Each week 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:
De Soto (3-0) at Basehor-Linwood (3-0)
First place in the United Kansas Conference is on the line when De Soto travels to Basehor-Linwood. The Wildcats and Bobcats are both jockeying for a top seed in the eastern half of Class 5A this season.
In moving up from Class 4A this cycle, Basehor-Linwood has started fast in posting three consecutive wins while scoring 44 points per game. The Bobcats opened with commending victories over Leavenworth (42-0) and KC Piper (48-14) before being challenged last week by Shawnee Heights in a 42-35 win.
Junior quarterback Carson Dixon has settled into the starting role having passed for 345 yards and five touchdowns through three games. Senior Nick Doering has led the Basehor-Linwood ground game with 378 rushing yards and seven scores, while sophomore Caelum Theno has added three rushing touchdowns.
Thus far, Dixon has spread the ball around to nine different Bobcat receivers. Junior Nash Morrison leads that group with 98 yards and two touchdowns on 11 receptions.
Senior Garrett Pierce has had a great start to the season having registered 22 tackles, including eight for loss for the Bobcat defense.
De Soto will present the most significant challenge to date for Basehor-Linwood. The Wildcats have averaged 53 points per game through three weeks and only surrendered 26 total points.
Quarterback Drew Parks has rushed for four touchdowns and thrown three touchdown passes so far this season. The Wildcats feature Jayden Lang in the backfield. Lang has rushed for five touchdowns and caught a pair of touchdown passes from Parks. Will Bailey has also scored three rushing touchdowns on the season.
The Wildcat defense features Charlie Woleben on the defensive line. In last week’s win over Piper, Woleben registered a sack and blocked a punt for a safety.
De Soto head coach Brian King has developed a consistent contender in Class 5A. The Wildcats have won 20 of their last 24 games. De Soto has defeated Basehor-Linwood in each of the four meetings, including 48-21 last fall.
Our Pick: De Soto 34, Basehor-Linwood 27 (Gilmore)
3A No. 4 Wichita Collegiate (3-0) at 3A No. 1 Andale (3-0)
Another season, another top-five showdown between the Wichita Collegiate Spartans and Andale Indians. The fourth-ranked Spartans will travel to Andale to take on the top-ranked Indians.
Collegiate enters this contest after a 30-0 shutout of El Dorado. That game was called in the second quarter due to lightening. The Spartans make quick work of the Wildcats, scoring 22 points in the first quarter thanks to a pair of touchdown passes by Harrison Simon.
Simon has taken hold of the quarterback duties after the graduation of Hudson Ferralez from last year’s squad. Simon has plenty of weapons on offense to distribute the ball to, including backs Julian Johnson and Jaden Parker, along with receivers Sebastin Hines-Turner, A.J. Batiste, Roman Hourani, and Markus Gorges.
Simon has thrown for 280 yards and four touchdowns this season, while adding approximately 100 yards and three scores on the ground. Johnson has rushed for 201 yards and three scores, while Parker has added 172 yards and three scores.
The Spartans opened the season with a 22-19 win over Wellington. Collegiate scored mid-way through the fourth quarter to take the lead. They followed that up with a 44-6 win over Rose Hill before last week’s weather-shortened win over El Dorado.
Wellington then pushed Andale in Week 2. The Indians came away victorious, 56-48. The Indians have also beaten El Dorado (68-7) and Rose Hill (52-0).
It is no secret that Andale wants to keep the ball on the ground, control the clock, and play physical defense. Andale rushed for 378 yards in the win over El Dorado, and 375 yards in the win over Rose Hill. The Indians rushed for 420 yards in the shootout victory over Wellington.
Cooper Marx leads the way for Andale with 281 rushing yards and four touchdowns on only 19 carries. Quarterback Sam Harp has added more than 100 yards and three scores, while Landon Harp has rushed for 225 yards and five touchdowns. Jack Horsch, Trent Eck, Lane Parthemer and Jrayton Dansel each have shared carries for the Indians.
