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. 2 Derby (2-1) at 6A No. 4 Maize (3-0)
One of the state’s most memorable matchups in recent history continues Friday. Since 2014, Derby is 8-3 in the matchups. However, from 2020-22, the teams played three straight one-point games, contests that were often the best in the state. Maize won 36-35 in 2020, then Derby won 42-41, and Maize won 52-51 in 2022. Derby has 35-21 and 59-7 wins the last two years.
Maize is remarkably one of just three undefeated 6A teams, all on the West. The Eagles, a Kpreps Potential Breakout Team this offseason, has impressive wins against Goddard (55-28), Andover (27-0) and Hutchinson (56-19). Last year, Maize opened 0-4 against the same teams before it finished 5-5.
Eagle senior quarterback Brayden Myovela has completed 32 of 42 passes for 428 yards with five scores against no interceptions. He has 29 carries for 248 yards and four TDs. Junior Demarye Smith has delivered 18 carries for 160 yards and three scores. Junior Pearce George has 11 catches for 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Maize is at 11.1 yards per pass attempt and 6.3 yards per rushing attempt, both increases from 2024. Last year, the Eagles were at 6.5 yards per pass attempt and 5.8 yards per rush attempt.
Derby bounced back from its 22-21 loss to Hays High in the season opener with a 55-0 win versus Haysville Campus and 57-21 versus improved Salina South. The Panthers held South to 264 passing yards and just 25 rushing yards, per the Derby Informer. Derby has forced 12 turnovers in three games and had a safety versus South.
Standout running back Arieus Finley cleared 200 rushing yards in the first half before going out with injury. Krystian Dorsey has played quarterback with Rowan Foster and Michael Castillo the main targets. Derby has struggled with mistakes, including penalties in Week 1 and allowing the big play in Week 3. Derby returned just three defensive starters.
Maize is much improved, though, like much of Kansas, has long struggled with holding down Derby’s offense. If Finley is healthy, Derby has a likely edge in a high-scoring game.
Our Pick: Derby 40, Maize 30 (Nicholl)
Shawnee Mission Northwest (2-1) at Olathe Northwest (2-1)
Shawnee Mission Northwest will take on Olathe Northwest in a game that has key implications in the Sunflower League but also in the eastern half of Class 6A.
The Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars sit at 2-1 after last week’s 52-33 win over Olathe West. That victory allowed the Cougars to rebound from their lone loss which came 40-31 to Blue Valley Northwest in Week 2.
The Cougars want to keep the ball on the ground under first-year coach Kurt Webster. They’ll do so with quarterback Trai Woodruff leading the flexbone offense. Woodruff leads the Cougars with 502 rushing yards along with eight rushing touchdowns. He has averaged 167 yards per contest and 12.6 yards per attempt. Tyree Newton (278 yards, 2 TD) and Demetric Tyler (292 yards, 6 TD) are also key ballcarriers for the Cougars.
In the win over Olathe West, Woodruff rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries. Tyler added 147 yards and three touchdowns on 27 attempts. The Cougar defense forced five Olathe West turnovers.
Woodruff, Newton, and Tyler benefit from an experience group up front that includes Mason Barth, Steven Brown, Michael Fandel, and Cooper Smith.
Lorne Clark’s Olathe Northwest squad enters this contest after consecutive victories over Garden City (34-7) and Lawrence (38-17).
The Ravens average 295 yards per contest on the ground led by senior Bryce Randall. Randall has carried 83 times for 537 yards and six touchdowns this season. Daniel Skoczek, Noah Harrell, and quarterback Brody Comfort all have shared carries and each have scored at least one rushing touchdown.
Comfort has added 130 yards and a touchdown in the air. That scoring strike went to junior Evan Cates in a 31-28 loss to Shawnee Mission East in the season opener.
These two teams haven’t met since the 2021 season – a 35-28 overtime victory for Olathe Northwest.
Our Pick: SM Northwest 38, Olathe Northwest 30 (Gilmore)
De Soto (3-0) at Basehor-Linwood (3-0)
First place in the United Kansas Conference is once again on the line when Basehor-Linwood and De Soto meet. This year the Bobcats will travel to De Soto to take on the Wildcats. Entering this week, both teams are among the five unbeatens on the eastern half of Class 5A.
Basehor-Linwood has opened with quality wins over Leavenworth (42-21) and KC Piper (27-21), and Shawnee Heights (35-22). The Bobcats are led by quarterback Carson Dixon who is off to a strong start to his senior season. Dixon has completed nearly 75 percent of his passes for 499 yards and six touchdowns. He has also added 164 yards and a team-high four rushing touchdowns this season.
Joining Dixon in the backfield are senior Jeremiah Buie, junior Peter Rodriquez, and sophomore Gavin Mitchell. Mitchell leads the team with 191 yards and has three touchdowns, while Rodriquez has rushed for 164 yards and Buie has added 95 yards on ten carries.
The receiving group is talented and led by seniors Nash Morrison and Roman Miller. Fellow senior Nate Martin went down with an injury in Week 1. Morrison has 19 receptions for 248 yards and a touchdown. Miller has 104 yards and a score on ten catches. In all, six different receivers have caught touchdown passes.
Senior Jacob Sharp leads the Bobcat defense with 38 tackles through three games. It was Sharp that snagged an interception return for a touchdown to give Basehor-Linwood the lead in last season’s 21-7 Bobcat win. That contest was tied 7-7 at halftime before Sharp’s big defensive play. Dixon then threw his second touchdown pass to give Basehor-Linwood a two-score lead.
