Each Thursday throughout the regular season, The Pick List will feature six of the best match-ups across the state, and make our predictions on a handful of other games.
Feature Games of the Week:
6A No. 4 Manhattan (1-0) at Junction City (0-1)
Manhattan opened the season with a 21-7 victory over Garden City, but the Indians will have to do a better job taking care of the ball if they want to improve their record to 2-0.
Manhattan quarterback Dayne Aschenbrenner tossed three interceptions in a game that wasn’t sealed until he scored on a touchdown run with less than a minute to go.
Junior running back Vinny Smith led the Indians with 98 rushing yards and a touchdown. Aschenbrenner ran for 51 yards and two touchdowns. Mason Reid led the receiving crew with four receptions for 107 yards.
Manhattan’s defense helped make up for its offense’s turnovers by creating some of its own. Colby Klieman, Da’Shawn Edwards, and Damian Ilalio each recovered a fumble.
Junction City opened the season with a crushing 29-28 loss at Bishop Carroll. The Blue Jays pulled within a point when quarterback Andrew Khoury connected with Marcello Bussey on a 29-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. But instead of going for the tie, Junction City head coach Randall Zimmerman elected to go for the win on the road. However, Khoury’s conversion pass attempt to Bussey fell incomplete.
A year ago, Manhattan edged Junction City 31-28 after kicker Grant Snowden connected on a 38-yard field goal on the final play of the game.
Incredibly, 10 of the last 11 meetings in this series have been decided by single digits.
Our pick: Junction City 34, Manhattan 24 (Schremmer)
4A No. 4 St. James Academy at 5A No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas
The only two schools to defeat 4A football juggernaut Bishop Miege last season will open their season this week with a contest filled with standout athletes. The game was supposed to be played last week, but the schools elected to cancel their week one games due to uncertainty surrounding COVID-19. Eventually, St. James and Aquinas rescheduled for a week later after several changes continued to disrupt the school’s original schedules.
Aquinas returns one of the state’s best running backs in Tank Young. Young, who holds offers from Missouri State and Iowa State, had 1,867 yards in a talented junior year. Throughout his career, Young has rushed for 4,123 yards and 61 touchdowns. The running game is not the only concern for opposing defenses either with Blake Anderson behind center. Anderson threw for 1,293 yards and 18 touchdowns last fall, along with notching 18 touchdowns on the ground as well. His offensive line returns two great blockers in Michael Luchtefeld and Danny Carroll, a North Dakota commit.
While the offense has options in Anderson and Young to get the ball to the endzone, the guys stopping you from entering it aren’t too shabby either. The Saint defense returns multiple players from last year’s 10-1 team that kept opponents to 271.1 yards and 18 points/game. The D-Line returns Caden Reeves, Cameron Penny, Jalen Marshall, and Sa’o Siavi’I and will look to carry the unit early on.
While St. James returns half the lettermen that Aquinas had, they do return some playmakers. Tyler Claiborn and Hayes Manning make up a good receiving attack for the Thunder this fall for returning quarterback Dakota Burritt. Burritt only played the last two games of the season for the Thunder, but put up good numbers against Leavenworth and Aquinas, throwing for 260 yards and two touchdowns for one interception. The running game will heavily involve La’James White, a transfer from KC Piper. White was the leading rusher for the Pirates last season, with 1,241 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
While the Thunder offense has an arsenal of options, the defense will need some players to step up. The Thunder return solid players Jack Gossman, Brendon Lee, and Sam Schmidt, but several starters graduated from a defense that gave up 326.6 yards/game.
The Thunder and the Saints have played each other since ’16 regularly, with their first meeting in the ’15 playoffs. Every game has been won by Aquinas, with a large margin in between. St. James has worked to close the margin every year and this year is no different. However, with the offensive prowess of Tank Young and Blake Anderson, Aquinas should grab a hard-fought victory.
Our pick: Aquinas 35, St. James 24 (Hammeke)
3A No. 3 Topeka Hayden (1-0) at Topeka Seaman (1-0)
The Topeka Hayden Wildcats were scheduled to open the season with back-to-back road games against Class 5A opponents.
Hayden had little trouble getting through the first road test as it defeated Emporia 47-7.
Senior Desmond Purnell was the Wildcats’ leading rusher and receiver in the game with 78 yards and a touchdown on six carries and 104 yards and a touchdown on two catches. He also returned an interception for a 38-yard touchdown to open the scoring in a 28-point first quarter.