Sam Harp has options in the passing game in Horsch, Landon Harp and Bo Kaiser.
If the narrow victory over Wellington exposed a weakness for Andale, it may have been the Indians ability to defend the pass. Andale surrendered 480 yards and four touchdowns through the air to Wellington quarterback Dusty Bannister. Collegiate has quality skill athletes that can spread the field against the Indian defense.
Collegiate and Andale have met 16 times since 2010, with Andale emerging victorious in 13 of those meetings. Collegiate’s last win the in the series came in 2015 – a 46-45 decision in overtime. Since that win, Andale has won ten straight by an average score of nearly 42-9.
Our Pick: Andale 36, Collegiate 28 (Gilmore)
Riley County (3-0) at Council Grove (3-0)
Both teams are just outside the top-10 in the rankings. Each has opened with an impressive first three weeks; Council Grove has enjoyed a more dominant run, while Riley County has played stronger competition.
This is the sixth all-time meeting between the teams and the first since a 63-14 Riley County victory in 2021. Three weeks later, that ended a 1-8 season for Council Grove, a year where the Braves led 3A in most points allowed per game. Since then, the Braves, led by head coach Butch Hayes and assistant Derron Reddick, have been one of the stingiest Class 2A defenses and set several school marks.
In the last two-plus seasons, Council Grove is 16-7, including a 3-0 start this year. Council Grove has allowed just 20 total points. That included a 46-0 win at Cair Paravel and its passing attack last week. Council Grove had three defensive scores in last week’s contest: a 33-yard fumble return and a pair of pick-sixes.
In ’23, Council Grove permitted 11.3 points per game, second-fewest in 2A. Two years ago, Council Grove ranked eighth with 14.6 points allowed a contest.
Riley County continued its longtime success with a 9-1 record in ’21, though fell back to 3-7 and 5-5 the last two years. The Falcons have opened with a 27-14 win at Jefferson West, 21-20 win against traditional power Holton, and a 28-22 victory versus Chapman. Last week versus Chapman, Riley County led 20-6 in the fourth quarter before the Irish came back.
Council Grove veteran Ace Monihen, formerly the starting quarterback earlier in his career, has emerged as a running threat. He has 62 touchdowns responsible and has more than 4,400 yards of total offense for in his career. Luke Stewart leads 2A in passing, while Landon Dody paces the class in receiving yards and is top-seven in total return yards.
Dody is second all-time in Council Grove history in career tackles for loss. Lineman Holden Ziegler and Monihen are two of the state’s most experienced players. Ziegler is among the state’s best linemen, regardless of class. He has 40.5 tackles for loss and 58 pancake blocks in his career.
Riley County has used backup quarterback Kadrick Woodard. He passed for 181 yards versus Chapman last week. Sam Allen rushed for 120 yards.
The only win for Council Grove in the series came in a 13-6 victory in 1965. This should be another low-scoring game and will likely come down to who plays the best in the trenches. A slight edge goes to Council Grove and its veteran players.
Our Pick: Council Grove 21, Riley County 20 (Nicholl)
8M-II No. 2 Frankfort (3-0) at Hanover (3-0)
Two of the Twin Valley League’s triumvirate powers match up Friday in one of several huge district games. Frankfort is ranked No. 2, while Hanover is just outside the top-5. Both teams will face top-ranked and three-time defending state champion Axtell later this fall.
Hanover, a Kpreps Potential Breakout Team this fall, has enjoyed a strong start with a 34-16 win at Ell-Saline and back-to-back shutouts of Clifton-Clyde (50-0) and Washington County (52-0). Ell-Saline was an Eight-Man, Division I semifinalist last year and returned multiple key players.
