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Team of the Week

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Team of the Week

Who should be team of the week?
 
Week #1   Week #2   Week #3  Week #4  Week #5  Week #6  Week #7  Week #8  Week#9
 
 
Week #9
Norton Bluejays
How many of you guys in your picks last week picked the Bluejays to win over Phillipsburg? Even the Topeka paper computer and man picks had P-burg winning by 22 points! This is why the coaches always say things look one way on paper and you still have to go and play the game. Because the things in the paper (or websites such as this one) never really know what is going to happen during the game. How much want to is in either team? Can't tell that on paper! Football in that stretch along Highway 36 from Norton through Phillipsburg to Smith Center is some really good football and you should never ever count out anybody from that area. Congratulations you Norton Bluejays and good luck in the playoffs.

 
 
 
Week #8
Blue Valley Tigers
Team of the week award goes to the Blue Valley Tigers. The Tigers are lurking in the shadows of Class 5A just hanging around and know one is voting for them in the rankings except yours truly. None of the other pollsters have sent in the name of Blue Valley since week two until this week. This is a dangerous team that took second last year in 5A to Hutchinson. The Tigers have qualified for the playoffs and this week play BV West. When you have a tough schedule, like that of the Tigers, folks have a tendency to forget about a team that is 5-3. Hey you Tigers, I have my eye squarely on you guys and am watching with great interest how you finish the season!
 
 
Week #7
Solomon Gorillas
Remember my team of the week goes to someone who breaks the mold from the past and wins a game that makes people around the state wonder what is going on over there in that town. Well the Gorillas have been toiling away in relative obscurity and not receiving much love in the rankings but low and behold here they are at 7-0 on the season. Solomon defeated Little River Friday night 52-6 and Little River had been held in high esteem by some of the pollsters around the state. So what exactly is going on over in Solomon and maybe it is time the state of Kansas starts to pay attention to the Gorillas! We are going to learn a lot about these Gorillas the next two weeks of football because they will play Central Plains and Pretty Prairie. Go bananas and play with reckless abandoned you Gorillas!
 
 
 
Week #6
St James Academy Thunder
I keep hearing about these teams that come from behind in the final minutes of a game and defeat their opponents. I think it is time to honor one of those teams this week. You know St James has only been playing high school football since the fall of 2007 when the Thunder played 7 games and went 3-4 on the season. This year St James is undefeated through 6 games. Friday night the Thunder was playing Eudora which is a very good football program. Eudora's lead was 14-0 with about 5 minutes to go in the game.

Now I don't know about you but I have watched hundreds of high school football games in my life and many a time most teams down by two touchdowns, with 5 minutes left in the game, are ready to head to the locker room and go get something to eat and or go chase girls up on main street. St James must of decided that they could eat later and the girlfriends could just wait on them this week! Below is a replay by one of the Thunder fans.

We were down 14-0 with about 8:00 left in the 4th quarter and not moving the ball on offense. Our coach decided to go into hurry-up/2:00 offense mode with 5:50 left and it seemed to work well for us. The last second, 34 yard field goal was amazing! Our field goal team ran onto the field with 0:18 left and the last time I saw the clock it was at 8.6 sec., then I looked to the field and our team snapped the ball and it was a picture perfect kick. We didn’t have a kicking tee – our kicker (#3 - Alex King) kicked the ball off the turf!  The players said it was NOT nerve-racking because they practice “last-second” field goals every practice – just what practice is for – being prepared for all situations.

What a comeback and what a finish! Coach Tom Radke called it the biggest win in the history of St James and I agree. So for that the St James Thunder is the team of the week in the state of Kansas!

 
 
Week #5
Salina South Cougars
Several weeks ago I received an email asking me why the Kansasprepfootball.com media ranking team was keeping Hutchinson at the top spot in both the overall Super 10 and the Class 6A rankings after losing to Rockhurst? I told the emailer that Hutchinson had won the last 7 out of 8 state championships in whatever class they belonged to and until somebody in the state of Kansas whipped up on the Salthawks most of the media in Kansas was going to keep Hutchinson at the top of the heap.

Coach Randy Dreiling of Hutchinson was quoted in the Salina Journal and the Hutchinson News, "they certainly out coached us and out played us!" When I read that quote in the paper I knew immediately we had to have the Salina South Cougars be the Kansas Team of the Week because if Coach Dreiling felt his team was beaten by a superior team then that team deserved to be honored.

Salina South had not beat Hutchinson since 2004 in 11 tries. To win a game like this your team must first of all believe they can win. So for going to the Salthawks home turf and believing in themselves the Cougars are some kind of special team in my mind. So congratulations to you Salina South Cougars and don't let me catch you resting on these accolades, keep moving up the hill!

 
 
 
Week #4
Kansas State Wildcats and SM East
Two football programs that in my life time have been big 'W's' for other teams until each team hired 'The Coach.' Coach Chip Sherman came over from a Missouri high school into Kansas several years ago and low and behold he has turned a former big 'W' for other teams into a winner in of all things in the Sunflower League which just might be week in week out the best high school football in the state of Kansas. Congratulations to the SM East Lancers. The tough games just keep a coming, this week the Lancers take on Olathe South.

