Each Thursday throughout the regular season, The Pick List will feature a few of the best match-ups across the state, and make our predictions on a handful of other games.
Feature Games of the Week:
Blue Valley Northwest (3-2) at 5A No. 3 Blue Valley Southwest (4-1)
Two of the top teams in the Eastern Kansas League will square off with hopes of keeping the league title in sight. Blue Valley Northwest has alternated wins and losses this season and is coming off of a 27-14 victory over Blue Valley West. Blue Valley Southwest has won three consecutive games since its only loss of the season, 51-28, to Bishop Miege
Northwest is averaging 24 points per game and giving up 22. The Huskies are led by quarterback Nate Livingston who has passed for 707 yards and seven touchdowns, while adding 421 yards rushing and three scores. Livingston’s primary receiving targets have been Trevor Garlington and standout tight end Gavin Hoffman. Garlington has 24 receptions for 313 yards and four touchdowns, while Hoffman has 13 catches for 283 yards and three sores.
Lovie Pulliam and Patrick White get the bulk of the carries, with Livingston, in the ground game. Pulliam has rushed for 255 yards and a touchdown.
The Husky defense is led by standout safety Trey Ridley who has a team-high 53 tackles. Ridley and the Northwest defense will be tested by an explosive Timberwolves offense.
Blue Valley Southwest quarterback Dylan Dunn has passed for 1,686 yards and 21 touchdowns in five games. He has a deep and talented receiving group including Alex Parks, Tate Everard, Emmitt Peters, Luke Falkner, and Gage Ilges. Parks leads the team with 39 catches for 748 yards and eight touchdowns. Everard has added 485 yards and five scores, while Peters has 191 yards receiving and six touchdowns.
Southwest averages less than 100 yards per game on the ground, but Falkner, Drake Dombrosky, Quinn Lemons, and Dunn share the bulk of the carries. Dombrosky leads with a team-high three rushing touchdowns.
Both teams own 14-point victories over Blue Valley and both have similar victories over Blue Valley West.
Blue Valley Northwest lost 28-14 to St. Thomas Aquinas back in Week 2. Northwest dropped a 34-22 decision to Missouri-power Lee’s Summit North. The Huskies played that game without quarterback Nate Livingston, tight end Gavin Hoffman, running back Patrick White, and wide out Ayden McGibboney.
Blue Valley Southwest hasn’t defeated Northwest since 2019, but Dunn and the Timberwolves may just have enough firepower to do it this year.
Our Pick: Blue Valley Southwest 31, Blue Valley Northwest 28 (Gilmore)
4A No. 1 Bishop Miege (4-1) at 4A No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (4-1)
We stay in the Eastern Kansas League for a showdown between the top two teams in Class 4A.
Bishop Miege and St. Thomas Aquinas each enter this week with one loss with both teams dropping close decisions to Missouri-power Rockhurst in consecutive weeks. Miege lost to the Hawklets, 21-14, two weeks ago. Last week, Aquinas led Rockhurst by 28 points in the second half before falling 45-44 in overtime.
Bishop Miege rebounded from the loss to Rockhurst by beating Blue Valley, 28-21. The Stags trailed Blue Valley 14-0 at halftime before getting two key turnovers in the third quarter to knot the game. Jack Baird’s interception led to a David Garcia touchdowns run, then Grant Kellerman returned a Tiger fumble for a score to tie the game at 14. In the fourth quarter, Marco Rodriguez threw a pair of touchdown passes to Andre Randle and Teryn Jackson to put Miege up 28-14.
Rodriguez (6-5, 180) has been fantastic in replacing graduated all-state quarterback Mac Armstrong. He has a solid group of receivers with Jackson, Randle, Hollis Moeller, Tommy Wright, and Howard Peoples. Garcia is the primary ball carrier for the Stags and gets the benefit of running behind a veteran and talented offensive line.
Aquinas will have to rebound from a tough loss to Rockhurst. The Saints led Rockhurst 28-0 in the third quarter and 38-15 with less than six minutes remaining in the game. After a Hawklet score pulled to within 38-23, Rockhurst got the onside kick and immediately threw a long touchdown pass to pull within 38-30. Aquinas, with a couple of players in the backfield out with injuries, fumbled with less than two minutes left giving the ball back to the Hawklets. Rockhurst tied the game late to force overtime.
In overtime, Rockhurst scored first to take a 45-38 lead. Aquinas answered on its possession as Aiden Skinner connected with Joe Loughman in the end zone, but the PAT was blocked.
