Football Preview: Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars vs. Shawnee Mission South Raiders
A classic North v. South is on the schedule. The Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars will venture away from home to face off against the Shawnee Mission South Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Shawnee Mission Northwest has four straight wins, Shawnee Mission South has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Shawnee Mission Northwest is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kansas' top teams: Lawrence Free State, who was ranked 15th in their home state at the time (Shawnee Mission Northwest was ranked tenth). Shawnee Mission Northwest narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Lawrence Free State 27-24. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Cougars have posted since October 27, 2023.
John Whitener was his usual excellent self, rushing for 118 yards. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 112 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Shawnee Mission Northwest wouldn't let Lawrence Free State keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Shawnee Mission Northwest can thank Isaac Nbubuisi and Gabriel Gast for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, Shawnee Mission South came up short against Shawnee Mission North on Friday and fell 29-20.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Drake DeBaun, who picked up 36 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Shawnee Mission Northwest's victory bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Shawnee Mission South, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-6.
Everything came up roses for Shawnee Mission Northwest against Shawnee Mission South in their previous meeting back in October of 2021, as the squad secured a 49-7 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Shawnee Mission Northwest since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