Hayden quarterback Johnny Holloway completed 4 of 6 passes for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Senior fullback Will DeVader ran for 74 yards and two TDs on eight carries.
However, the Wildcats’ second consecutive 5A road test could be the more difficult of the two.
Seaman opened the season by snapping a three-game losing streak and beating Washburn Rural 42-8. The Vikings, who finished just 2-7 a year ago, avenged last year’s 35-10 loss to Rural.
Senior Nathan Zeferjahn ran for 66 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries. Seaman quarterback Reid Cowan completed 12 of 17 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown.
In 2019, Hayden defeated Seaman 54-7. Before that, the Vikings had defeated the Wildcats in each of the three previous seasons.
Our pick: Hayden 35, Seaman 27 (Schremmer)
3A No. 4 Holton (1-0) at Chapman (1-0)
Holton travels west to Chapman in an intriguing early-season matchup in Class 3A. Both teams are coming off of quality wins against Big 7 Conference opponents.
Holton went on the road to Nemaha Central and escaped with a 15-13 victory thanks to sophomore kicker Matt Lierz’s 20-yard field goal on the game’s final play.
The Wildcats stayed behind an experienced offensive line and grinded out 285 rushing yards against the defending 2A champions. Touchdowns by sophomore Jayden Fletcher and senior Canon Karn provided the only scoring other than Lierz’s game-winning kick.
Karn finished with a team-high 123 yards on the ground on 16 attempts, while fellow backfield mate KonnorTannahill added 98 yards on 20 carries.
Holton will need to establish the run game if they play to escape Dickinson County with their second win.
Chapman went on the road last week and won at Sabetha, 34-29. Trevor Erickson had a huge night on both sides of the ball. The senior quarterback passed for 135 yards and added 125 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
Erickson also led the Irish in tackles with 18 on the night.
Chapman will likely have to find some additional options other than Erickson to find success against Holton. Erickson favored Cam Liebau in the pass game as the junior caught five balls for 79 yards. Liebau also intercepted two passes on defense as the Irish forced three Sabetha turnovers in all.
This is the first meeting between Holton and Chapman since 2003. It should be another grinder between similar experienced teams.
Our Pick: Holton 26, Chapman 20 (Gilmore)
8-Man I No. 3 Little River (1-0) at 8-Man I No. 5 Clifton-Clyde (1-0)
Little River and Clifton-Clyde have not met up in at least 25 years, according to the Kansas Football History database. The teams have a pair of eight-man’s most well-known coaches. Little River’s Kevin Ayers has three state titles, is 168-41 overall and 10-2 in two seasons with the Redskins.
Clifton-Clyde coach Russ Steinbrock stands 123-73 in 20 years at his alma mater. The Eagles are 34-6 since the start of ’16. Clifton-Clyde has not lost in the regular season since a 48-0 district loss to Burlingame in Week 6 of 2017.
Little River lost to eventual state champion Canton-Galva in Week 1, then won nine in a row. This season, the Redskins had little trouble with a 50-0 victory at Peabody-Burns. Clifton-Clyde defeated Onaga, 62-18.
Both teams have terrific quarterbacks. Clifton-Clyde single wing quarterback Aiden Rudolph rushed for 1,550 yards and 26 offensive scores, along with 11 passing TDs. Last season, Ayers talked Jayden Garrison into playing. Garrison and Graham Stephens split time at quarterback in ’19 and did so again in ’20.
Clifton-Clyde is very experienced and senior-laden on the line with first team all-state defensive end Jarik Weiche, along with Dillon Provost, Seth LeClair and Douglas Koch. Garrison, the reigning 1A boys’ basketball player of the year, and Stephens are exceptional athletes. They combined for 3 of 5 passing for 75 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Garrison had two of the catches for 36 yards and a score.
They had nearly identical rushing lines and combined for eight carries for 124 yards and four scores. Last year, Stephens missed two games with injury. Stephens passed for 395 yards with a 6/0 TD/INT ratio, and Garrison finished 41 of 68 for 444 yards with an 8/4 TD/INT ratio. Garrison was first team all-state and delivered 130 rushes for 1,234 yards and 26 scores, while Stephens had 80 carries for 682 yards and 19 TDs. Garrison also led with 346 receiving scores and five TDs.
