Games Of the Week 10.16.09

Tonight's match-ups are so big that I used our current cover to promote them.

Garden Plain at Conway Springs matches up two teams which annually battle for pre-eminence in Class 3A. For seven of the past eight seasons, the West has been represented in the Class 3A state championship game by Conway Springs or Garden Plain, towns separated by 21 miles. The teams split their two meetings last season, with Conway winning a frigid sub-state match-up at home.

Hutchinson at McPherson wasn't competitive last year, but it brings together maybe the state's top two teams and two of its greatest coaches of all-time. It’s easy to once again talk about the Hutch offense. They scored 55 against Rockhurst; 41 in three quarters against Salina South; 49 against Derby by midway through the third quarter; and 56 against Salina Central in the second and third quarters. But the Hutch first-team defense has allowed just three touchdowns since Week 1 against Rockhurst.

Finally, Buhler is at Andale tonight, and while Andale has certainly gotten the best of Buhler during its recent three-year tear through Class 4A, the Crusaders are prime for a breakthrough. Buhler hasn’t had a team like this. They scored 48 points or more in each of the first six weeks of the season. The Crusaders scored 291 of their 312 points before the fourth quarter. Andale, though, is still king around here. They have maintained their area supremacy in Class 4A for the fourth consecutive season with convincing wins over Rose Hill and Wellington. Buhler looks to de-throne them tonight.