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:
Shawnee Mission East (5-1) at 6A No. 4 Olathe West (5-1)
Shawnee Mission East visits Olathe West in a critical game in the Sunflower League standings and for seeding purposes on the eastern half of Class 6A. Both teams enter at 5-1 overall, 4-1 in the Sunflower League where they are a game back of 5-0 Lawrence Free State. Neither team plays Free State during the regular season.
SM East has won three consecutive games since their lone loss of the season, 56-21 to Mill Valley, back in week three. The Lancers hold quality victories over Olathe Northwest (31-28) and Olathe South (49-35).
East features one of the classification’s best players in senior quarterback Jack Reeves. Reeves has rushed for 1,237 yards and 19 touchdowns this season and is closing in on 3,000 career rushing yards. In last week’s 49-21 win over Shawnee Mission North, Reeves carried ten times for 216 yards and four touchdowns. Tomas Vanice added 131 yards and a touchdown. Reeves and Vince Kopp each threw touchdown passes with Vanice and Quentin Ochs each catching one.
This week, the Lancers will be up against one of the state’s hottest teams in Olathe West. The fourth-ranked Owls are coming off of a 52-36 win at 5A-power Mill Valley after having defeated two-time defending 6A champion Gardner-Edgerton the week prior.
Against Mill Valley, Olathe West rushed for 352 yards, led by Josh Foland’s 147 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Brody Hale added two rushing scores and Cash Warren and Sam Krzykowski each rushed for touchdowns. Hale passed for 207 yards with touchdown passes going to Warren and Cabe Roberson.
Hale has passed for 1,248 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. Krzykowski has been one of the state’s top receivers having grabbed 36 receptions for 705 yards and ten scores. Foland leads the ground game with 517 yards and six touchdowns.
With consecutive home games against SM East (5-1) and Olathe Northwest (5-1) to close out the regular season, the Owls control their own fate for one of the two top seeds on the eastern half of 6A.
Our Pick: Olathe West 38, SM East 35 (Gilmore)
5A No. 5 Mill Valley (4-2) at Olathe Northwest (5-1)
The other Sunflower League showdown with significant league and seeding implications pits Mill Valley at Olathe Northwest.
The Jaguars will certainly be a contender in what may be their final season of Class 5A, but they are coming off their second regular-season defeat. Mill Valley dropped a 52-36 decision to Olathe West last week, allowing more than 350 yards on the ground to the Owls. Mill Valley lost to Lee’s Summit North (Mo.) 31-21 back in Week 2.
The Jagaur offense was successful on the ground against Olathe West in rushing for 377 yards. Quarterback Blake Jay is a handful for opposing defenses. Jay has rushed for 719 yards and 13 touchdowns and added 454 yards passing with four scores. Junior Max Piva has emerged as a backfield compliment to Jay and Reggie Reece. Piva has rushed for a team-leading 838 yards and has nine rushing scores. Reece has added 395 yards and six touchdowns in five games.
Coach Lorne Clark has done a remarkable job at Olathe Northwest. The Ravens have posted five consecutive victories since a 31-28 loss to Shawnee Mission East to open the season.
Junior quarterback Brody Comfort has been steady having passed for 260 yards and added 223 yards rushing. But Comfort didn’t play in last week’s 43-7 win over Shawnee Mission West. Instead, senior Michael Hefley and junior Jackson Connell shared time behind center. Hefley rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown in the game.
The Ravens have run the football on 76 percent of their snaps this season. Senior Bryce Randall (5-11, 215) leads the Raven ground game with 775 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Daniel Skoczek has added 266 yards and two scores on the ground.
Senior Tyler Briel leads a Northwest defense that has held opponents to 16.7 points per contest.
Our Pick: Mill Valley 35, Olathe Northwest 24 (Gilmore)
5A No. 2 Great Bend (6-0) at 5A No. 3 Hays High (5-1)
The longtime Western Athletic Conference rivals match up again in one of the most anticipated regular season games in recent memory. Great Bend is ranked second in 5A, while Hays High is third. Hays is 5-1 in the last six meetings against the Panthers. Last year, Hays lost, 21-0, against Great Bend in the regular season. Then, the Indians beat Great Bend, 19-14, in driving rain in a famous playoff game last fall. Hays High eventually finished 8-5 and earned its first ever trip to the 5A state championship game. Great Bend went 9-1 and led 5A in scoring defense.
