Monday, September 2, 2019

Week One Eight Man Football Rankings

#1 Mound City 52, Platte Valley 6 – After a promising jamboree, in which it looked like Platte Valley was about to turn the corner, they came back down to earth against Mound City. They gave up a kick return early, fought back to within 8-6, and then Mound City scored another touchdown to make it 16-6. Platte Valley gave up another punt return for a score, and when you give Mound City a break like that, they take a mile as the floodgates opened for the Panthers. Mound City shows no signs of letting up after winning the State Title last year, and Platte Valley is left to solve its special teams woes before Friday night.

#2 Worth County 80, #5 South/Nodaway-Holt 33 – The Spartans showed some promise despite the final score. They moved the ball, they caused some problems for the Tiger defense, and Drew Quinlin is one of the top quarterbacks in the area along with Steven Willhite. And they carried out their fakes well on their zone/read look. For Worth County, Aydan Gladstone emerged as a capable quarterback who can strike from anywhere. Andrew Alarcon runs hard despite his small size, with a low center of gravity, while Alex Rinehart showed the same sort of elusiveness that his half-brother, Caleb Parman had. The line is not an issue this year, with Austin Welch and Justin Dye opening up the holes.

#3 Pattonsburg 66, LeBlond 26 – This one was over at halftime, as Pattonsburg led 52-6 at the half before the reserves took over for the second half. Steven Willhite threw for over 300 yards, Brett Emig had a big night receiving, and Carter Crone had a big night on defense. LeBlond, who has been playing the numbers game, now has to turn around and play North Andrew.

#4 East Atchison 68, Southwest Livingston 22 – Last year, East Atchison stumbled out of the gate against Southwest Livingston. But this time, they broke up a 6-6 tie after the first quarter with a 30-8 second quarter. The Wolves gashed Southwest with 372 yards in rushing. Briacin Bywater had 17 carries for 163 yards, Jake McEnaney had 14 carries for 133 yards, and Kaylin Merriweather had 7 carries for 76 yards. Merriweather and McEnaney each had 11 tackles on defense, while Ian Hedlund had 5 tackles for loss and Josh Smith had three.

#6 North Andrew 42, #7 King City 28 – In a tough defensive struggle that was close all the way, North Andrew finally gained some separation in the fourth quarter to get the win. For North Andrew, Carson Thomas rushed 8 times for 79 yards, while Hayden Ecker had 15 carries for 63 yards and Jaden Baker had 19 carries for 59 yards.

Enemy teams will have to figure out how to block Clayton Linville, as he had 15 tackles for the night. Jaden Baker had 10 and Keenan Shunk had 8.

The yardage was even for the night, with King City getting 272 yards to 267 for North Andrew. But the Cardinals had 9 sacks for the night, which made a big difference. Linville had 3, McKinley Lillard 2, and four other red shirts had 1 each.

For King City, Jacob Moen had 16 carries for 128 yards. Braden Gilbert had 4 catches for 93 yards. Parker Muff had 3 tackles, while Sawyer McCallon had 9, Braden Gilbert 8, and Quaid Jones 7 with two tackles for loss.

#8 Albany 48, Veritas Christian (KS) 0 – Albany had little trouble for the second year in a row against their Kansas foe, as they made the long trip down to Kansas worthwhile with a halftime win. Tryce Floyd is emerging as a capable passer, completing 7 of 10 passes for 83 yards. Albany got 242 yards behind their big line, with Dawson Butterfield getting 15 carries for 105 yards, Tryce Floyd 8 carries for 92 yards, and Ethan Mercer 5 carries for 45 yards.  Kaden Hutchinson had 6 catches for 83 yards.

This game was won on the line of scrimmage, with Albany opening up holes at will on offense while getting seven tackles for loss on defense. Ethan Mercer had 7 tackles for the Warriors, while Tryce Floyd had 6 and Nate Doolittle and Truman Runnels 5. Ethan Mercer had 3 tackles for loss, Devin Patton 2, and Nate Doolittle and Tryce Floyd 1 each.

#9 DeKalb 44, #10 Rock Port 38 – DeKalb developed the reputation of being one of the most physical teams of the Highway 275 Conference last year, and they return most of their players this year. Rock Port has a new coach, but they return Joey Herron, one of the speediest backs in the conference.

The result was one of the most exciting games of the week. DeKalb built up a 38-18 lead at halftime, and Rock Port’s frantic rally in the second half came up just short. Herron wound up with 30 carries for 255 yards for the Blue Jays.

 As a team, DeKalb rushed for 33 carries for 349 yards. Darrin McElfresh had 7 carries for 138 yards while Wyatt Ashpaugh added 87. Tyler Matson had 20 tackles for DeKalb, while Joe Lofland had 19 and Caiden Jarrett had 10.

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