Skinner has been solid in passing for 480 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Loughman has been his top receiver with ten catches for 259 yards and four scores.
The Saints have three capable backs running behind their experienced offensive line. Gianni Rizzi has rushed for a team-high 587 yards and seven touchdowns. Calin Arndt has added 472 yards and four scores, while Elzie Slaughter has rushed for 255 yards and three touchdowns.
If the Saints are healthy, they may be the favorite to knock off Miege at home. Aquinas has won four of the last six meetings between the two schools.
Our Pick: Aquinas 27, Miege 24 (Gilmore)
4A No. 3 Louisburg (5-0) at 4A No. 4 Tonganoxie (4-1)
The key game in the Frontier League this week features No. 3 Louisburg traveling to No. 4 Tonganoxie.
The Louisburg Wildcats are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in Class 4A along with Atchison. The Wildcats opened with a 48-14 win over Rogers-Heritage (Ark.) before a competitive win over rival Paola, 35-20. After blowout victories over Baldwin and Bonner Springs, Louisburg won a defensive slugfest last week over Eudora, 13-7. Eudora scored first and that game and was threatening again early, but the Wildcat defense came up with a pivotal stop.
Louisburg is led by one of the more dynamic backfield duos in the classification with quarterback Declan Battle and back Ashton Moore. The Wildcat offense averages 266 yards per game on the ground let by Moore who has rushed for 491 yards and eight scores. Battle has contributed 473 yards rushing and a team-high nine touchdowns. Darby Van Eaton has rushed for 227 yards and three scores.
Battle has been efficient in the passing game having connected on 79 percent of his passes for 510 yards and seven touchdowns. Moore, Caden Caplinger and Conlee Hovey are the Wildcats’ top receivers – each with around 140 yards.
The Louisburg defense has been stead in allowing only 11.2 points per game let by Moore with 56 tackles, Wyatt Holland with 42 stops, and Brady Hickey with 37.
Tonganoxie features an explosive but balanced offense that averages more than 40 points per game. The Chieftains average 239 yards per game on the ground and 235 yards through the air.
The ground game is led by senior Colton Brusven. The 5-10, 185-pound senior has rushed for 891 yards and 12 touchdowns this season after putting up 1,260 yards and 11 scores last year. For his career, Brusven is just 56 yards short of 3,000 yards, and has rushed for 30 touchdowns.
When teams focus on Brusven, senior Trevor McGraw has been able to exploit them in the passing game. McGraw has completed 57 percent of his passes for 1,172 yards and 12 touchdowns. Isaiah Holthaus is the teams leading receiver with 509 yards and eight scores, while Todd Brown has a team-high 23 catches for 440 yards and three scores. Standout tight end/linebacker Tyler Pankey had ten catches for 168 yards but hasn’t played in three weeks due to injury.
These two teams have played the last five years with Louisburg holding a slight 3-2 advantage. The Wildcats have won the last two meetings – 34-28 in overtime in 2021 and 49-0 last season. Expect a much closer game this year and Tonganoxie’s balance may be the difference at home.
Our Pick: Tonganoxie 31, Louisburg 27 (Gilmore)
3A No. 4 Wichita Collegiate (5-0) at 3A No. 1 Andale (5-0)
Andale has its top-two rivalries in the next two weeks against No. 4 Wichita Collegiate and No. 2 Cheney.
Through the first month, Andale, one of the best programs in Kansas history, has never had a start like 2003, especially with overall dominance and turnover margin.
The longtime AVCTL Division IV rivals will likely decide the conference title. This is a non-district game, through Collegiate and Andale generally play each other when not in the same district. Andale coach Dylan Schmidt and Collegiate coach Troy Black are close, and Collegiate has never shied away from facing the powerhouse Indians. The teams have faced each other every year since 2009.
Collegiate is the last team to beat Andale at home, with a 41-27 loss to open the 2012 season. This is by far the longest current home winning streak in Kansas.
Of course, Andale has the nation’s longest current win streak (home or road) at 56 contests. Andale has generally had more resistance with the Spartans than other teams. Still, Andale has won eight straight in the series (by an average margin of 36 point per game) and 10 of the last 11. In 2021, Collegiate played Andale to 29-6. Andale won 49-0 last season.
Collegiate ranks second in 3A in scoring offense with 49.4 points per game and improved its passing game under senior Hudson Ferralez, a Hesston transfer and one of the state’s top quarterbacks the last couple years.
