a result, Halstead moves up three spots to No. 2 this week. The Dragons remained unbeaten with a 49-0 win over Smoky Valley.
Marysville drops only one spot to No. 3 despite a 30-8 loss at Holton. The Bulldogs’ standout running back Atreyau Hornbeak was limited in the game due to a nagging injury, but Holton was in control for much of the night.
Frontenac jumps into the poll at No. 4 after rolling past fellow CNC League member Baxter Springs. The Raiders will take on unbeaten Columbus this week to decide both the CNC and District 1 titles.
Finally, Colby moves in the to poll at No. 5 this week just ahead of Wamego and Topeka Hayden among others. The Eagles remained unbeaten and captured the District 8 championship with a 28-20, overtime win over Scott City.
Topeka Hayden falls from No. 3 to just outside the top five after a 21-20 overtime loss to Perry-Lecompton, and Sabetha falls from No. 4 out of the poll with a 28-15 loss to Wamego.
Class 2A
There is no change in this week’s Class 2A poll. Hoisington outscored defending champion Phillipsburg, 56-28, to remain in the top spot. The Cardinals had lost five consecutive games to the Panthers before Friday’s win. Hoisington will travel to Norton for the District 8 championship this week.
Second-ranked Silver Lake posted its fifth consecutive shutout with a 57-0 blanking of Osage City. Osage City entered this game with a 4-2 record. Silver Lake has only given up 25 points all season.
Garden Plain remains in the No. 3 spot this week after a 64-8 rout of Wichita Independent. The Owls will take on rival Conway Springs this week in a game that will decide the District 6 championship. Conway Springs remains in the No. 4 spot this week after a 41-7 win over Chaparral.
Finally, Humboldt comes in at No. 5 again this week following a 74-6 win over Northeast-Arma. The Cubs will travel to Southeast-Cherokee (6-1) this week.
Class 1A
Top-ranked Smith Center defeated Republic County, 41-12. The Redmen will take on Ell-Saline (6-1) this week in a game that will decide the top two spots in District 5.
Second-ranked Olpe also has a district championship game this week as the Eagles will host Hillsboro (5-2). Olpe won at Marion 48-6 on Friday to remain unbeaten.
Third-ranked Plainville had to wait a day due to weather, but the Cardinals shutout Ellis, 43-0, on Saturday. Jordan Finnesy threw three touchdown passes and Jared Casey rushed for two as the Cardinals improved to 6-1.
Centralia stays at No. 4 this week after a 62-0 shutout of Wabaunsee. The Panthers will travel to Valley Heights (6-1) to decide the District 4 championship in one of the marquee games in Class 1A this week.
Sedgwick remains just ahead of Jackson Heights for the No. 5 spot. The Cardinals cruised past Sublette, 48-8 and will travel to Inman to decide the District 7 championship.
Class 8M-I
Top-ranked Canton-Galva clinched the District 4 championship with a 60-0 win at Solomon. It was the Eagles’ third consecutive shutout and fifth of the season. Canton-Galva will host Herington (0-7) this week.
Second-ranked Saint Francis wrapped up the District 8 title with a 60-12 victory over WaKeeney-Trego. The Indians will travel to Atwood this week to take on Rawlins County for the Yoke.
Third-ranked South Central cruised to a 56-6 win over Oxford to close out the regular-season home schedule. The Timberwolves will travel to Argonia-Attica this week with a chance to win the District 2 title.
Fourth-ranked Madison won the District 3 championship with a 56-6 victory over Burlingame. The Bulldogs will close out the regular season with a trip to an improved Chase County team that is still battling for a playoff spot.
Clifton-Clyde remains at No. 5 after a 48-0 blanking of Washington County. It was the Eagles’ fifth shutout this season and gave Clifton-Clyde the District 7 championship. The Eagles will host Lincoln (2-5) this week.
Class 8M-II
After Hanover spent some 48 consecutive weeks in the No. 1 spot in the Kpreps 8M-II polls, Axtell’s stay at the top lasted only one week. The Eagles played without all-state quarterback Quinn Buessing and fell to unbeaten Frankfort 24-20 as the Wildcats threw a 32-yards touchdown pass on the game’s final play.
As you can imagine, that caused a major shake-up in this week’s poll. Osborne takes over the No. 1 spot this week. The Bulldogs cruised to a 48-0 win over Northern Valley. Osborne will travel to unbeaten Thunder Ridge this week to decide the District 5 championship. After a few weeks in the poll at No. 5, Thunder Ridge is bumped just outside the top five this week thanks to all the changes.
Frankfort vaults up the poll to No. 2 this week (essentially from No. 6 last week). The Wildcats got that final touchdown heave from Gavin Cornelison to Branden Bussmann on the game’s final play to top Axtell. Axtell falls from No. 1 to No. 3 this week, one spot ahead of No. 4 Hanover which the Eagles defeated 28-26 two weeks ago. Hanover will take on Frankfort this week.
Finally, St. Paul gets pushed down a spot to No. 5 this week with Frankfort’s vault into the poll. The Indians made quick work of Chetopa, 71-0, in a game that didn’t quite make it to halftime.
Visit the Rankings page each week to view a complete list of the top five teams in each classification and how they performed last week.
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