Better late than never

So, do you want to know the reason that I haven’t written anything in three weeks? No, I know you don’t, anyway, let’s just say I’ve been busy, but it’s for the right reasons. I am doing everything I can to make Kansas Pregame football magazine and KansasPregame.com the statewide resource for football information in the Sunflower State and I appreciate any visits you folks make to the site, it only helps.

What do I think about high school football? I think Smith Center is now playing as good a football as they have in the past five years. LaCrosse was a very good 2A football team. Their skill players were as good as any in the small classes (4A and down to me) and their offensive execution was the second best I’ve seen all year (to Smith Center of course, and yes, I think LaCrosse executes as well as Hutch High).

The key to this game was the physical play of the Redmen. All of Smith Center’s defensive players are so aggressive and while Marshall Musil is GREAT, even he can’t run through the tackles of four and five defenders who were draped on him in the LaCrosse backfield last night. Man Marshall McCall and Kris Lehmann were just awesome for Smith Center. They made some hits that had me hurtin’ on the sideline.

I really think LaCrosse might be the second best team in 2A and I do think their schedule left them unprepared for their contest with Smith Center. If they had played a couple of more physical teams in the regular season like Great Bend or Garden City (yes, I realize it’s probably impossible for them to get on those schedules but I don’t think anyone else in western Kansas, other than St. Francis offers the level of physicality that I’m talking about, but one game with the Indians was not enough to prepare the Leopards) it would have went a long way toward them being prepared for the contact the Smith Center delivered.

What do I think? I think Garden Plain got lucky and Scott City let one slip away, but, it takes a little luck, even for the great teams. Now the Owls must face rival Conway Springs in a rematch that will send one of the two to the title game. The Owls lost top player Daniel Capul in the first half of the game. Will he be back?

What do I think? I think Hutch is the best team in all of high school football and I think that right now they would beat anyone from the top of 6A down to the best 2A team by two touchdowns, but, I would like to see Smith Center and Hutch play. Early in the season I didn’t think this Smith Center team could hang with Hutch, but after seeing the way they hit last night I would just like to see them have the opportunity. Of course no one on the Redmen team or coaching staff is counting their chickens, they know they’ve got two more to go before the real celebration starts. Then, can we start talking about De La Salle’s streak?…You heard it hear first.

What do I think? I think Salina South coach Chip Sherman is the state’s coach of the year. The first-year coach from Missouri took the Cougars to an 8-3 season after South went 2-7 just a year ago and he did it with his top running back hurt for most of district play and all of the playoffs.

What do I think? I think high school football is the greatest sport on earth. Last night at the LaCrosse game the communities of both LaCrosse and Smith Center were out en masse to support their athletes and coach Ryan Cornelsen has proven to be a class act in both victory and defeat. He has developed a program the community of LaCrosse can take great pride in and the Leopard players are fortunate to have the experience of success and the many valuable lessons that come with it.

I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate each and everyone of you visiting the site, listening to our radio shows and overwhelming me with the compliments throughout the year.

Continue with us as we take up the challenge of providing a place where kids from across Kansas can find themselves being covered on a weekly basis and a place where all of us who love this great game can get together and find happiness in the common denominator that is high school sport.

Remember: Kansas football, bigger than the rest of the country thinks!

When the stats/scores/records don’t tell the story

Again I wrote a post and forgot to publish it. So, take this in the context as if I wrote it Saturday morning. Sorry, I’m still getting used to this blogging gig.

Last night (Friday, October 17) we traveled to Victoria and Hays and watched two teams post clear-cut victories over their opponents (Victoria over Logan, 56-8; Phillipsburg over TMP 31-6) but often times the score – or the stats – don’t tell the whole story.

For example, last night Salina Central and Salina South squared off in one of the top match-ups in the state, and Salina South moved to 5-2 with a 21-14 win while Salina Central fell to 3-4.

Salina South’s 5-2 record doesn’t tell the whole story: Their two losses are to 5A stud Hutch by a big margin (so a loss, is a loss, is a loss in this situation), but their other loss is to an undefeated Derby team, 43-42. A team that beat Hutch by 3, and Salina Central by 1. Granted, in the Derby loss the South Cougars blew a big lead and let the Panthers score the last 22 points, but, the stat that mattered at that point in the season was the performance against a strong 6A opponent and the confidence it could provide an improved team.

As an even better example, Salina Central’s 3-4 record really doesn’t tell the whole story. Close losses to Derby, Blue Valley (who beat Olathe North last night by one) and Salina South show that this Central team is not that far from greatness. I would expect Central to rebound from the South win, but a talented Emporia team looms on the horizon.