Jaden Parker scored eight touchdowns in the first five games, though has been banged up. Collegiate has plenty of other skill talent with running back Julian Johnson and receivers James Shackleford, Markus Gorges and Brett Wetta. Plus, Sebastian Hines-Turner had a pick-six two weeks ago. Ferralez has completed 68 of 99 passes for 1,141 yards with 17 scores against three interceptions. Last year, Collegiate’s dual threat quarterback Wesley Fair, who signed with Kansas State, threw for 522 yards with four scores against one interception in the first six contests.
Andale by far paces the classification with 74.2 points a contest and has capably replaced the most successful senior class in school history that included QB Wyatt Spexarth, RB Riley Marx and OL Jack Kraus. Andale has had the running clock in the first quarter twice in ‘23. Andale’s five scores are: 75-28, 64-13, 73-0, 74-0 and 85-7.
Andale has displayed great depth and is healthy across the board.
Last week, Andale beat Nickerson, 85-7. Andale’s varsity played 11 offensive snaps against Smoky Valley in Week 4. Smoky Valley ran the clock with two minutes left in the first quarter. Against Nickerson, the clock started running seven minutes into the game.
Owen Eck and Gage Prosser have had unbelievable per-carry averages though limited total yards because of the blowouts. Prosser has scored in all three phases. Back Cooper Marx has been excellent, and so has Carson Butts at tight end. Henry Eck, Cody Engelbrecht and Ian Aouad are returners on the line. Those players are generally key on defense, too. Andale has scored multiple defensive touchdowns. AHS has a plus-25 turnover margin and created 28 turnovers.
Andale’s Marlo Sullivan and Nickerson’s Ayla Ontjes achieved extremely rare national and Kansas history as two female kickers to score in the same game for different teams when they accomplished the feat last Friday.
Collegiate is sixth with 8.2 points allowed a contest, and Andale stands eighth with 9.6 points a contest.
Last season, Andale led 3A in scoring offense (53.0) and scoring defense (4.7). Collegiate has upped its offense after 32.4 points a game and allowed 16.2 points a contest in ’22, eighth-best in 3A. Andale also paced 3A in scoring offense (53.4) and defense (5.2) in ’21, and led the classification in both statistics in ’20 and ’19.
Collegiate’s offense is high powered and should score, though Andale’s all-around attack has the advantage. Andale has not had a game closer than 47 points. That should occur Friday.
Our Pick: Andale 44, Collegiate 20 (Nicholl)
Garden Plain (4-1) at 1A No. 2 Centralia (5-0)
Centralia and Garden Plain meet for a premier non-conference, non-district matchup. Centralia won 28-13 last season when Garden Plain finished 4-5.
Centralia is 16-1 since longtime defensive coordinator Roger Holthaus took over as head coach last year. Four of those victories have come by a combined 10 points. Last week, Centralia beat previously unbeaten Jackson Heights, 48-12.
Garden Plain is tied for tenth in 2A with 16.2 points permitted a contest. The Owls are No. 21 in the classification with 29 points allowed per game and have significantly upped its offense after a 4-5 season that yielded 20 points a game last year. Centralia is eighth in 1A with 14.4 points allowed and sixth in the classification with 38.8 points a contest.
Garden Plain is an extreme-run heavy team. In ’21, Garden Plain was second in 2A in percentage of snaps as runs at 91.0. This year, the Owls have run the ball on 90.2 percent of snaps. Senior Gage Lee has 75 carries for 780 yards and five scores in just four games. In a 41-19 victory against Haven last week, Lee rushed 23 times for 316 yards and a score. He broke the school single-game rushing record that was 285 yards, set by Logan Dold in 2007.
Centralia’s Maveryk Becker has been the Panthers’ do-everything player. Last week, he had a great 33-yard catch and run as time expires in the first half for a 28-6 lead. Overall, he tallied three touchdowns. The Panthers’ single wing offense has been under the direction of explosive back Jacob Flentie, though he was injured in the fourth quarter of last week’s game and is reportedly out for the remainder of the season.
Two weeks ago, Becker had a 41-yard pick-six, and two TD runs in a 36-6 win versus Troy. Centralia has found many ways to win and score in the last two years, and Becker has established himself as a top 1A player. However, Garden Plain has victories against quality programs with Conway Springs (20-14), Medicine Lodge (21-7) and Haven (41-19). Garden Plain has shown nice improvement and could get a big win here.
