Class 6A
6A East
#8 Blue Valley North (4-5) at #1 Gardner-Edgerton (8-1) – Gardner-Edgerton (Nicholl)
Last year, Blue Valley North defeated Gardner-Edgerton, 49-28, in the quarterfinals en route to a Class 6A state runner-up showing. The Mustagns went 9-4 last year and graduated a big class, including Graham Mertz, a Wisconsin commit. Gardner-Edgerton has rushed for 396 yards a game. Teven McKelvey has rushed for 809 yards and 19 rushing scores. Tayezhan Crough has 58 carries for 749 yards and six touchdowns. Crough is a first-year transfer from Hutchinson.
#5 Blue Valley (6-3) at #4 Olathe East (7-2) – Blue Valley (Gilmore)
This should be a great matchup between two of the top teams in the Sunflower League and the Eastern Kansas League. Olathe East defeated Blue Valley, 31-21 in the first round last season. The Hawks improved to 7-2 by defeating Olathe South for a second consecutive week. The Hawks scored a touchdown in the final two minutes before halftime take a 17-6 advantage. The Hawks then added a pair of scores to lead 31-6 in the fourth quarter before the Falcons tacked on a pair of late scores. Olathe East defeated South 32-21 the week prior. Olathe East is led in the backfield by speedy junior Marrell Fountain, while the defense is paced by Kansas State-commit Nate Matlack and Hezekiah Newman who has committed to Pittsburg State. Blue Valley advanced by scoring 24 points in the second quarter to build a 31-0 halftime lead against Shawnee Mission East. The Tigers then cruised to a 45-14 win over the Lancers. Quarterback Jake Wolff passed for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Beau Palmer rushed for a touchdown and returned an interception for a second score. Wolff has passed for more than 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. In addition to being a threat in the return game, Chase Jans has rushed for 900 yards and eights scores.
#7 KC Wyandotte (4-4) at #2 Olathe North (7-2) – Olathe North (Gilmore)
Wyandotte will have the tall task of trying to slow down Olathe North’s Arland Bruce, IV. The Bullldogs advanced to the second round with a 51-30 win over Harmon to pick up the schools’ second playoff/bracket win in history and first since 1987. Meanwhile, Olathe North dominated Olathe Northwest for a second consecutive week. The Eagles led 27-7 at halftime and pulled away in the second half. Arland Bruce, IV rushed for 284 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Bruce, who has moved back to quarterback after the injury to Caleb Nelson, also passed for 131 yards and two scores. Nelson returned this week and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Simms. For the season, Bruce has rushed for 1,872 yards and 32 touchdowns.
#6 Blue Valley West (6-3) at #3 SM Northwest (7-2) – Blue Valley West (Gilmore)
Another good Sunflower-EKL matchup between two quality teams. Blue Valley West’s three losses have come in competitive games to Bishop Miege, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Blue Valley. The Jaguars raced out to a 33-0 lead in the first quarter in beating Shawnee Mission West, 46-20. Quarterback Greg Riddle rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another in the game. Riddle has passed for more than 1,100 yards and seven scores, while adding five rushing touchdowns. Riley Cummings leads West with nearly 900 rushing yards and 12 scores, but did not play last week. David Brown is Blue Valley West’s top receiving target with 615 yards and three scores. The Jaguar defense has been a strong point in allowing only 20 points per game, but only 13 per game over the last four contests. They will be tested with a Shawnee Mission Northwest offense that puts up nearly 38 points per game. Quarterback Ty Black has passed for more than 2300 yards and 20 touchdowns, while Ty Lindenman is one of the top receivers in the state. Lindenman has 64 receptions for 1,267 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. The Cougar offense has been slowed against the better defense they’ve come up against, and Blue Valley West will provide a similar challenge.
Class 6A – WEST
#8 Wichita West (6-3) at #1 Derby (9-0) – Derby (Nicholl)
Derby has won 22 straight games, is the defending state champion and has been ranked No. 1 in 6A all year. Wichita West beat Wichita East, 9-6 in Week 9. West defeated East for the second consecutive week. East led 6-2 after the first quarter. Derby ranks No. 1 in 6A in scoring offense and scoring defense. This is the first matchup since a 56-28 Derby victory on Oct. 30, 2015.