Last night’s Russell/Beloit game is another example of a score that doesn’t tell the whole story. Yes, Beloit continued to roll with a 40-14 victory, but, the Trojans had allowed only 116 yards rushing in the first six games, TOTAL. Last night against Russell, the Trojans gave up 258 yards rushing and allowed more points than they have since game one against Southeast of Saline. Anaylsis: Russell is better than the experts think and Beloit…well Beloit is still damn good, but they finally got a challenge for the first time all season.

Pike Valley moved to 3-3 with last night’s 66-42 win over Rock Hills, but they opened the season at 0-3 with tough losses to Linn, St. John’s Beloit and Axtell. After the 0-3 start much of the state probably felt Pike Valley was going to have another poor season after struggling the last couple of years, but now they are rolling and the table is set for a key match-up with Clifton-Clyde that could decide the district championship.

These are just a few examples, but remember that every week in high school football there’s more than just the score, the record or the stats. If you really break games down, the performance, or overall quality, of the team is often not indicated by the score or the record alone.

Certainly the win or the loss is the stat that matters, but it may not be the whole story.

The Dold and the Beautiful (Sharp)

Alright Kansas D-I teams (I’m still not using FBS) that’s better.

Yes, I know A&M is a shadow of its former self, but College Station is still one of the nation’s toughest road venues and K-State went in and got a solid win, a big defensive stop, and a promising performance from Garden Plain true freshman Logan Dold.

Wait…seriously…Garden Plain, Kansas?

I didn’t think it was possible for small town Kansas kids to start in the backfield at D-I (not FBS) schools, AND, as a TRUE FRESHMAN. Great job Logan, you just turned a bunch of talented small school stars from dreaming about playing linebacker and safety into thinking maybe they can carry the pigskin at the D-I level.

And as for you KU, and Jake Sharp and Kerry Meier, you guys are back on the map. Your reward, an angry Sooner nation, but at least you head into the match-up with a defense, a running game and no doubts that you deserve to be ranked as high, or higher, than you are.

But…what’s that…three skill players making their mark at the D-I (NOT FBS) level in Kansas? Couldn’t be.

Maybe there is a chance for guys like Huldon Tharp, Jaydan Bird and Marshall Musil to make it big. I know, two of the three plan to play linebacker and Musil is going to be some type of hybrid tight end/fullback/H-back in the Sooners wide open offense, but, maybe they should consider holding out for the big bucks and get the fame and glory in a D-I backfield near you.

And yes, just in case your wondering, I do think Football Bowl Subdivision is a stupid name and a marketing ploy intended to keep D-I football from deciding the national championship in a playoff, LIKE THE REST OF THE FREAKING SPORTS WORLD!!

No games featuring undefeateds?

Admittedly, my schedule’s been pretty full lately so I haven’t been able to do research the way I’d like to, but from what I can tell there are no match-ups featuring two undefeated teams in this week’s high school lineup. That’s not necessarily a surprise at this point in the season, but it just seems that there is usually still a couple of good games featuring undefeated teams yet in week 6 of the season. If anyone out there is aware of one, please shoot me an e-mail at john@kansaspregame.com.

Also, there are no undefeated teams left in 4A (I think, someone let me know if that’s wrong.)

What these two factors tell me is that there may be more parity developing in Kansas High School football. For the last two seasons Hutch, Andale, Garden Plain and Smith Center have dominated everyone in their path en route to lopsided state championship victories (Note: Garden Plain lost to Silver Lake two years ago, but other than that small blemish they have been on cruise control).

Oh how things have changed this season: Hutch has two losses already, Andale has one, and Smith Center has had its two closest games in the regular season (Norton and Phillipsburg) in the last four years. (Note: Garden Plain is rolling and appears unstoppable in spite of the loss of now K-State running back Logan Dold.)

Now, that said, I remain confident that all of these teams will be in hunt deep into the playoffs, and all might be good candidates to return to the title game in their respective class (Hutch is now 5A), but there is a definite change in the power structure of Kansas high school football that is apparent every Friday night, and I for one, think that’s a good thing.

Kids need to know there’s a chance, and for the last couple of seasons the teams in each class have been so dominate there hasn’t been much of a chance for anyone but the top team.

Being an advocate of hard work and determination as a method for improvement I like to think the reason for the increased equality is the development of coaches and players willing to accept the challenge of getting better.

It’s good that games can be competitive, that league races come down to the end of the season and that coaches have a little more chance to motivate their teams on a weekly basis. Much like in college and the NFL, parity is a good thing for the sport.