De Soto has rolled to a 3-0 start behind a flexbone offense that has averaged 44 points per contest. After blowout wins over Topeka West (47-12) and KC Turner (51-6), the Wildcats bested KC Piper, 34-15, last week. De Soto rushed for 321 yards on the night against the Pirates with Brayson Rogers rushed 19 times for 145 yards and a touchdown.
For the season, six different Wildcats have rushed for touchdowns. Will Morton leads the team with five rushing scores, while Rogers has added three and Christian Dickinson and quarterback Ben Parks have each added two scores.
Parks directs the Wildcat offense and has seven total touchdowns through three games. He has passed for more than 200 yards and five touchdowns this season. Jackson Whiddon has three touchdown receptions to lead De Soto.
De Soto recently made Brian King the winningest coach in program history. He’ll look to continue to add to that total this week. Last season’s win by Basehor-Linwood stopped a four-game win streak by De Soto in the series. Can the Bobcats start a streak of their own?
Our Pick: Basehor-Linwood 27, De Soto 24 (Gilmore)
8M-I No. 2 Leoti-Wichita Co. (2-1) at WaKeeney-Trego (3-0)
WaKeeney-Trego, a Kpreps Potential Breakout Team this summer, has enjoyed an excellent start with veteran coach Pat Haxton. The Golden Eagles earned a 30-20 road win versus Hill City, beat Hoxie 54-6, and held off Atwood-Rawlins County, 40-34, in a key road contest last week. Last season, Trego opened 0-4, including a 58-8 loss to Wichita County.
WaKeeney, with a highly experienced senior class, is trying to make a deep playoff run and win more than eight games in a season for the first time since 2002.
This game likely marks the top-two teams in Eight-Man, Division I, District 7. Wichita County has been ranked first or second in Division I all fall. The Indians opened with a competitive 56-32 loss to defending Colorado state champion Haxtun. Wichita County quarterback Cashton Young, one of Kansas’ top players for all classes, didn’t play. Then, Wichita County won its last two games 60-0 against struggling Elkhart and 60-12 versus the previously undefeated Manhattan Eagles in a neutral site game played in Victoria.
Wichita County has not lost a regular season contest to a Kansas team since 2021. That year, the Indians finished 6-3, including losses to WaKeeney-Trego in Week 2 and Meade in Week 6. Overall, Wichita County has just five regular season losses to Kansas teams since Brant Douglas took over in 2018.
Wichita County has led Division I in scoring offense nearly every year under Douglas, ranking third last season. Before then, the Indians were first every fall from ’19-23, per the Sunflower Sports Solutions.com (S3) database. The Indians have routinely averaged more than 55 points a game.
Young has 32 carries for 344 yards and six scores. He and Beau Porter delivered 31 of 51 passing for 530 yards with eight TDs against two interceptions. Senior Dylan Luna is the leading receiver with 15 catches for 246 yards and five scores. Wichita County has already forced 12 interceptions and is plus-9 in the turnover margin.
Even against Haxtun, the yardage difference was close. Wichita County finished with 57 plays for 284 yards, or five yards per play. Haxtun posted 407 yards on 74 plays, or 5.5 yards per play.
Trego was outgained in the Hill City win, 346-256. Atwood held a 473-322 edge over the Golden Eagles in Week 3. However, WaKeeney has made key plays at crucial times, including a kickoff return for a score from freshman Jared Aschenbrenner last week. Sophomore Westyn Windholz, another key up-and-coming player for Trego, had a key pick-six in the Hill City victory. Trego is plus-six in turnover margin with 10 forced turnovers. The Golden Eagles had 14 forced turnovers and three non-offensive touchdowns in all of 2024.
Trego had 5.5 yards per play and 64 percent run rate in ’24, per the S3 databases. The Golden Eagles are up to 7.1 yards per play with 65 percent run this year. Senior quarterback Ashton Wynn, a three-year starter, is 24 of 40 for 352 yards with five scores against two interceptions. Junior Jack Conness has 42 carries for 319 yards and six TDs. Wynn has tacked on 172 rushing and 139 non-offensive yards, too.
Three seniors pace the defense: Wynn, Cass Smith and Aaron Samson. Trego is much improved from last year and a competitive game Friday shows they can play with a state championship caliber program – and be in position for a deep playoff run. The Golden Eagles have had trouble slowing down offenses on a per-play basis this year. Wichita County is likely the best offense and top-three in the classification. Trego will score and likely needs to win the turnover margin. But Wichita County, with a healthy Young, has the edge on the per-play basis and is always hard to slow down.
Our Pick: Wichita County 48, WaKeeney-Trego 34 (Nicholl)
The Pick List:
Gardner-Edgerton (2-1) at Olathe North (2-1) – Gardner-Edgerton
Junction City (2-1) at 6A No. 1 Manhattan (3-0) – Manhattan
6A No. 3 Wichita Northwest (3-0) at 4A No. 1 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (3-0) – Kapaun
4A No. 2 Bishop Miege (2-1) at Rockhurst (Mo.) (4-0) – Rockhurst
Labette County (3-0) at Wellington (2-1) – Wellington
Chanute (2-1) at 2A No. 2 Nemaha Central (3-0) – Nemaha Central
4A No. 3 Ottawa (3-0) at Eudora (2-1) – Ottawa
4A No. 5 Wamego (2-1) at 3A No. 2 Topeka Hayden (3-0) – Hayden
3A No. 1 Andale (3-0) at Wichita Collegiate (2-1) – Andale
Christ Prep Academy (4-0) at Caney Valley (3-0) – Christ Prep
Douglass (2-1) at Haven (3-0) – Haven
1A No. 2 Sterling (3-0) at Ellinwood (3-0) – Sterling
Hill City (2-1) at Atwood-Rawlins Co. (2-1) – Rawlins County
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