Preseason Eight Man Football Rankings

#1 Mound City – Last year’s champions, Mound City and Worth County, are on top of these rankings unless and until someone else shows otherwise. The Panthers return a lot of horses from last year’s state champion squad.

#2 Worth County – Worth County is young, but they showed the capability to strike from anywhere and have a lot of size up front. Justin Dye and Austin Welch can open up holes up front and stop the run on the other side of the ball, while they have a luxury of players at the skill positions. Aydan Gladstone, once he got the early jitters out of the way, turned into a capable signal caller Friday.

#3 Pattonsburg – Despite losing some key line help from last year’s semifinal squad, Pattonsburg had a strong offseason. On offense, Steven Willhite returns and has a wealth of receivers to throw to. Carter Crone has turned into a one-man wrecking crew on defense, flying around the field and having a good nose for the ball. Kaden Koch turned some eyebrows Friday with a big hit on Dalton Luke at Pattonsburg’s jamboree.

#4 Platte Valley – Platte Valley has positioned themselves to make the same kind of Cinderella run that Pattonsburg made last year. Dalton Luke has emerged as one of the top backs in the area, and they played Pattonsburg to a 6-6 tie. Defensively, they showed they could keep up with the Panthers, and they have been working on diversifying their game. They also knocked off North Andrew and DeKalb Friday. Platte Valley will know right away how much they have improved, as they play Mound City Friday.

#5 East Atchison – The Wolves lose Gage McAdams, but return most of the rest of their horses. They won their jamboree with LeBlond and North/West Nodaway Friday and have been getting better every single year.

#6 South/Nodaway-Holt – The Spartans gave Mound City and North Andrew fits last year and return most of their horses back for this year. They will feature one of the top passing attacks this year besides Pattonsburg. They will see how far they have improved, as they play Worth County in Week 1.

#7 King City – The Wildkats show no signs of going anywhere, despite losing nearly everyone from the squads that clinched a three way tie in the 11-man GRC and two semifinal runs. They are solid at the skill positions with Landon Wells at quarterback, Jacob Moen and Parker Muff at runningbacks, and receiver Braden Gilbert. They are a scrappy team which goes after everyone this year. They only have three seniors, with everybody else on their roster freshmen and sophomores.

#8 Albany – Albany completely outplayed Stanberry Friday and gave Worth County a challenge before falling. They have a big line, their backs hit the holes hard, and they have gotten much more physical. Dawson Butterfield has gotten much bigger and stronger, quarterback Tryce Floyd has become a breakaway threat, and the Warriors have two linemen listed at 240 and 260.

#9 LeBlond – The newcomer to eight man football showed up to play Friday, and they were pleased with how they performed. Like Platte Valley, they will know right away how they will measure up when they face Pattonsburg Friday.

#10 North Andrew – The Cardinals return a lot of horses this year, and will get better as the season progresses. But they fell to Platte Valley and Pattonsburg Friday.