Both teams are 2-0 in Western Athletic Conference play. This could be the first of two matchups; the second would come in the 5A playoffs. Star power abounds on both sides. Great Bend has senior end/defensive back Ian Premer, the top recruit in the Class of 2026. Premer has committed to Notre Dame. Plus, the teams have likely the top two Class of ’27 recruits: HHS lineman Gus Cosair (nine Power 5 offers), and GB all-purpose threat Cooper Ohmancht.
This year, Hays High has played its highly challenging schedule, including wins against Derby (22-21), vs. Choctaw (Okla.) by a 21-19 margin and a 34-28 victory versus Junction City. All have been top-3 teams in their respect class. Last week, Indian star running back Holden Lind cleared 300 rushing yards with a 42-19 victory against Dodge City. Derby has scored 46.4 points per game in its other contests. Derby and Junction City are 8-2 when not playing Hays High.
Great Bend has been highly impressive with all wins by 19 points or more, including a season-opening 42-7 win against McPherson, which is 4-1 since. The Panthers have averaged 48.5 points per game and permitted just under 10 a contest.
Hays High is 3-0 in its new stadium. Overall, Lind headlines the Hays High ground attack. HHS easily leads the conference in rushing yards with 1,462, per HHS broadcaster/WAC statistician Dustin Armbruster. Great Bend is more pass-heavy with 1,096 yards with Daxton Minton at quarterback and Premer/Ohnmacht at the receiver.
Lind is possibly the state’s top running back with 1,026 rushing yards and more than 2,800 since the start of 2024. Both teams have excellent defenses. The big question – in likely the first of two meetings – which style wins out? Hays High will try to ground and pound with 30-plus carries from Lind and its excellent offensive line. Great Bend will throw more frequently. Hays High has yet to lose at home, a streak that could continue tomorrow in a likely low-scoring game.
Our Pick: Hays High 22, Great Bend 20 (Nicholl)
4A No. 1 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (6-0) at 5A No. 4 St. James Academy (5-1)
Class 4A’s top-ranked Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders will travel to Lenexa to take on the Class 5A’s No. 4 St. James Academy. Kapaun is the lone unbeaten team on the western side of Class 4A, while St. James remains well-positioned for a high seed on the eastern half of Class 5A.
Kapaun remains unbeaten having survived a 43-42, overtime win over 6A No. 2 Wichita Northwest a couple of weeks ago. The Crusaders trailed in that game 28-0 before rallying back to win. Last week, Kapaun handled rival Bishop Carroll, 35-13, in the “Holy War”. It was the third consecutive win for Kapaun over Carroll after having lost the previous 27 meetings.
Senior Wyatt Sullinger rushed for a pair of first-half touchdowns as the Crusaders built a 21-7 halftime lead. Quarterback Cole Rapp added a pair of rushing scores and Ken Huff also added a touchdown on the ground. Cal Purvis leads the Kapaun defense as one of the state’s top linebackers.
St. James Academy opened its new facility, Marian Stadium, with a 24-0 shutout of Bishop Miege back on September 5th. The Thunder then dropped a 41-21 decision to top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas before reeling off four straight victories – three of those by eight points or less.
John Hornback has stepped in a quarterback and passed for 756 yards and seven touchdowns. He has a talented group of receivers including Alec Jett, Cory Kirchner, and Preston Canzoneri among others. Jett has a team-leading 23 receptions for 411 yards and three scores. Senior Jake House leads the Thunder ground game with 733 yards and nine touchdowns, while Hornback is also a threat with 403 yards and four scores.
Last season, St. James won 30-10 at Stryker Complex in Wichita. The Thunder lead the series, which began back in 2016, four games to three.
Our Pick: St. James 31, Kapaun 28 (Gilmore)
2A No. 3 Osage City (6-0) at Silver Lake (4-2)
This contest will likely decide the Class 2A, District 3 championship as both teams enter this week with a 2-0 district mark.
Osage City has been as impressive as any small-school team this season. The Indians have rolled to a 6-0 start by averaging 52.5 points per contest. Senior Kasen Parsons has passed for 1,285 yards and 17 touchdowns and added a team-leading 449 rushing yards and ten scores. But Parsons left last week’s win over St. Marys in the second quarter with an apparent leg injury.