Notably, Garrison had massive games in playoff wins versus Ness City (44-42) and a loss against Wichita County (74-38). He rushed for 222 yards versus Ness City, and 227 yards against Wichita County, both games when Stephens didn’t play. Remarkably, Stephens has never thrown a career interception with a 16/0 TD/INT ratio, along with 45 rushing scores. In his career, Stephens delivered 239 tackles, 16 TFLs and is one of the state’s best punters with a 41-yard average. LR also returns key seniors Trey Rolfs (WR) and Keaton Richardson (WR/DB).
Clifton-Clyde is a very talented team, but the duo of Garrison and Stephens has not been stopped outside of Canton-Galva in Week 1 last year. They give Little River a slight edge.
Our Pick: Little River 36, Clifton-Clyde 30 (Nicholl)
Chase County (1-0) vs. 8-Man II No. 4 Lebo (1-0)
Last week, Lebo opened with a 62-8 win versus Southern Coffey County, and Chase County started with a 46-0 road win versus Moundridge.
The teams, 47 miles apart, and have had several close games in its matchup history, although nearly all won by Lebo. Last year, Lebo defeated Chase County, 28-26, in Week 6 in a district contest. Lebo finished 7-3, a three-win improvement from ’18. In ’18, Lebo beat Chase County, 46-30.
Before then, the teams had not matched up since Lebo beat the Bulldogs, 42-0, in 2005. Lebo also defeated Chase County, 57-24, in ’04, and 14-7 three years prior. In ’00, Chase County picked up its last win in the rivalry with a 34-32 win against Lebo.
Last season, quarterback Devan McEwen completed 122 of 194 passes for 1,695 yards with a 24/6 TD/INT ratio. He also rushed 85 times for 530 yards and 12 scores. In last week’s win over Southern Coffey County, McEwen completed all four of his passes for 89 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass from Kyle Reese.
A year ago, Lebo received all but 11 rushing yards for non-seniors and all but 16 of the team’s 105 receptions came from non-seniors. Lebo had an average score of 44-25. Chase County went 4-5 last season with an average score of 33-30.
Chase County coach Brody Vandergrift is in his fifth year with the program. Last year, he led a three-win improvement to 4-5 after back-to-back 1-8 seasons. In ’16, the Bulldogs finished 6-3, the program’s last winning year since ’11 and most wins since before ’04.
Chase County sophomore Mitch Budke was instrumental in the 46-0 win over Moundridge. Budke had five touchdowns with two rushing, two passing and a pick-six. He rushed for 133 yards and delivered 13 tackles. Five other returning senior starters are back: RB/S Trint Rodgers, WR/CB Blaise Holloway, OL/DL Corey Owen, TE/DE Owen Eidman, and WR/DB Tyulon Yabarra.
Chase County has a strong opportunity for a winning season, but McEwen is one of eight-man’s most dynamic quarterbacks. This game, like many of the past, should be close, but Lebo has the advantage.
Our Pick: Lebo 48, Chase County 36 (Nicholl)
The Pick List:
Wichita West at 5A No. 2 Wichita Northwest – Wichita Northwest
Maize (1-0) at Haysville Campus (1-0) – Maize
6A No. 5 Olathe North at Olathe South – Olathe North
Emporia (0-1) at Atchison (0-1) – Emporia
Hays (1-0) at Great Bend (0-1) – Hays
Kapaun Mt. Carmel (1-0) at 5A No. 4 Bishop Carroll (1-0) – Carroll
Pittsburg (1-0) at Chanute (1-0) – Pittsburg
Maize South (1-0) at Salina South (0-1) – Maize South
Andover Central (1-0) at Buhler (0-1) – Andover Central
Louisburg (1-0) at 4A No. 3 Tonganoxie (1-0) – Tonganoxie
2A No. 5 Nemaha Central (0-1) at Eudora (1-0) – Eudora
Beloit (0-1) at 3A No. 5 Southeast of Saline (1-0) – SE Saline
Cheney (1-0) at Belle Plaine (1-0) – Cheney
Scott City (1-0) at Holcomb (1-0) – Scott City
Jefferson Co. North (1-0) at 1A No. 2 Valley Heights (1-0) – Valley Heights
8M-I No. 2 Leoti-Wichita County (1-0) at WaKeeney-Trego (1-0) – Wichita County
Ness City (1-0) at Hill City (1-0) – Hill City
South Central (0-1) at Hodgeman County (1-0) – Hodgeman County
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