Via KSHSAA Covered
For the first time this season, every No. 1 in the KSHSAA Covered’s football rankings emerged from Friday night unscathed.
And most did with relative ease.
Mill Valley (5A), St. Thomas Aquinas (4A), Andale (3A), Nemaha Central (2A), Inman (1A), Axtell (8M II) and Cunningham (6M) each posted wins by 28 points or more. Of that group, Axtell figured to get the best challenge on Friday night, traveling to Eight-Player Division I unbeaten Clifton-Clyde.
But the Eagles’ high-powered offense was too much for Clifton-Clyde and after being in a game early, leading 20-12 in the second quarter, Axtell exploded with 38 straight points to win 58-12.
Class 6A No. 1 Manhattan had its hands full on the road at Class 5A No. 4 Hays, trailing 14-10 at halftime. But the Indians clamped down on Hays in the second half, Indian quarterback Keenan Schartz threw for a career-high 204 yards and Manhattan escaped Hays with a 31-21 win.
The biggest showdown for last week’s No. 1s was Eight-Player Division I Hill City taking on Eight-Player Division II No. 3 Thunder Ridge. The ranked powers engaged in a defensive battle for three quarters with Hill City leading 14-6 at halftime and 20-14 at the end of the third.
The Ringnecks then erupted for 28 fourth-quarter points to pull away for a 48-22 win.
There was limited movement in the rankings below the No. 1s.
In Class 6A, 3-0 Gardner-Edgerton moved into the rankings at No. 5 after No. 3 Blue Valley lost to No. 4 Blue Valley Northwest 48-24.
In Class 5A, No. 3 Bishop Carroll and No. 4 Hays held their position despite losing. Carroll forged a late tie with Derby before seeing Panther standout Dylan Edwards break a game-winning 85-yard touchdown run to give Derby the 45-38 win.
No. 5 Kapaun Mt. Carmel fell out of the rankings after getting routed 41-14 by Wichita Northwest. The Crusaders were replaced by Hutchinson at the No. 5 spot.
In Class 4A, No. 3 McPherson and No. 5 St. James fell out of the rankings following losses to Junction City and Bishop Miege, respectively. Two-time defending champion St. James is 0-3 for the second straight season with its losses coming to Miege, 4A No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas and 6A No. 3 (then No. 1) Blue Valley Northwest.
Eudora (No. 4) and Basehor-Linwood (No. 5) moved into the 4A rankings.
In Class 2A, two-time defending champion Rossville fell from the rankings after a 55-34 loss to 3A No. 3 Hayden dropped the Bulldawgs to 1-2. TMP-Marian moved into the rankings at No. 5 with Norton replacing Rossville at No. 4.
In Class 1A, St. Marys (1-2) dropped from the rankings after a loss to Silver Lake with Troy (3-0) moving in at No. 5.
In Eight-Player Division I, Chase County replaced Madison in the rankings after Madison lost to Lebo.
In Six-Player, Tescott moved into the rankings at No. 4 with Cheylin falling out.
The 3A and Eight-Player Division II rankings did not change.
KSHSAA COVERED’S WEEK 3 RANKINGS
CLASS 6A
Team … Record
- Manhattan (1) … 3-0
- Derby (2) … 2-1
- Blue Valley Northwest (4) … 2-1
- Olathe North (5) … 3-0
- Gardner-Edgerton (NR) … 3-0
Others – Blue Valley 2-1, Blue Valley West 2-1, Dodge City 2-1, Garden City 3-0, Lawrence 2-1, Olathe South 2-1, Olathe West 1-2, Washburn Rural 3-0, Wichita East 2-1, Wichita Northwest 2-1.
CLASS 5A
Team … Record
- Mill Valley (1) … 3-0
- Maize (2) … 3-0
- Bishop Carroll (3) … 2-1
- Hays (4) … 2-1
- Hutchinson (NR) … 3-0
Others – Andover 2-1, De Soto 2-1, Goddard 2-1, Highland Park 3-0, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 1-2, Liberal 2-1, Maize South 2-1, Salina Central 2-1, Shawnee Heights 2-1, Valley Center 2-1.
CLASS 4A
Team … Record
- St. Thomas Aquinas (1) … 3-0
- Bishop Miege (2) … 3-0
- Chanute (4) … 2-0
- Eudora (NR) … 3-0
- Basehor-Linwood (NR) … 3-0
Others – Andover Central 2-1, Atchison 3-0, Circle 3-0, Coffeyville 3-0, KC Piper 1-2, Louisburg 2-1, McPherson 2-1, St. James Academy 0-3, Wamego 3-0.
CLASS 3A
Team … Record
- Andale (1) … 3-0
- Wichita Collegiate (2) … 3-0
- Hayden (3) … 3-0
- Holton (4) … 2-1
- Girard (5) … 3-0
Others – Bishop Ward 2-1, Cheney 2-1, Frontenac 2-1, Galena 1-2, Hesston 2-1, Holcomb 3-0, Hugoton 3-0, Parsons 3-0, Pratt 3-0, Rock Creek 2-1, Scott City 2-1, Wellsville 3-0.
CLASS 2A
Team … Record
- Nemaha Central (1) … 3-0
- Southeast of Saline (2) … 3-0
- Kingman (3) … 3-0
- Norton (5) … 3-0
- TMP-Marian (NR) … 3-0
Others – Atchison County 3-0, Chaparral 3-0, Council Grove 3-0, Ellsworth 3-0, Garden Plain 2-1, Hoisington 2-1, Humboldt 3-0, Lakin 3-0, Minneapolis 2-1, Osage City 2-1, Rossville 1-2, Sabetha 1-1, Silver Lake 2-1.
CLASS 1A
Team … Record
- Inman (1) … 3-0
- Centralia (2) … 3-0
- Smith Center (3) … 2-1
- Hutchinson Trinity (5) … 3-0
- Troy (NR) … 3-0
Others – Jackson Heights 3-0, Jayhawk-Linn 3-0, Oakley 1-2, Olpe 1-2, Pittsburg Colgan 2-1, Pleasanton 3-0, St. Marys 1-2, Wabaunsee 2-1.
EIGHT-PLAYER DIVISION I
Team … Record
- Hill City (1) … 3-0
- Meade (2) … 3-0
- Leoti-Wichita County (3) … 3-0
- Little River (5) … 2-1
- Chase County (NR) … 3-0
Others – Argonia-Attica 3-0, Burlingame 3-0, Cair Paravel 2-1, Central-Burden 2-1, Clifton-Clyde 2-1, Ell-Saline 2-1, Hoxie 2-1, Lyndon 3-0, Macksville 3-0, Madison 2-1, South Sumner 3-0, Washington County 3-0, West Elk 3-0, Wichita Independent 3-0.
EIGHT-PLAYER DIVISION II
Team … Record
- Axtell (1) … 3-0
- Canton-Galva (2) … 3-0
- Thunder Ridge (3) … 2-1
- Dighton (4) … 3-0
- Victoria (5) … 3-0
Others – Beloit-St. John’s 3-0, Bucklin 3-0, Colony-Crest 2-1, Hodgeman County 2-1, Lakeside 3-0, Minneola 3-0, Pike Valley 2-1, Sharon Springs-Wallace County 2-1, South Barber 3-0, Stafford 3-0.
SIX-PLAYER
Team … Record
- Cunningham (1) … 3-0
- Ashland (2) … 2-1
- Waverly (3) … 3-0
- Tescott (NR) … 3-0
- Moscow (5) … 2-0
Others – Burrton 2-1, Centre 2-1, Cheylin 2-1, Ingalls 2-1, Northern Valley 2-1, Wetmore 2-1.