Photo Credit: Cole YoungAh, the first weekend of October.
The usual trappings of fall are here with the temperatures starting to drop (with the exception of this week where they’ll touch 90 degrees), playoff baseball and this year, the best week of regular season football in a long time.
At first glance, there’s a dozen games that caught my eye for one reason or another. Either it’s an intriguing cross-border matchup (Blair Oaks at Blue Valley Southwest and St. Pius X at St. James), some classic rivalries (Harrisonville at Pleasant Hill, Aquinas at Miege and Blue Valley Northwest at Blue Valley West) and some what I call “prove it” games.
Starting with the prove it games, there’s some teams who can take a big step in their contender status with wins this week. That list starts with Blue Springs South. After starting with a one-point loss to Liberty North, the Jaguars have rolled. Their schedule toughens up down the stretch, but this would be the statement win South needs to really start making folks outside the Jaguar Booster Club think they could be a Class 6 contender.
Meanwhile all Lee’s Summit North has done is defeat everyone in its path including Mill Valley, Bentonville, Ark. and Blue Springs.
Much of the same could be said for Grain Valley, also 4-1. The Eagles’ lone loss came to Platte County in Week 2. This is the biggest test they’ve had since the Pirates and it’s just as formidable of an opponent in the defending Class 4 champions, Kearney. Much like Lee’s Summit North, the Bulldogs have rolled through a schedule that included Class 6 schools and has an unblemished record.
A little further south, Cass-Midway is off to a 3-2 start, their best season in at least five years. With losses to Mid-Buchanan and Adrian, the Vikings game against Windsor provides them a measuring stick to see just how far they’ve come.
In the Northland, Park Hill travels to Liberty in a game that could determine the Suburban Red title. Park Hill is no stranger to close games, playing each of their first three games to within a touchdown. Meanwhile the Blue Jays have faced minimal resistance the last three weeks since beating rival Liberty North.
The list of great games goes on from there:
Blair Oaks at Blue Valley Southwest – Blair Oaks is the top ranked team in Missouri Class 3 facing a .500 BV Southwest team. It’s always fun to see schools from different areas face off. The Falcons by the way, defeated their last three opponents 167-7… teams that were a combined 9-6.
Harrisonville at Pleasant Hill – A week ago I would have said Warrensburg was the favorite to win the MRVC West, then Pleasant Hill beat them, a week after losing to Oak Grove. Harrisonville has been bitten by the injury bug. If they are healthy this week, a win puts them in the conversation to win the conference.
Lafayette County at Holden – The MRVC East is a little cleaner in that Holden, Lafayette County and Knob Noster are without a conference loss. This game will start to clear things up.
Blue Valley Northwest at Blue Valley West – Northwest enters this EKL showdown with a 4-0 record while West is 3-1. Both teams bring dynamic offenses into the matchup that could turn into a shootout.
Aquinas at Miege – Aquinas enters 4-0 and Miege is 0-4. Should be an easy win for the Saints, right? Wrong. The Stags are a good football team with a loaded schedule. Even if they have six or seven regular season losses, they may be the favorite in Kansas 4A.
St. Pius X at St. James – Since dropping their season opener to Rockhurst, St. Pius X has done unspeakable things to their opponents. This is their first test since Week 1 with a St. James team that’s been playing a tough EKL schedule and is better than its 1-3 record.
Shawnee Mission East at Gardner-Edgerton – The Sunflower League may be as balanced as it has ever been. These two will figure into the title. On Friday look for both teams to try and run the ball then run it some more. The winner of this one will be one step closer to the Sunflower title.
Olathe East at Shawnee Mission Northwest – Don’t let SM Northwest’s record fool you, its two losses were quality losses if that’s such a thing. This one could fall into the “prove it” category as well as the Cougars are the toughest test Olathe East has had thus far.
Now, if we could just get a couple of these moved to Thursday or Saturday.