Highly successful Hanover coach Matt Heuer has six state titles in the last 19 years with the Wildcats. He was extremely non-senior heavy, especially at the skill positions, last year. Senior Rieken Stallbaumer threw for 1,200 yards with 14 scores against nine interceptions. Stallbaumer also rushed for 504 yards and 11 scores. Junior Alec Jueneman led with 752 rushing yards and eight scores. Hanover had 89 percent of its rushing yards from non-seniors in ’22. Last year, Hanover lost to Clifton-Clyde, Ell-Saline, Axtell and took a pair of losses to Frankfort (62-14 and 38-12). Hanover finished 6-5.
Stallbaumer and Jueneman have again paced the offense.
Frankfort posted a 9-3 record and semifinal appearance with 42.3 points per game, ninth-best in the classification. This year, Frankfort has paced Kansas in scoring offense with nearly 73 points a contest. Frankfort has been incredibly consistent with 70, 72, and 76 points per game. Frankfort bested Clifton-Clyde in Week 1, 70-34, and held off Lyndon, 70-22, in Week 2. That ended Lyndon’s 14-game winning streak.
Wes Anderson has paced the Frankfort pass-heavy offense. He has 806 passing yards and 16 scores. Lane Louiseau and Carter Olson have delivered big years with 17 combined touchdowns.
Hanover won all the games in the long-standing rivalry from 2012-20 before Frankfort has taken three of the last four. The gap is narrow between these teams and a strong case can be made that Axtell, Frankfort and Hanover should all be in the top-five – and possibly even higher. Frankfort’s passing game is a slight edge, but don’t be surprised to see Hanover pull off a victory.
Our Pick: Frankfort 32, Hanover 28 (Nicholl)
The Pick List:
Dodge City (2-1) at Liberal (3-0) – Dodge City
6A No. 3 Blue Valley Northwest (3-0) at Washburn Rural (1-2) – BV Northwest
6A No. 2 Gardner-Edgerton (3-0) at Lawrence (2-1) – Gardner-Edgerton
Hays (1-2) at Garden City (1-2) – Hays
4A No. 2 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (3-0) at 6A No. 5 Wichita Northwest (3-0) – Northwest
6A No. 4 Manhattan (3-0) at Junction City (1-2) – Manhattan
Blue Valley Southwest (2-1) at 5A No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (3-0) – Aquinas
5A No. 4 Goddard-Eisenhower (3-0) at Salina Central (2-1) – Eisenhower
Pittsburg (2-1) at Fort Scott (3-0) – Pittsburg
St. James Academy (1-2) at 5A No. 3 Blue Valley (2-1) – Blue Valley
Abilene (2-1) at Rock Creek (2-1) – Rock Creek
2A No. 4 Nemaha Central (2-1) at 4A No. 4 Chanute (3-0) – Nemaha Central
3A No. 3 Topeka Hayden (3-0) at Wamego (2-1) – Hayden
3A No. 2 Cheney (3-0) at Clearwater (2-1) – Cheney
Colby (3-0) at Hugoton (3-0) – Hugoton
Girard (2-1) at Frontenac (3-0) – Frontenac
Goodland (2-1) at Holcomb (2-1) – Holcomb
Humboldt (3-0) at Eureka (3-0) – Humboldt
2A No. 5 Silver Lake (2-1) at 2A No. 3 St. Marys (3-0) – St. Marys
2A No. 2 Southeast of Saline (3-0) at Kingman (2-1) – SE Saline
Atwood-Rawlins Co. (2-1) at Hill City (2-1) – Rawlins Co.
Chase County (1-2) at Lyndon (2-1) – Lyndon
Ell-Saline (2-1) at Canton-Galva (2-1) – Ell-Saline
Mankato-Rock Hills (3-0) at Sylvan-Lucas (3-0) – Sylvan-Lucas
Oberlin-Decatur Co. (2-1) at St. Francis (3-0) – St. Francis
8M-I No. 4 West Elk (3-0) at Oswego (2-1) – West Elk
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