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:
6A No. 3 Blue Valley Northwest (4-0) at Blue Valley West (3-1)
Blue Valley Northwest will take on Blue Valley West in one of two matchups featuring the top five teams on the eastern half of Class 6A. While Gardner-Edgerton and Shawnee Mission East will meet in a key Sunflower League showdown, this feature game between the Huskies and the Jaguars will help determine the top-half of the Eastern Kansas League standings.
Blue Valley Northwest has opened 4-0 with wins over Blue Valley North (34-13), Shawnee Mission Northwest (38-7), St. James Academy (27-24), and Washburn Rural (49-23). The short trip to take on Blue Valley West will be the Huskies third consecutive road game. The Huskies closest contest was the win over St. James Academy, where Trace Rudd connected on a game-winning field goal with :02 seconds left.
The Husky offense has averaged 37 points per game and has had good balance with a 60/40 run/pass split. Junior L.J. Bowens leads the ground game with 492 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Bowens has averaged 123 yards per contest and more than 7.0 yards per carry. Logan Waldorf has added 227 yards and two scores.
Northwest has played two quarterbacks in seniors Nathan Baxter and Ford Bevins. Baxter has completed 74 percent of his passes for 403 yards and eight touchdowns. Bevins has thrown for 265 yards and two scores. Standout Trevor Garlington leads the receiving group with 14 catches for 287 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Baron Marshall has added 10 catches for 155 yards and two scores, while Ayden McGibboney had nine receptions for 154 yards and three scores.
Luke and Andrew Wolverton lead the Northwest defense with 32 and 21 tackles, respectively.
Blue Valley West has won three straight games since a season-opening 25-21 loss to Class 5A No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas. The Saints have been on of the most impressive teams in the state through four weeks.
Blue Valley West is led by senior quarterback Tate Nagy who has thrown for 790 yards and seven touchdowns. Nagy has also added 227 yards on the ground with three touchdowns.
The Jaguars are led in rushing by senior Wayne Carter’s 522 yards and five touchdowns. Tate Mill has added 134 yards and three scores.
Nagy’s primary target through the air has been senior Quin Myers who already has 33 receptions for 406 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively the Jaguars are led in stops by Jack North (30), Sam Clay (25), and Jack Cook and Lawson McGraw (21). McGraw has two interceptions and three forced fumbles.
Our Pick: Northwest 34, West 28 (Gilmore)
5A No. 5 Great Bend (4-0) at Dodge City (3-1)
Great Bend travels to Dodge City in a key Western Athletic Conference contest. Great Bend has won two straight in the series, by scores of 21-14 and 28-0. Before then, Dodge City picked up three in a row. Last year, marked the first time since 2017 the margin was more than 21 points.
Dodge City is 3-1, including a 33-14 home win versus Liberal last week. Coach Glenn O’Neil had state championship success at Scott City and a successful run with Topeka Seaman. Dodge City went 3-6 last year with 20 points scored a game and 26 allowed. This year, Dodge City has an average score of 31-13. O’Neil was long known for great defenses and the Red Demons have been strong on that side of the ball. Senior Dylan Sonday leads with 31 tackles, five for loss. Six players have multiple tackles for loss.
Senior Alan Flores has completed 44 of 74 passes for 752 yards with five scores against five interceptions. Dodge City has averaged 219 yards and 5.7 yards per carry. Last year, Dodge City had 151 rushing yards and 4.4 yards per carry.
Great Bend continues to establish itself as a Class 5A contender. While junior quarterback Daxton Minton and junior receiver Ian Premer are well-known, sophomore all-purpose threat Cooper Ohnmacht has emerged as another Division I prospect. Ohnmacht had a huge all-purpose freshman season and has 17 catches for 204 yards and two scores this fall. He has also thrown two touchdown passes and delivered 135 special teams yards.
Minton is 36 of 60 passing for 561 yards with nine scores against three interceptions. Premer, with his double-digit Division I offers, has 13 catches for 259 yards and six scores.
Defensively, Great Bend was a top-10 Class 5A unit last season and is again this year. Junior Trenton Kern has 41 tackles, while junior Conner Holladay has 31 stops.
Great Bend has typically won closer games this year and could have the edge in skill positions. Dodge City has been a nice surprise with an excellent defense, but can they score enough to keep up with Great Bend?
Our Pick: Great Bend 28, Dodge City 14 (Nicholl)
3A No. 5 Pratt (4-0) at Wichita Collegiate (3-1)
A key matchup in Class 3A, District 7 features fifth-ranked Pratt traveling to Wichita Collegiate. The Greenbacks and Spartans are apart of a competitive district that also includes defending-champion Cheney (4-0), Clearwater (2-2), and Chaparral (1-3).
Pratt has started the season with four consecutive victories for the first time since 2021. The Greenbacks won a tough opener over Hoisington, 24-3, before a road win at Halstead (34-21), and lopsided victories over Larned (70-0) and Chaparral (49-10).
The Greenback offense has been led by senior Taye Wilson on the ground. Wilson has rushed for 539 yards and eight touchdowns, while averaging nearly eight yards per carry. Sophomore Caleb Strong and junior Cresten Pore have contributed 173 and 132 yards, respectively. Pore leads the Greenbacks in passing for 244 yards and four touchdowns. His primary receivers have been Arley Morrell and Owen Schmidt.
Schmidt made headlines with an unusual stat line in Pratt’s blowout win over Larned. The senior accounted for six total touchdowns in the game, including four defensive touchdowns. He returned two fumbles for scores and brought back two interceptions for touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass. Schmidt leads the Greenback defense with five total takeaways, while Strong is Pratt’s leading tackler with 30 stops in four games.