Our Pick: Garden Plain 21, Centralia 14 (Nicholl)
8M-I No. 3 Meade (4-0) at 8M-I No. 1 Leoti-Wichita Co. (5-0)
This game features the past two state champions in Eight-Man, Division I. It will also likely decide the District 8 champion and should yield the favorite in Division I West.
The contest has several parallels to the 2022 game that Wichita County won, 56-20, at Meade. Both teams were 5-0, and Meade had won 18 straight games and was the defending state titlist.
A year later, Wichita County has won 18 straight, easily the longest winning streak in school history. Meade has continued its success after the ’21 title when Bryan Luetters left for nearby Liberal and assistant Clint Kuhns took over. Wichita County is second in Division I with 61.2 points per contest, just behind Lyndon’s 62.0. WC is first in the classification with 4.8 allowed a game.
Meade is No. 11 with 16.8 points permitted a contest, per the Sunflower Sports Solutions database.
Wichita County has notably enjoyed a huge defensive improvement with head coach Brant Douglas and defensive coordinator Haydon Parks to match the explosive offense. Last year, Wichita County jumped to the No. 2 scoring defense in the classification. The Indians bought into the “Land Shark” ethos that notably 5A four-time defending state champion Mill Valley uses to form an elite defense.
Junior Max Whitham has stepped in as a first-year starter with 26 stops. Wichita County has enjoyed terrific line play with Whitham and Chris Michel at the guards, and Brandon Price at center. Juan Tapia starts at nose guard and has four tackles for loss. The Indian defense 21 tackles for loss, recovered nine fumbles and has five non-offensive touchdowns. Junior fullback/end Khris Hermosillo and Michel have been hurt this season; Hermosillo has not played since early Week 3.
Senior Wyatt Gardner has emerged at quarterback and enjoyed a huge year with 763 yards of total offense, 15 TDs accounted for, and five tackles for loss.
For Meade, senior Brock Keith, who has won state titles in multiple sports, is an exceptional athlete and received collegiate interest, particularly from Friends University. He has 45 carries for 488 yards and two scores, along with 10 catches for 261 yards and five TDs. Senior Cade Cronister has completed 33 of 53 passes for 761 yards with 14 scores against four interceptions. Senior Bradon Bird has 16 catches for 390 yards. All three are returning starters for an experienced team.
Defensively, sophomore Samuel Lynn has 39 tackles.
Meade has plenty of veteran play, but Wichita County might have the best line in eight-man football. Some of the game hinges on Hermosillo’s health, but Wichita County has proven it can convincingly win with great depth.
Our Pick: Wichita County 48, Meade 24 (Nicholl)
The Pick List:
Blue Valley West (2-3) at St. James Academy (1-4) – Blue Valley West
6A No. 1 Gardner-Edgerton (5-0) at Lawrence (4-1) – Gardner-Edgerton
Junction City (3-2) at 6A No. 5 Manhattan (4-1) – Manhattan
Bishop Carroll (2-3) at 5A No. 1 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (4-1) – Kapaun
Goddard (4-1) at Maize South (4-1) – Goddard
Great Bend (3-2) at Liberal (5-0) – Great Bend
Salina Central (4-1) at Andover Central (3-2) – Andover Central
Holcomb (4-1) at Scott City (4-1) – Scott City
Rossville (2-3) at Holton (3-2) – Holton
Caney Valley (4-1) at Olpe (3-2) – Olpe
1A No. 4 Marion (5-0) at Council Grove (4-1) – Marion
Norton (5-0) at Beloit (3-2) – Norton
Pleasanton (4-1) at Jayhawk-Linn (5-0) – Jayhawk-Linn
St. Marys (2-3) at 1A No. 3 Jefferson Co. North (5-0) – St. Marys
Cair Paravel (3-2) at Madison (4-1) – Cair Paravel
Clifton-Clyde (4-1) at Ell-Saline (4-1) – Clifton-Clyde
Hoxie (4-1) at Hill City (3-2) – Hill City
8M-I No. 2 Lyndon (5-0) at Chase County (4-1) – Lyndon
Quinter (4-1) at Atwood-Rawlins Co. (5-0) – Rawlins County
8M-II No. 1 Axtell (5-0) at Hanover (3-2) – Axtell
Sharon Springs-Wallace Co. (3-2) at 8M-II No. 3 Victoria (3-1) – Victoria
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