My other team of the week award goes to the K-State Wildcats with roughly 55 former Kansas high school football players on the roster. The Wildcats went into Norman, Oklahoma of all places and defeated the 5th ranked team in the county. The thing that stuck in my mind was the way Coach Snyder played the clock all through out the game. Have you ever read the book 'Football Clock Management?' Well it was obvious that Coach Snyder has read the book. The Wildcats were using up the clock on every possession starting from the first time they touched the ball in the first quarter. They did not wait until the 4th quarter to start stalling away time. That was the signal for me in the first quarter that Coach Snyder thought for sure the Cats would and could win this game!

On the other hand did any of you happen to watch the Colorado at Washington State game? The Washington State Cougars were ahead 31-14 with about 8 minutes to go in the game. The Cougars were still throwing the ball with incomplete passes stopping the clock instead of running down the clock and with each stopping of the clock giving Colorado hope that they could still win the game which the Buffaloes did 35-34. That told me that Mike Leach may not have read the 'Football Clock Management' book.

So congratulations to the K-State Wildcats and all those former Kansas high school football players and to their master teacher Coach Bill Snyder.

 
 
 
 
 
Week #3
Centralia Panthers
One of my qualifications for becoming a 'Team of the Week' in Kansas is a team somewhere that wins a game that makes people around the state of Kansas have a second thought about a team. That team for me this week is the Centralia Panthers.

The Panthers are the defending State Champions in Class 2-1A but they were not ranked at all in my preseason personal poll. The Topeka Capital Journal preseason poll had Centralia at 4th in class 2-1A rankings. Now folks we are talking about the defending state champions! All us pollsters looked at who Centralia had coming back this year which was a couple of returning starters on offense and three or four on defense and said to ourselves no way Centralia wins state this year. The Panthers lost their entire offensive line and quarterback Michael Glatczak. Do you suppose the slap-in-the-face rankings have made the locker room bulletin board of the defending state champions? Well check out who Centralia has defeated in the first three games of the year and my guess is yes the Panthers are playing inspired football.

So you Panthers don't let me down, keep up the good work each Friday night and we will see you in the playoffs where I think you will be making some noise again this year!

 
 
Week #2
Chapman Fighting Irish
Their are several schools who were candidates for the 'Team of the Week' award this week including Chapman, Topeka West (broke a 25 game losing streak, way to go Chargers!) and Northern Heights who my understanding is they trailed Council Grove Friday night 42-12 as the two teams started the 4th quarter and Northern Heights came back to win the ball game 44-42!

This week I had two emails encouraging me to give the 'Team of the Week' award to the Chapman Irish. I also was thinking of the Irish as my team of the week award so that just sealed the deal for me when some others were thinking like I was. I have been intrigued by the Fighting Irish for most of my life. Back in college one of my good friends was a running back for Chapman in high school and he would tell us stories about when Abilene and Chapman would play football and the games they would have.

You drive down I-70 and you see the sign that says Chapman and it sits south of I-70 behind the trees and hills and you can't see the town. Several years ago I told my wife lets go to Chapman and just look around. It just so happened to be the year before the tornado hit Chapman. We drove around town and then went to the high school. It was summertime but a janitor saw us at the door and let us in and then gave us a tour of the school and gym and told us to go look at the football field. What a great looking school and then in June of 2008 the tornado hit. Well the Irish have struggled in football since. Last Friday night the Irish beat a pretty good SE of Saline team 14-2 and the Irish broke their 25 game losing streak. The Irish always have a tough schedule but it was good to see them break that losing streak. So for this week we want to honor those Fighting Irish of Chapman High School keep fighting and things will get better!

The Fighting Irish taking the field photo by Tina Williams.

 
 
Week #1
Larned Indians
There are many teams who could be called the 'Team of the Week' this week but for me this week we want to honor the Larned Indians. The Indians snapped a 24 game losing streak Friday night. Yes that is right the Indians have not won a varsity football game since 2009. The Indians also had a new coach in A.B. Stokes. Now a lot of times the first year coach and the boys on the team take awhile before they jell and come together as a team. The coach has kids maybe in the wrong positions in wrong assignments compared to the other team etc. Coach Stokes and the boys of Larned must have come together in a hurry this year. That is really good news. So you Larned Indians we are proud of you for stepping up to the plate and take a good swing at the ball and getting to first base. Keep working!

This was my personal all time favorite picture sent to Kansasprepfootball.com. Larned Indians taking the field. Photo by a student at Larned High School.

 
 
 
 
 

Who should be the team of the week?

 

     Each week somewhere in the state of Kansas some team decides to break the mold from the past and forgetting the past they step out to make their own history. Most of the time this making of their own history begins well before the season begins. It starts in the mind of one or several individuals from the team. They decide they will work at this game of football in the off season and get better one day at a time. Their enthusiasm is contagious and begins to affect the team in a positive way.

 
     Of course sometime during the season this team wins a game that everyone around the state wonders what is going on over there in that town? But in reality these guys became winners the day they decided to become winners in their own mind not just the day we put them up here as the team of the week. So the team of the week is an honor we bestow upon a team from somewhere in Kansas because they have broken away from the expectations of the normal crowd placed upon them by others. We honor you today but we know you and your team are no overnight sensation. No, it began long ago.
 
     Remember, I always need some help deciding who should be the 'Kansas Team of the Week' in high school football. Send me an email with a little story write up and who knows your team just might be next.