Wichita Collegiate enters this contest after being blown out in last week’s showdown with top-ranked Andale, 47-6. As a result, the Spartans fell out of the top five rankings allowing Pratt to enter this week’s poll.
In the loss to Andale, Collegiate managed only 220 yards of total offense and committed three turnovers. The Spartans now will look to right some of those offensive struggles by establishing the run game.
Collegiate has a talented backfield that includes Julian Johnson and Jaden Parker along with quarterback Harrison Simon. Johnson has rushed for 246 yards this season, while Parker has added 206 yards. Both have scored three rushing touchdowns.
Simon has passed for 333 yards and five touchdowns, but was intercepted three times last week. He’s also added 163 yards on the ground this season. Markus Gorges scored the lone Spartan touchdown pass in last week’s loss to Andale – a 29-yard scoring catch from Simon.
Collegiate will need to establish Johnson and Parker in the run game in order to open things up for the talented receiving group that includes Gorges, Sebastin Hines-Turner, A. J. Batiste, and Roman Hourani.
The only recent meetings between Collegiate and Pratt have taken place in the first round of the 3A playoffs in 2021 and 2020. Collegiate won both meetings, 23-8 in 2021, and 50-0 in 2020.
Our Pick: Collegiate 33, Pratt 24 (Gilmore)
Council Grove (4-0) at Osage City (4-0)
Osage City has won eight straight in a longtime series. The squads play each other every year. Osage City won the last two meetings, 29-28, and 15-8.
Class 2A, District 3 is possibly the state’s hardest district with the five teams having a combined one loss in non-district action. Council Grove is 4-0, 1-0 in district. Silver Lake stands at 3-1, 1-0, while Osage City (4-0, 0-0), St. Marys (3-1, 0-1) and Riley County (3-1, 0-1) round out the field. One of these teams will not make the playoffs. Silver Lake and St. Marys are both ranked, while the other three are considered for the top-five.
Council Grove beat Riley County, 34-13, last week and has continued an excellent season with head coach Butch Hayes and defensive coordinator Derron Reddick. The Braves have won every game by at least 21 points. The Braves had a top-five 2A defense last year and has permitted only 33 points this season.
Council Grove is highly experienced with several players already setting school records. Sophomore Luke Stewart has completed 45 of 77 passes for 634 yards with seven scores against three interceptions. Senior Ace Monihen has 56 rushes for 452 yards and 10 scores. Senior Landon Dody has 13 catches for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Dody has 7.5 tackles for loss on defense. Council Grove has forced 10 turnovers.
Osage City junior Kasen Parsons is 28 of 39 passing for 423 yards with seven scores against one interception. He had 30 carries for 222 yards with six scores. Junior Dylan Theel leads the ground game with 19 rushes for 352 yards and six TDs. Osage City has averaged 11 yards a carry. Junior Quenten Stark has 11 catches for 196 yards and six scores.
Council Grove has a superb defense, while Osage City features the high-octane offense. Council Grove’s experience could give the Braves a slight edge.
Our Pick: Council Grove 24, Osage City 22 (Nicholl)
The Pick List:
6A No. 1 Derby (4-0) at Hutchinson (3-1) – Derby
Olathe East (4-0) at Shawnee Mission Northwest (2-2) – SM Northwest
Shawnee Mission East (3-1) at 6A No. 2 Gardner-Edgerton (4-0) – Gardner-Edgerton
Topeka Highland Park (4-0) at Wichita East (2-2) – Wichita East
Washburn Rural (1-3) at Topeka High (4-0) – Washburn Rural
Atchison (3-1) at KC Washington (4-0) – Atchison
Goddard (3-1) at 4A No. 1 Andover Central (4-0) – Andover Central
Lansing (3-1) at Topeka Seaman (3-1) – Lansing
5A No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (4-0) at Bishop Miege (0-4) – Aquinas
4A No. 2 Louisburg (4-0) at Eudora (2-2) – Louisburg
Spring Hill (4-0) at Ottawa (3-1) – Spring Hill
4A No. 5 Wamego (3-1) at 4A No. 4 Buhler (3-1) – Buhler
Clay Center (2-2) at Rock Creek (3-1) – Clay Center
3A No. 2 Cheney (4-0) at Hoisington (1-3) – Cheney
Holcomb (3-1) at Colby (4-0) – Holcomb
Girard (2-2) at Iola (3-1) – Girard
Hugoton (3-1) at Scott City (3-1) – Scott City
Humboldt (4-0) at Prairie View (3-1) – Prairie View
Garden Plain (2-2) at Haven (4-0) – Garden Plain
2A No. 1 Norton (4-0) at Beloit (3-1) – Norton
2A No. 5 St. Marys (3-1) at Riley County (3-1) – St. Marys
Marion (3-1) at Inman (3-1) – Marion
Rossville (1-3) at Mission Valley (3-1) – Rossville
Sterling (2-2) at 1A No. 5 Medicine Lodge (2-1) – Medicine Lodge
Cedar Vale-Dexter (3-1) at 8M-I No. 5 West Elk (4-0) – West Elk
8M-I No. 1 Hoxie (4-0) at Oberlin Decatur Co. (3-1) – Hoxie
8M-I No. 2 Little River (4-0) at Canton-Galva (2-2) – Little River
Bucklin (4-0) at Macksville (3-2) – Bucklin
Lebo (4-0) at Burlingame (4-0) – Burlingame
Logan-Palco (4-0) at 8M-II No. 3 Dighton (4-0) – Dighton
6M No. 1 Cunningham (4-0) at Otis-Bison (3-1) – Cunningham
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