Last week I was shocked that the K-State line was only seven points. As soon as the ‘Cats finished the Lousiana-Lafayette game you could tell the troubles with the defense were going to make for a difficult Big 12 season and the Texas Tech offensive attack may be the most potent of the Big 12. Again, and I said it earlier, in spite of giving up 56 points I do think the ‘Cats defense improved a little last week.

Really, at this point, that’s what you want to see, some weekly improvement.

Some significant improvement this week would be good as the ‘Cats and the Texas A&M Aggies are in a similar situation right now. Both teams are struggling and the ‘Cats desparately need a win, and this might be one of the better opportunities to get one in Big 12 play.

On the flipside, I’m a little surprised KU is such a big favorite (14 points) over Colorado. I realize it’s at home and with the new success the Jayhawks are packing the stands, but Colorado is coming off back-to-back losses to Florida State and Texas, (not exactly Iowa State and La. Tech, two teams KU struggled with) and the Buffs have a 17-14 overtime win against a hyper-talented West Virginia squad.

A KU victory in this game is key for a number of reasons not the least of which is the north division race and bowl opportunities. I think this has the makings of a good Big 12 matchup.

Well, as usual, I encourage you to leave a comment, to visit kansaspregame.com and to enjoy another weekend of football. We’re more than half way through the high school season and into the heart of the Big 12 season.

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat

Well, as a lifelong K-State fan it’s a hard pill to swallow when K-State gets drubbed the way they did today by Texas Tech (I actually thought the defense improved from the previous two weeks) and KU gets by an Iowa State team thanks to the help of a thrilling third quarter comeback. As I’ve said though, I want to see all of our Kansas teams do well and it was good to see two Kansas kids play especially key roles in the Jayhawk revival in the second half. Jake Sharp and Kerry Meier were much of the offensive effort that led KU to the 35-33 win over the Cyclones and I’m sure the cities of Salina and Pittsburg are proud.

On the high school football front, Smith Center showed the Ellis Railers why they’ve won almost 60 games and four straight 2A titles. The Railers have a nice team, with some very talented players (I was very impressed with talented junior fullback Gideon Fuchs) but the defense of the Redmen was really the story of the game.

Man, Victoria must be good. 72-46 over Pawnee Heights! I can’t see how anyone is going to challenge them in 8-Man II, but lookout for Hanover who dropped to Division II this season after being runner-up in Division I a year ago.

Didn’t think Hutch would dominate Central so soundly, 71-24, and, it was probably a little worse than the final score indicated, but, Salina Central’s been in this spot before and I am willing to bet they’ll be there at the end when the dust settles.

Surprise? Colby made a big-time comeback down 21-0 late in the third to Phillpsburg to get the 30-21 signature victory for a program that has struggled, but, Smith Center comes to town next week.

Surprise? Quinter is tearing through 8-Man play after several seasons of 11-Man struggles. The Bulldogs dominated a good Thunder Ridge team last night and move to 5-0 on the season.

Note: Beloit and Riverton are looking to make some really loud noise in 3A.

Here’s a few shoutouts to some of my former colleagues: Congrats to the Russell team for their outstanding defensive effort against Ellsworth. Ellsworth provided the first score of the game and it was all Russell from there on out. Good luck to coach Ken Windholz and the Bearcats as they try to regroup and pick up some more NCAA wins this season. Windholz is one of the great people out there in the Kansas high school coaching ranks and I’m sure he’ll have the kids ready to play Friday.

Great job Clint Merritt and the Hugoton Eagles who are 5-0 after last night’s 34-8 win over Cimarron. The Eagles have struggled for two seasons, but appear to be clicking on all cylinders this year.

And to Joe Drape who is chronicling the Redmen this season, thanks for the great conversation last night. I look forward to talking more about your project and working to promote football in Kansas.

As always, to all of the Kansas kids and coaches out there, good luck in continuing to improve this season. After all, that’s what it’s all about, getting better each week, regardless of the final score.

Finally, my new slogan: Kansas football – Bigger than the rest of the country thinks!!

Okay, okay, here we go

Okay, okay – to anyone who reads this regularly and actually thinks I have something to offer on the state of football in the Sunflower state, I’m sorry for not writing anything for a week. I’ll do my best to not let it happen again.

For those of you who find me ridiculously annoying, to the extent of say Joe Theismann (what happened to that dude – not that I miss him) or Keyshawn Johson (why do they keep him around?) then the bad news for you is, I’m back. The good news is, you don’t have to visit this unless you enjoy my babbling about high school and college football in Kansas.

First things first, I’m not a Chiefs fan, but they deserve props for the way the played Sunday. That’s something to build on, and if they can find some consistency at the QB position maybe they will win more than three games this season.