In Parsons’ absence, Reed Silver came in and completed 9 of 11 passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns – all going to Quenten Stark. Stark caught eight passes for 173 yards and pushed his season total to 640 yards and 11 touchdowns. Silver had caught a pair of touchdown passes from Parsons before moving behind center. He also added 132 yards on the ground on 17 attempts.
Silver Lake has won four straight games since opening the season with losses to 1A No. 2 Rossville (28-27 in OT) and 2A No. 2 Nemaha Central (42-7). The Eagles have picked up quality wins over St. Marys (21-6) and Baldwin (47-7) during that stretch.
Freshman Kipton Kruger has emerged at quarterback for the Eagles. Kruger has passed for 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns and benefits from experienced receivers in Dayne Johnson and Grady Bergmann. Johnson has 46 receptions for 692 yards and seven touchdowns this season, while Bergmann has 28 catches for 257 yards and two scores.
Bryson Burgos steadies the Silver Lake run game with 520 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
Last season, Osage City topped Silver Lake 35-21. Osage City had lost 18 straight meetings in the series with the Indians’ last prior victory coming in 1993.
Our Pick: Osage City 28, Silver Lake 21 (Gilmore)
8M-II No. 1 Axtell (6-0) at 8M-II No. 3 Hanover (6-0)
The undefeated Twin Valley League rivals match up in its highly anticipated contest. This will decide Eight-Man, Division II, District 3. Axtell has currently won 58 straight games, easily the longest in Kansas eight-man history. Before that, Hanover had the state eight-man record. Hanover and Axtell have combined to win the last five and eight of the last ten Division II state titles.
At the beginning of the year, a prevailing thought was: Can Hanover beat Axtell? Hanover/Axtell and Victoria in the west are the best teams in Division II. Both are in the top-five in scoring offense and defense. Hanover has outscored opponents, 297-20, while Axtell is at 310-14. Hanover is definitely in the best position in several years to challenge Axtell. For the first time since a playoff win against Canton-Galva in 2022 that Axtell is not favored.
Hanover’s resume includes a win versus Ell-Saline, currently 5-1. Hanover won 32-8; since then Ell-Saline has averaged 45.2 points per game. For Axtell, Wyatt Detweiler has 31 rushes for 318 yards and 11 scores. Joe Lybarger and Landon Schmitz have 19 rushes for11 scores. Detweiler has completed 39 of 45 passes for 644 yards and 13 scores. Schmitz, one of the state’s fastest players, also has posted 13 carries for 238 yards and six touchdowns. Hanover has the potential to defeat Axtell and end the winning streak.
Our Pick: Hanover 34, Axtell 30 (Nicholl)
The Pick List:
Derby (4-2) at Maize South (4-2) – Derby
Dodge City (2-4) at Garden City (1-5) – Dodge City
5A No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas (5-1) at Blue Valley Northwest (3-3) – Aquinas
Washburn Rural (5-1) at 6A No. 3 Junction City (5-1) – Junction City
Topeka Seaman (3-3) at Basehor-Linwood (6-0) – Basehor-Linwood
4A No. 2 Eudora (5-1) at Tonganoxie (4-2) - Eudora
Rose Hill (3-3) at 4A No. 4 Wellington (5-1) – Wellington
Wamego (4-2) at Clay Center (4-2) – Wamego
Chaparral (4-2) at Haven (5-1) – Haven
3A No. 3 Holcomb (6-0) at 3A No. 5 Hugoton (6-0) – Holcomb
Prairie View (5-1) at Girard (4-2) – Prairie View
Ellsworth (5-1) at Beloit (3-3) – Beloit
Centralia (5-1) at Troy (4-2) – Centralia
Medicine Lodge (3-3) at Hutchinson Trinity (5-1) – Trinity
Republic County (5-1) at Valley Heights (4-2) – Valley Heights
1A No. 3 Rossville (5-1) at Olpe (5-1) – Rossville
Atwood-Rawlins Co. (4-2) at Oberlin-Decatur Co. (5-1) – Rawlins Co.
Little River (5-1) at 8M-I No. 3 Central Plains (5-1) – Little River
Oswego (5-1) at Cedar Vale-Dexter (5-1) – Cedar Vale-Dexter
Sylvan-Lucas Unified (6-0) at Lincoln (6-0) – Lincoln
Sharon Springs-Wallace Co. (6-0) at Logan-Palco (5-1) – Wallace County
Pawnee Heights (4-2) at 6M No. 3 South Barber (5-1) – South Barber
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