Weekend Rusher (Week 6)

After South High defeated Heights 20-19 on Friday, I decided I had to let this cat out of the bag early. The following snippet from a feature by Jeff Lutz will appear in the October magazine due out on stands Thursday. I'm in Napa Valley on my honeymoon, so thanks Jeff. Lutz saw something positive in this program before Friday's game when he wrote this, and his observations seem to me to be very accurate.

Watch a football practice at South and it looks as if you're watching something big-time. The Titans are working out on a brand new turf field, installed at the beginning of this season. They have shiny blue helmets that look as if they could belong to a major college team. The practice jerseys appear just as fresh.

Maybe that's the first step in making South a major City League football program – just looking like one. The Titans don't have the strong football tradition of North and West, but it's never too late to begin developing one.

South hasn't had a winning season since 1996, when it finished 5-4. Its last playoff appearance was in 1971. In going 16-96 in the last 12-plus seasons, the Titans have seen four head coaches walk the sidelines at Carpenter Stadium.

What's keeping South from a better fate in the standings appears to be as simple as talent. They have it, just not enough to compete with heavyweights such as Bishop Carroll, Heights and Northwest, who frequently turn out Division I athletes. The Titans appear to have everything else, though. Especially an eager first-year coach, Cory Brack, who seems ready, willing and able to bring success to South's football program.

Brack is involved. He watches intently during practice as the Titans work on offensive plays and defensive positioning. He blows his whistle when the play is over, ready for the players to try it again. When each drill is over, an assistant coach blows an airhorn and players move onto something else.

Every player is participating in practice. The junior varsity players are at the opposite end of the field, running option plays. The punter is booming kicks down the sideline. The varsity players are rotating in and out of drills. Practice is fluid. Players are, for the most part, going full speed. They're running between drills as Brack attempts to get production from every minute of practice.

South isn't among the City League elite. The Titans haven't had a player like Bryce or Arthur Brown to even temporarily make them a threat, like East did in recent years. They've had good quarterbacks, good running backs and good wide receivers, but something has always been missing. This doesn't look to be the year South breaks into the upper division of the league. It might not happen next year, either. But the Titans could be on the verge, as evidenced by a victory over Southeast this season. And it could happen sooner than we think.

Jeff Lutz covers the Wingnuts for the Wichita Eagle and is a preps stringer for the Eagle.

For my interview of Cory Brack on Mel Hambelton Ford Preps Weekly Saturday, click on this podcast and start listening about 15 or 20 minutes in. Brack, a former coach at Lyons, was DC under Tony Johnson last year.

Question and Verdict

Will Hutch continue its recent rivalry with Kansas City Rockhurst? Yes. Despite the fact that the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail Division I is now made up of 7 teams instead of 6, and none of Hutch's 3 district games overlap with their league games, Hutch will play Rockhurst, according to Hutch AD Eric Armstrong who sent out next year's schedule this past week.

Hutch has a bye from league play in Week 1, thus will open up at home with Rockhurst for the second year in a row. In 2011, they'll travel back to Rockhurst, as they did in 2008.

With 7 teams in a league, there has to be a bye for one team each week of the season. Hutch, a team which has a district without a league, thus cannot play every team. They will not play Campus, which was promoted to Division I for next year.

Did Hutch have to do some finagling to make this scheduling coup happen? Probably, and I'm totally pumped about it. If Hutch ever is dethroned as the best team in Kansas, they've set a great example to other teams with this scheduling move. Whoever is the best -- they need to play the best. It's the only way Kansas can continue to earn more respect.

Xs&Os

Carroll junior Tyler Nance had one of the biggest performances of this football season Friday night at home against Kapaun. No only did he have 187 receiving yards and scored the go-ahead two-point conversion off a bad snap to give Carroll their first lead and the lead for good 29-28 in the fourth quarter, but he set up the one-yard Blake Bell touchdown before the two-point conversion.

His about 20- to 25-yard scamper up the middle on an option run right out of the shotgun when Bell went to the sideline with a cramp was simply outstanding. Nance is shifty, absorbs and fends off tackles and finds the open lane. Carroll has one of the state's best option quarterbacks playing wideout right now, which isn't a bad thing for them. I mean, he did have 187 receiving yards.

I'm just saying, Carroll, which has surprised me this season by running Blake Bell constantly out of the shotgun, will be even better next year on those types of plays with Nance in the backfield.