#5 Lawrence Free State (8-1) at #4 Manhattan (8-1) – Free State (Hammeke)
Both Free State and Manhattan had their hopes for a perfect season dashed in Week 2. Free State lost to Olathe East, 26-17, while Manhattan lost to Topeka High, 32-27. Both teams never looked back and have been unstoppable since. The Manhattan defense averages giving up 15.3 points per game behind team leader Joey Meyer’s 73 total tackles. The Indian offence is just as astounding, only having to punt the ball 16 times this year. Senior back B.J. Young has 1,162 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. Free State features a defense that has forced 14 turnovers this season. The offensive line features Nebraska commit Tucker Corcoran, which averages 38.5 points per game. Senior back Tyler Bowden has rushed for more than 1,500 yards and scored 20 touchdowns.
#7 Junction City (7-2) at #2 Dodge City (9-0) – Dodge City (Nicholl)
Junction City makes the 208-mile trip southwest for the second straight year. Dodge City won 25-15 in the first round last year. Both teams have had a three-win improvement. Junction City quarterback Andrew Khoury has 1,888 passing yards. Qua’Vez Humphreys and Ethan Alcorn are key receivers for Junction City. Alcorn received PWO from Kansas State this week. Dodge City has enjoyed its best season since 2010, and is 13-1 in its last 14 games. Beau Foster has 1,470 passing and 996 rushing yards. Nose guard Santonio Turner has keyed the No. 2 scoring defense in 6A. Alden Knedler has enjoyed a great two-way season with 80 tackles and 694 rushing yards. Dodge City has will likely need to play better than its Week 9 victory against one-win Campus and has faced injury issues to two captains, John Johnson and Jashon Taylor. Junction City has a total margin of 371-169, and Dodge is at 300-126.
#6 Lawrence (8-1) at #3 Topeka (8-1) – Topeka (Nicholl)
Topeka has scored 452 points, second-best in Class 6A behind Derby. Lawrence has scored 342 points. Topeka has permitted 180 points, and Lawrence has allowed 186. Both teams feature excellent running backs with Topeka’s Ky Thomas and Lawrence’s Devin Neal. Thomas, a Minnesota commit, is the all-time leading rusher in City of Topeka history. Neal has offers from KU and K-State. Last week, Lawrence trailed Washburn Rural briefly early before Neal scored twice. He had 194 rushing yards in the win. Topeka quarterback Da’Vonshai Harden threw for nearly 290 yards and four touchdowns in Topeka’s 48-14 win versus Garden City.
Class 5A
5A East
#8 Shawnee Heights (5-4) at #1 De Soto (9-0) – De Soto (Nicholl)
De Soto defeated Shawnee Heights, 59-14, in the regular season. Last year, the Wildcats beat the Thunderbirds, 14-0, in the regular season and 38-17 in the playoffs. De Soto has passed for 125 yards and rushed for 258 yards a game. Junior Jackson Miller has completed 49 of 77 passes for 922 yards with a 15/1 TD/INT ratio. He leads the Wildcats with 71 carries for 463 yards and ranks third with five rushing touchdowns. Shawnee Heights advance to this round by defeating Lansing for the second time in consecutive weeks. Antonio Ruiz’s touchdown in the third quarter was enough to give the T-Birds a 7-0 win after defeating Lansing 35-17 the week prior.
#5 Olathe West (6-3) at #4 Mill Valley (6-3) – Mill Valley (Nicholl)
Olathe West opened 0-3 and has won six in a row. Mill Valley started 1-3 and has won five straight. Olathe West coach T.J. O’Neill was a former Mill Valley assistant. Last year, he led the Owls to the 5A semifinals in their first year as a varsity program. Junior Alex Birge has completed 71 of 122 passes with 1,118 yards with an 11/3 TD/INT ratio. Sophomore Anthony Favrow has 166 carries for 1,306 yards and 16 TDs. Junior Trey Krause is one of the state’s leading tacklers with 129 tackles. Mill Valley has enjoyed a great defense with 16.2 points per contest. Junior Ethan Kremer has enjoyed a standout season on the defensive line with 11.5 tackles for loss. The Jaguars have averaged 5.8 yards per carry, and Cooper Marsh has thrown for 1,433 yards and 19 TDs. Mill Valley’s line play has been solid this year and could be the difference.