And, as long as I’m talking about the NFL, what’s wrong with Al Davis? Anybody see him in his press conference? I mean really, what is actually wrong with him? He can’t be healthy.

Now, my apologies to all the fellow K-State fans, I cursed their defense by saying it was improved this season. I’m not sure what they answer is, but they are really struggling right now on the defensive side of the football and with Texas Tech coming to town practice has got to produce some major dividends immediately if the ‘Cats are going to slow down the now #7 ranked Red Raiders.

The only hope is that Josh Freeman and an explosive group of receivers can help the ‘Cats to match the Red Raider scoring. How about Lamark Brown? He’s a physical specimen and a pleasant surprise at running back. Maybe he’ll be what the ‘Cats running game needs to help forget the loss of Leon Patton, who was kicked off the team.

On the high school side, how about this kid Levi Kiser at Logan? Rushes for 254 yards and catches 4 passes for 112 yards in Friday’s 64-40 LOSS to Hill City. Man you’ve got to feel for a kid that puts up those kind of numbers, but can’t help his team win. Kiser rushed for 1,400 yards and 20 TDs last season. Wonder if some colleges are looking at him. According to Kansas Pregame he is 5′9″, 170 and runs a 4.6, but usually those hand timed numbers aren’t comparable to an electronic timer. Even so, could he be another Beau Cox? KCAC and D-II schools better make sure and check out some tape with those kind of stats.

Tate Omli from Ell-Saline is putting up some huge numbers for a Moundridge team that I think can run the table. Last week he threw for nearly 300 yards and rushed for nearly 100 in a win over Sedgwick. The sophomore quarterback is fun to watch. I saw him throw a perfect fade route to teammate Chris Scates in their win over Moundridge.

How good is Riverton? They pounded Pitt.-Colgan this weekend, 44-22, and have outscored their first four opponents, 203-28. Brenton Cates went off for 301 yards in the game for Riverton. Brings me back to the days of Andy Ball, Riverton’s star running back in the early 90s who broke rushing records left and right.

Smith Center – my alma mater – is having some growing pains trying to replace nine players from last year who started for at least three-years and earned college football scholarships, and why wouldn’t they? Those struggles were evident in back-to-back close wins over M.C.L. rivals Norton and Phillipsburg. Now there’s no reason for alarm, they are 4-0 and still riding a 58 game winning streak (we should all have such struggles), but, it’s apparent that they are trying to find their identity this season – I would guess they will post several more blowout victories this season, but it may not be Friday. This week’s matchup with fellow 4-0 M.C.L. team Ellis is one of the most interesting games on the schedule.

Okay guys, if I am going to stay up until midnight and write on this thing I need some feedback from you. Post a comment, visit the Web site, send me an e-mail (john@kansaspregame.com). Most importantly forward the site to everyone you know. Let’s turn this thing into a Kansas football community.

P.S. I still have copies of Kansas Pregame for sale if anybody needs one. Send $12.50 to Kansas Pregame, PO Box 186, Lincoln, KS  67455

P.S.S. We are adding new photo albums to the site. Visit kansaspregame.com and click on photos to see new albums from games we’ve been to this week.

Where’s the running game, part two?

The Jayhawks have a tremendous passing game featuring a dynamic group of receivers – including Pittsburg Kansas native Kerry Meier – and one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in Todd Reesing, but where is the running game?

The Jayhawks just can’t seem to get things going on the ground this year and it will be interesting to see what that’s going to do to their passing game once Big 12 play starts.

After shocking Washburn a week ago the Fort Hays State Tigers were upended by Emporia State in Emporia Saturday. As an FHSU alum I do wish the Tigers could have moved to 3-1, but as the publisher of a statewide football magazine I’ve got to shoot props out to Emporia State. The Hornets are now 3-1 and host Missouri Southern, Sept. 27. Missouri Southern is 2-2 with consecutive losses to Pittsburg State (21-14) and Nebraska-Omaha (40-21), nearly the same score that Emporia State lost to UNO (41-20) a game ago.

Fort Scott continues at the top of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference with Saturday’s 31-24 win over Garden City. The #12 ranked Greyhounds beat the #14 ranked Broncbusters by holding the Broncs to a field goal in the second quarter and kicking one of their own in the third. While there is alot of football to be played, it looks like the conference title could come down to the final week of the regular season when the Greyhounds face Butler Community College.

