Jeff Meyer’s defense made for good offense in the early going of Olathe East’s 29-20 season-opening win over defending Class 6A runner-up Lawrence Free State on Friday, landing the Hawks a spot in the latest Class 6A rankings.
Two defensive plays early in the game set the stage for an outcome that should shun some of Olathe East’s detractors heading into the 2009 season.
Senior defensive back Delon Barbour jumped in front of a Camren Torneden pass on the third play from scrimmage, leading to Brandon Willingham’s 2-yard touchdown run four plays later to put the Hawks up 7-0 early.
Later in the opening quarter, Dylan Ramsey put Olathe East up 10-0 by booting a 28-yard field goal following junior linebacker Will Hammer’s theft of a tipped Torneden pass, which he returned to the Firebird 4-yard line.
“We worked hard in the offseason, and we were able to work on their offense a little bit,” Meyers said of his team, which lost all but two starters on each side of the ball from a year ago. “It helped us get ready for this game.
“We’ve also got some athletes, and they played athletically when they needed to.”
The Firebirds got on the board early in the second quarter when they drove 75 yards in 15 plays to pull within 10-6. The drive was capped by Torneden’s 4-yard run.
Ramsey kicked a 35-yard field goal on Olathe East’s next possession, and Lawrence Free State scored when Connor Stremel hauled in Chandler Schmidt’s pass from 36 yards out to pull within 13-12 at intermission.
The Hawks opened the second half with a 12-play, 65-yard drive capped by Carter McEntee’s 1-yard run to go up 20-12. Following Torneden’s 1-yard scoring run, East sealed the win by scoring on a Willingham 14-yard run and Ramsey’s 41-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Lawrence Free State tackled McEntee in the end zone for a safety with 32 seconds remaining in the game to round out the game’s scoring.
“I told our kids, ‘I think this will be a close game; one of those, 'who’s-going-to-refuse-to-lose' games,” Meyers said. “And I think our kids rose up and played that way.
“We played a good hard-fought ball game. And so did Free State.”
With the win, Olathe East lands in the No. 10 slot this week. The Hawks can’t blink now with a road contest against No. 7 Shawnee Mission West coming their way Friday.
Below is a look at some of the top offensive performances in the state of Kansas and the latest rankings for all 11-Man and 8-Man classifications.
Kansas Top Performers
Rushing
Jorden Oden of Buhler rushed for 330 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in a 52-27 win over Andover…Royal Valley’s Aaron Blevins rushed for 240 yards in a 52-33 win over Atchison County…Jordan Tice of Osage City carried the ball 21 times for 239 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-13 win over Lyndon…Cherryvale’s Tevis Linnebur ran for 236 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns in a 32-0 win over Fredonia…Josh Wessling of Beloit-St. John’s-Tipton rushed for 236 yards in a 34-20 win over Rock Hills…Sunrise Christian’s Andrew Westerfield ran the ball for 233 yards and five touchdowns on 22 carries in a 68-36 win over South Haven…Mark Kolmer of Emporia scored twice on 31 carries and rushed for 231 yards in a 40-21 win over Topeka High…Clifton-Clyde’s Brayden Bloomfield carried the ball 26 times for 229 yards and five touchdowns in a 74-28 win over Blue Valley-Randolph…Skylar Hawkins of Paola scored five times and rushed for 223 yards on 29 carries in a 34-7 win over Baldwin…Basehor-Linwood’s Brandon Leppke rushed for 222 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries in a 49-0 shut out of Santa Fe Trail.
Passing
Joel Piper led McPherson to a 40-17 win over Goddard by completing 21-of-27 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns…Olathe South’s Tanner Dalton completed 31-of-49 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown in a 34-7 loss to Shawnee Mission West…Wiley Farr threw for 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 18-of-31 passing in an 18-15 win over Osborne…Ashland’s Corey Stebens threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-36 passing in a 24-20 win over Hill City…Mitch Buhler led Rossville to a 23-7 win over Wellsville by completing 17-of-24 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns…Blake Jablonski of Wichita Collegiate completed 15-of-19 passes for 270 yards in a 56-28 win over Nickerson…Garden City’s Cody Bernbeck completed 13-of-22 passes for 267 yards in a 30-6 win over Ulysses…Trey Dallas of Salina Central connected on 10 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-21 win over Winfield…Southwestern Heights’ Wes Winfrey completed 19-of-45 passes for 210 yards in a 26-6 loss to Sublette…Gunner Phelan of Quivira Heights completed 17-of-22 passes 210 yards and four touchdowns in a 70-36 win over Claflin.