#7 St. James Academy (5-4) at #2 St. Thomas Aquinas (8-0) – Aquinas (Nicholl)
Aquinas is 5-0 against St. James all-time. Aquinas defeated St. James, 28-21, in Week 6. St. James finished with 60 plays for 305 yards, while Aquinas had 53 plays for 370 yards. Michael Tujague led the Thunder with 33 carries for 130 yards and two scores. Cade Lautt paced the Thunder with six tackles. Aquinas running back Tank Young enjoyed a big game with 24 carries for 199 yards and two scores. Aquinas quarterback Blake Anderson has completed eight of 16 passes for 157 yards with two scores against one interception. Young cleared 2,000 yards as a sophomore and has 154 carries for 1,385 yards and 22 scores this fall. Anderson has enjoyed a highly efficient season with 42 of 67 passes for 820 yards with a 14/2 TD/INT ratio. Aquinas has won 20 straight games. St. James has enjoyed a three-win improvement off last year. Cade Lautt is one of the state’s top linebackers with 116 tackles and 8.5 TFLs.
#6 KC Schlagle (5-3) at #14 Blue Valley Southwest (2-7) – BV Southwest (Nicholl)
Last week, Blue Valley Southwest defeated K.C. Washington, 31-6. Washington posted a 6-3 mark, including a 5-0 record in the Kansas City Atchison League. Washington defeated Schlagle, 42-6 in Week 7. Schlagle has posted a winning season in each of the last five years. The Stallions feature running back Jaylin Richardson, a KU commit, and linebacker Manowa Ngenzirabona. Blue Valley Southwest led 28-0 in the first half last week after a muffed punt and an interception. Tanner Curry has passed for more than 1,600 yards and 10 scores. Drew Jennings cleared 100 rushing yards in the win against Washington. Southwest’s Dominik Stadlman is one of the state’s top specialists.
Class 5A – West
#8 Great Bend (5-4) at #1 Wichita Northwest (9-0) – Wichita Northwest (Hammeke)
Wichita Northwest traveled to Great Bend and blanked the Panthers, 31-0 in back in Wee 3. The shutout was the beginning of a four-game losing streak for Great Bend, with losses against the Grizzlies, undefeated Dodge City, ranked Bishop Carroll, and one loss Andover Central. Great Bend has since been on a three-game winning streak, averaging 408 yards a game in the past three weeks. Senior wideout Alex Schremmer has given defenses fits, but was held to only 67 yards in 10 catches in the first matchup. Without his leading receiver in Zion Jones, senior quarterback and Missouri Western commit Reagan Jones accounted for 155 yards through the air and another 118 on the ground.
#12 Andover (3-6) at #4 Bishop Carroll (7-2) – Bishop Carroll (Hammeke)
Andover was 2-6 against a tough AVCTL Division II schedule when they went to Salina Central and upset the Mustangs, 28-7, last week. The Trojans were tied with the Mustangs 7-7 at halftime and scored 21 unanswered to win. Andover now travels to Bishop Carroll to keep the magic happening. They will have to try and stop a Golden Eagle offense that averages 33 points per game. Carroll is led by Aiden Niedens, who is 71 of 119 passing for 801 yards and five touchdowns in seven games this season. Junior Hunter Trail has been Carroll’s leading rusher out of the backfield this season.
#10 Hays (4-5) at #2 Maize South (9-0) – Maize South (Nicholl)
Maize South ranks second in Class 5A scoring defense with just 95 points allowed. The Mavericks have the first perfect regular season in school history. Hays High enjoyed the signature win of the Tony Crough era with a 31-6 road victory versus Goddard-Eisenhower last week. Maize South beat Eisenhower, 10-0, in Week 6. Maize South has featured strong seasons from a variety of playmakers, including quarterback Colin Shields and defensive back Trevion Mitchell. Maize South has three shutouts in the last four games. Shields has thrown for 1,204 yards, and Brandon Bowles has 82 tackles. For Hays High, sophomore quarterback Dylan Dreiling has thrown for 964 yards with eight touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Hayden Brown has 747 rushing and 225 receiving yards. He has 11 offensive scores. Gavin Meyers and Gaven Haselhorst leads the Western Athletic Conference with 106 and 104 tackles, respectively. The teams have never matched up
#6 Emporia (6-3) at #3 Maize (8-1) – Maize (Nicholl)
Maize defeated Liberal, 49-14. Camden Jurgensen has completed 94 of 143 passes for 1,113 yards with a 16/3 TD/INT ratio. Caden Cox, who has committed to Kansas, has 156 rushes for 1,126 yards and 16 scores. Tanner Carter has 25 catches for 337 yards and five TDs. Emporia features senior lineman Hayden Pauls, an Iowa State commit with more than 100 career pancake blocks. Emporia has a quality 14-13 victory versus Junction City. Senior John Miller has 48 of 90 passing for 671 yards with an 8/3 TD/INT ratio. Senior Beau Baumgardner has 126 carries for 855 yards and seven scores.
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