Sunflower Football Fact: Saturday’s KU game included several Kansas natives, but not just on the KU side of the ball. Sam Houston State’s defense featured Goodland native and Garden City Community College transfer Derrick Raymer, and Salina native and Butler Community College transfer Kyle Woodall. For the Bearkats offense Wichita Heights graduate and Coffeyville Community College transfer Jordan Bowersbox, an offensive linemen, and Lucas Ortiz, a kicker from Leavenworth and Coffeyville bring the Kansans on the roster to four.

Raymer is a starting outside linebacker, who made a highlight reel hit in the KU game. Woodall, a standout at Salina South High School, is a backup safety for the Bearkats.

Bowersbox is the Bearkats’ starting center and Ortiz is the top kicker for Sam Houston, who interestingly enough is backed up by Raymer, a rare linebacker, kicker, punter combination.

Where’s the running game?

Note: I meant to post this Thursday and didn’t get it on there. Enjoy!

I realize without Leon Patton the K-State running game is limited, but I was really surprised to see how they were unable to run the ball last night against the Ville.

In spite of the interceptions, Josh Freeman looks awesome, it may be time to think about Tim Tebowing him and getting him 10-15 carries a game in addition to his passing threat.

Anyway, I hope the offensive line can get back to opening some holes for the running game down the road or Big 12 play could be really tough.

I sure thought the defense was better than they played against the Cardinals, not to take anything away from Louisville, their QB and running backs played outstanding. Brock Bolen was fun to watch, the kind of kid that doesn’t go down on first contact. My kind of football, too bad it was on the other side.

Well, two key games for KU and K-State and two losses. Time for a good rebound game to build some confidence before heading into a super tough Big 12 schedule for both teams.

Sunflower Football Fact: Former K-State and Green Bay Packer great Paul Coffman, a native of Chase, Kan., is a proud football father. Son Chase is having a super season at Missouri, Carson is a backup to Josh Freeman at K-State and son Cameron, a sophomore at Raymore-Peculiar High School in Missouri, may be the best Coffman yet.

Cameron threw for 534 yards and five touchdowns in Ray-Pec’s Sept. 5 win over Liberty after throwing for 108 yards in their season opening win against Truman. Last week, in a 20-19 win over Blue Springs South, Coffman threw for 109 yards.

Two weeks deep, already?

I can’t believe we are two weeks into the high school football season already. Of course at the time of this writing several teams still have games to play thanks to Friday’s torrential rains in some parts of the state. Check Monday night for score updates as soon as we get them, and don’t forget to call them in (see below for more.)

I have thoughts on the KU loss (it was amazing they played themselves back in to it) on Osborne being 2-0 (good for them, the Osborne program has struggled for quite a few years now and it’s nice to see them get a couple of victories) and on Hugoton’s offensive outburst in this early season (congrats Clint, keep up the good work) but I’ll have to save that for a little later.

Right now I need to address those of you regular visitors to kansaspregame.com who would like to see more stories, stats and photos: Please send this site to everyone you know. We need more visits and more scores and stats called in on Friday nights.

Right now take a minute to put our scores line into your cell phones (785-820-0726) and be sure and call us with scores as soon as you know them.

The first step in developing this site is being the place to go for all the Kansas football scores. Our goal is to get the scores up as soon after the game as possible, but we need your help to get it done. Call us with the score of your team’s game as soon as you know it.

The second step is to improve our coverage of individual games, so, let your coach or AD know about us and ask if they would mind faxing (785-524-5033) or e-mailing us (john@kansaspregame.com) stats after the game or over the weekend. We’d love to have scoring summaries (who, how, when and from how far out) for both teams after the game.

If we can take these two steps the next plan is to improve the coverage of programs, coaches and players. We want to start working on a series of features about the state’s top football players and programs, but help us out by shooting us an e-mail about the stories you think are most important this season.

Check back for weekly on Wednesday morning for rankings (a collaborative effort with kansasprepfootball.com) and early in the week to see the top performers from Friday night’s games.

Shoot us an e-mail, or make a comment, and check back for more.

Rain, rain, go away

As a player, rain was something I loved. Playing in the trenches, down in the mud and the crud was what it was all about. But as a member of the media, I just wish the rain would go away.

First of all, it’s hard on our new digital camera equipment and it makes it difficult to get good pictures.

Second, and probably most important, I don’t want to go stand in the rain and watch the game. I think I would prefer the comfort of my own home or vehicle, and may choose to stay home and watch the KU game.

Yes, I realize I’m whining and making myself look rather like a wimp, but, the fact is, no rain would make for better coverage of high school football and that’s what were about here at KansasPregame.com

Sunflower Football Fact: South Florida coach Jim Leavitt and KU head coach Mark Mangino were on the same staff together at K-State under Bill Snyder.