Class 4A
4A East: Jefferson West (7-2) at KC Piper (5-4)
Jefferson West will take on Kansas City Piper in a rematch of last year’s first-round game. Piper won that meeting 34-21 and advanced all the way to the 4A substate semifinal before falling to Eudora.
The Tigers enter this matchup with a 7-2 mark having only lost 40-20 to top-ranked Holton and 34-33 to Tonganoxie. They also have a pair of one-point wins over Nemaha Valley and Basehor-Linwood.
Quarterback Ian Mullins leads a Tiger offense that averages more than 28 points per game. Mullins passed for four touchdowns in the close loss to Tonganoxie; hitting Drew Slimmer on three of those scores. He has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark throwing this season and has rushed for nearly 500 more yards.
Piper has overcome a 1-3 start to the season to win four of its last five games. The Pirates’ four losses have come to opponents that are a combined 28-8 on the season.
Piper is led by fullback/linebacker Colton Bebee. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound junior leads the Pirates with ten rushing touchdowns. Juinor Travon Jones has rushed for 466 yards and sophomore Sterling Owens has added 440 yards and four scores.
Quarterback Tanner Eikenbary has passed for 816 yards and eight scores this season.
Bebee leads the Pirate defense with 101 tackles including seven for loss.
Piper has struggled to score points this season, doing so on Tuesday would mean the end to their season.
Jefferson West 27 KC Piper 21 (Gilmore)
4A East: Louisburg (5-4) at Chanute (7-2)
Two programs with new head coaches will battle as the Louisburg Wildcats travel to face the Chanute Blue Comets in the first round of the playoffs.
At Louisburg, Kyle Littrell took over for longtime coach Gary Griffin and has directed the Wildcats to the playoffs in his first season.
Louisburg has four losses, but that includes one-point losses to Eudora and St. James Academy, as well as last week’s 23-17 double-overtime loss to fifth-ranked Paola.
Louisburg’s D.J. Meyer ran for 126 yards and three touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 55-0 win against Osawatomie.
Jason Feeback, who took over for Donnie Simmons, directed the Blue Comets to a district championship. Chanute’s only two losses came to the Southeast Kansas League’s top two teams in Pittsburg and Coffeyville.
Running back Dallas Joyce leads the Blue Comet offense with nine touchdowns.
This is a winnable game for both teams, but give Louisburg the edge as it has been tested in a difficult Frontier League all season.
Louisburg 28, Chanute 21 (Schremmer)
4A West: Hesston (8-1) at No. 1 Holton (9-0)
New head coach Clint Rider has the Hesston Swathers back in the playoffs, but they must go on the road to face the defending state champion Holton Wildcats in the first round. The two teams met in the first round last season with Holton winning 57-26.
Senior running back Ryan Schadler leads the Swathers with 2,316 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns. In last week’s 48-40 victory against El Dorado, he ran for 524 yards and seven touchdowns on 21 carries.
Hesston quarterback Wyatt McKinney has completed 65 of 118 passes for 965 yards and nine touchdowns. Justin Smith (337), Grant Raleigh (288) and Schadler (254) each have more than 250 yards receiving.
The Swathers have scored the fourth-most points in Class 4A with 398, but they will be facing a Holton defense which has allowed the second fewest with 76.
Holton runs for 384.8 yards per game. The Wildcats don’t have anyone with the individual statistics of Schadler, but they have five players who have rushed for more than 250 yards.
Senior Brenden Hampton leads the way with 939 yards and 13 touchdowns. Drake Ewing has 528 yards and 11 touchdowns. Quarterback Ethan Holaday has run for 403 yards and four touchdowns. Andrew Rieschick and Mason Barta follow with 306 and 258 yards, respectively.
Holton is on a 23-game winning streak with their last loss coming in the first round of the 2011 playoffs.
Holton 42, Hesston 14 (Schremmer)
4A West: No. 4 Buhler (8-1) at Ulysses (8-1)
Buhler finished as district runner-up to Andale, while Ulysses won a district that included Larned, Hugoton and Pratt. Both teams feature one of the state’s top running backs. For Ulysses, sophomore Ian Rudzik has 162 carries and 1,766 yards and 25 scores. Ulysses has averaged 353 rushing yards per game and 45 rushing TDs. He has averaged at least seven yards per carry in each game and rushed for at least 119 yards in all but one contest.
Ulysses lost to Liberal in Week 1, 56-41, and then reeled off eight straight victories. The Tigers were also tested by Goodland’s spread offense in a 75-34 win in Week 5. Both Liberal and Goodland qualified for the playoffs and boast strong offenses.
Buhler delivered its 21st straight victory against Nickerson with a 42-0 victory last week. In preparation for Ulysses, Buhler went to the air plenty in the first half. Sophomore quarterback Jace Williams completed 6 of 14 passes for 143 yards and three scores. Senior wideout Luke Berblinger finished with four catches for 105 yards and two scores. Standout tailback Riley Allen sat out with a bothersome ankle injury.
Buhler has an explosive offense and Ulysses will struggle again defensively in a high scoring contest. Buhler has outscored teams 325-133, while Ulysses has beaten teams 367-163. However, the Tigers have played Class 4A’s No. 52 strength of schedule, Buhler No. 7.
Buhler defeated Ulysses 28-7 in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs last season, the only meeting between the two schools in the last 10 years.
Buhler 50, Ulysses 35 (Nicholl)
The rest of our 4A first-round picks:
Ottawa (5-4) at Spring Hill (4-5)
Fort Scott (5-4) at No. 5 Paola (8-1)
Columbus (8-1) at Independence (4-5)
Bishop Ward (2-7) at Tonganoxie (8-1)
St. James Academy (6-3) at No. 3 Baldwin (9-0)
Frontenac (6-3) at Coffeyville (8-1)
Mulvane (5-4) at Wichita Collegiate (6-3)
Larned (7-2) at No. 2 Andale (9-0)
Clay Center (6-3) at McPherson (5-4)
Topeka Hayden (5-4) at Maize South (8-1)
Rose Hill (4-5) at Winfield (6-3)
Abilene (5-4) at Goodland (6-3)
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