Power Rankings
1. (1) Hutchinson (6-0, Goddard 49-13)
2. (2) McPherson (6-0, Valley Center 55-0)
3. (3) Junction City (6-0, Topeka Seaman 41-7)
4. (4) Olathe North (6-0, Lawrence Free State 38-20)
5. (5) Gardner-Edgerton (6-0, Eudora 26-0)
6. (6) St. Thomas Aquinas (6-0, Blue Valley Stilweel 20-19)
7. (7) Manhattan (6-0, Emporia 35-34)
8. (8) Bishop Carroll (6-0, Kapaun 36-34)
9. (9) BV Northwest (5-1, BV West 35-12)
10. (10) Buhler (6-0, Mulvane 49-14)

4A Rankings
1. (1) Buhler (6-0, Mulvane 49-14)
2. (2) Andale (6-0, Kingman 62-0)
3. (3) Bishop Miege (4-2, BV North 36-13)
4. (4) Louisburg (5-1, Baldwin 28-0)
5. (NR) Andover (5-1, Pittsburg 30-8)

3A Rankings
1. (2) Conway Springs (6-0, Independent 51-6)
2. (3) Garden Plain (6-0, Trinity Academy 47-7)
3. (1) Marysville (5-1, Chapman 40-24)
4. (4) Silver Lake (6-0, Riley County 56-21)
5. (5) Scott City (6-0, TMP 55-14)

State championship game predictions
6A: Junction all the way. West of Junction and Manhattan, I don't see anything close to a contender out of the 6A West. In fact, it could be a Manhattan-Junction sub-state re-match. But Manhattan really isn't that great, so I could see Northwest or Derby upsetting them. Junction City (3) over Olathe North (4) 21-14.
5A: Hutch (1) over McPherson... er, Gardner-Edgerton (5) 42-21. Don't count Aquinas out of the title game, though. Kevin Kopecky is obviously a pretty darn good coach. He lost everybody and their brother from last year's team, yet they're 6-0 and rolling again. One of this year's games of the year is Aquinas at Gardner on October 23.
4A: Miege gets another nice win over a 6A Blue Valley team. Buhler (1) over Bishop Miege (3) 41-28. Buhler at Andale next week is a game of the year. My 1-2 4A rankings might finally shake up for the first time after that game.
3A: Garden Plain at Conway Springs this week. The broadcast will be the Mel Hambelton Ford Game of the Week on 1330 KNSS. Conway over Garden, 21-14. Another sub-state battle -- their third in a row -- is in the works, too, I think. Conway over Silver Lake -- again -- 27-21.

Winners (Those Who Could Become Big Winners)

Northwest wins at Garden City, 42-19. Northwest is playing out this season just like last year. A 1-2 start followed by a horde of convincing wins over average to below average teams. Northwest pounded Manhattan in the first round of last year's playoffs before Derby pounded them. They're still a factor.

South stuns Heights 20-19. South is 3-3 with games against Campus and North coming up. They could go 5-4, earning its first winning record since 1996 and making the playoffs for the first time since 1971. They also have Northwest remaining on the schedule. Can they follow up a win over Heights with a win over Northwest? That would be mad.

Derby makes a statement with 21-9 win over Salina South. Derby should have beaten Salina Central, and their other loss was to Hutch, which is nothing to be ashamed of. Derby can't beat Junction City (see last two year's playoffs), but they can compete in the playoffs. Who else will in the 6A West?

Winfield is showing that they will be very good in Class 4A and the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail Division III in the next two years. Following a brutally tough start to the season against Salina Central, Andale and McPherson, they're now 3-3 going into district play against Kapaun, Ark City and Newton. They're in this thing, and next year they'll do well in Class 4A.

Pretty Prairie is ranked by Topeka Capital Journal. After coming back late to beat Claflin, 46-44, on a touchdown pass in the final minute, Pretty Prairie is getting some pub. Look for Caldwell and Central-Burden to also become competitive at the state level in 8-man in the coming years.

Hays is getting tons of run at 6-0, but remember, they were 4-2 last year before getting pummelled three times in district play. We'll see how good they are after hosting Great Bend this Friday.

Not So Quick Hits

In last week's Vype poll, Buhler at Andale was voted the biggest game of the year. It's finally here this Friday. Readers voted it a bigger game than Kapaun-Carroll, Garden Plain-Conway Springs and Hutch-McPherson.

Check out Andover High's schedule next season after moving up to Class 5A and Division II of the AVCTL: McPherson; Newton; Valley Center; Maize; Derby; Goddard; Andover Central; Kapaun; Ark City. There is one hold-over from this year's schedule: Andover Central. Wow, that's a huge change. I'm looking forward to seeing where Mike Lee takes this program. Great win at Pittsburg in his old stomping grounds on Friday, 30-8.

The New York Times continues to cover Kansas football. They had a freelance photographer at Friday's Kapaun-Carroll game, getting a shot of Blake Bell.

Another photographer tidbit: Our guy, William Purnell, said Hollywood couldn't have scripted the Carroll-Kapaun game better. I agree. That two-point conversion by Nance off a bad snap was real theatre. No one in the stadium knew what the heck was going on; it was nuts. Carroll went from losing that game on a busted play to putting Kapaun behind the 8-ball.

Maglight

The October issue hits stands on Thursday. Expect lots of football. Expect a theme based on this Friday's incredible lineup of games: Conway-Garden, Buhler-Andale, Hutch-Mac.

Multimedia

Expect a full Friday slate of prep basketball on the radio this winter. I'll be on the broadcast with someone....