Receiving
Mathew Fager of Sunrise Christian caught 11 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns in a 68-36 win over South Haven…Goessel’s Weston Hiebert caught six passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-24 loss to Centre…Toby Peters of Decatur Community caught six passes for 152 yards and a touchdown in an 18-15 win over Osborne…Rossville’s Tanner Cady caught eight passes for 145 yards one touchdown in a 23-7 win over Wellsville…Stephen Houston of Greeley County caught six passes for 135 yards in a 40-20 loss to Sharon Springs-Wallace County…Kingman’s Stone Hageman caught six passes for 132 yards in a 61-12 loss to Wellington…Christian Ulsaker of McPherson caught seven passes for 129 yards in a 40-17 win over Goddard…Quivira Heights’ Jacob Ingham caught nine passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns in a 70-36 win over Claflin…Luke Yearout of South Barber had 121 receiving yards in a 52-28 loss to Pretty Prairie…Rossville’s Matt Buhler caught eight passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-7 win over Wellsville.
Kansas Football Rankings
Class 6A
1. Olathe North (1-0) 71 6 1
2. Junction City (1-0) 49 6 2
3. Wichita Northwest (1-0) 16 13 5
4. Manhattan (1-0) 23 21 6
5. Derby (1-0) 27 3 8
6. Blue Valley (0-1) 21 23 3
7. Shawnee Mission West (1-0) 29 23 9
8. Dodge City (1-0) 26 3 -
9. Blue Valley West (1-0) 30 7 -
10. Olathe East (1-0) 29 20 -
Class 5A
1. Hutchinson (1-0) 55 27 1
2. McPherson (1-0) 40 17 2
3. Gardner-Edgerton (1-0) 62 22 3
4. Salina Central (1-0) 48 21 4
5. Wichita Bishop Carroll (1-0) 28 0 7
6. St. Thomas Aquinas (1-0) 22 19 5
7. Salina South (1-0) 58 16 6
8. Kansas City-Turner (1-0) 23 15 8
9. Topeka Seaman (1-0) 24 7 -
10. Pittsburg (1-0) 27 14 -
Class 4A
1. Topeka Hayden (1-0) 19 7 1
2. Bishop Miege (1-0) 60 0 2
3. Andale (1-0) 49 20 3
4. Buhler (1-0) 52 27 5
5. Louisburg (1-0) 49 7 6
6. Andover Central (0-1) 21 48 7
7. Abilene (1-0) 35 7 8
8. Holton (1-0) 35 14 9
9. Basehor-Linwood (1-0) 49 0 10
10. Andover (0-1) 27 52 4
Class 3A
1. Conway Springs (1-0) 35 7 1
2. Silver Lake (1-0) 27 7 2
3. Garden Plain (1-0) 72 0 3
4. Marysville (1-0) 27 0 4
5. Wichita Collegiate (1-0) 56 28 5
6. Scott City (1-0) 39 0 6
7. Pleasant Ridge (1-0) 33 6 8
8. Norton (1-0) 21 14 10
9. Riverton (1-0) 54 0 -
10. Rossville (1-0) 23 6 -
Class 2-1A
1. Smith Center (1-0) 59 0 1
2. Pittsburg Colgan (1-0) 48 13 2
3. St. Marys (1-0) 34 6 3
4. Ellis (1-0) 35 8 4
5. St. Francis (1-0) 28 22 5
6. Olpe (1-0) 40 0 6
7. Oakley (1-0) 37 0 7
8. Meade (1-0) 28 7 8
9. LaCrosse (1-0) 34 20 9
10. Ell-Saline (1-0) 55 8 -
8-Man I
1. Baileyville B&B (1-0) 50 0 1
2. Clifton-Clyde (1-0) 74 28 2
3. Madison (1-0) 32 0 3
4. Quinter (1-0) 44 26 7
5. Colony-Crest (1-0) 44 12 8
6. Minneola (1-0) 36 24 10
7. Macksville (0-1) 6 30 4
8. Goessel (0-1) 24 38 6
9. Deerfield (1-0) 48 0 -
10. Frankfort (2-0) 94 32 -
8-Man II
1. Hanover (1-0) 54 8 1
2. Victoria (1-0) 30 6 2
3. Quivira Heights (1-0) 70 36 4
4. Rozel-Pawnee Heights (1-0) 28 12 5
5. Sharon Springs-Wallace County (1-0) 40 20 6
6. Norwich (1-0) 46 0 7
7. Axtell (0-1) 0 50 3
8. Beloit-St. John’s-Tipton (1-0) 34 20 9
9. Ashland (1-0) 24 20 10
10. Rexford-Golden Plains (0-1) 26 44 8
