Weekly Recap 2015: Week 3

Rainy nights fortunately didn't lead to any delays this week!

The Good

DE Amani Bledsoe had an awesome night and
was a nightmare for QB Bryce Torneden.
Photo by LJWorld, 2015

* The big boys came to town in Lawrence Friday night and they didn't disappoint. Lawrence (3-0) played well defensively and held off a normally fast-paced Free State (0-3) team 14-12 and did enough on offense to take down their first "big" opponent of the season.

* Olathe East (1-2) got their first win of the season. Hopefully they will have some confidence on offense now that they scored a few touchdowns against a struggling SM South (0-3) defense. They have another game where a win can be expected against Leavenworth (0-3).

* SM West (3-0) had it's breakaway game when it blew out SM North (1-2) 49-7. It was nice to see the Vikings pull away from a team and not have to scramble to win by a single score and hopefully they can use this as a springboard as they become the first real test for SM East (3-0)

The Bad

* I'm seeing a trend here. 8 points; 4 points, 2 points; that is the loss margin for Free State's (0-3) first three games. Hopefully that isn't a trend, because Free State losing 21-20 to Olathe East (1-2) could spell doom in the confidence department which affects teams a lot more than some would think.

* I really wanted SM North (1-2) to do well this year. That hasn't happened as the Indians got ran over defensively two weeks in a row against SM Northwest (1-2) in a 29-44 loss and SM West (3-0) in a 7-49 rout. The offense isn't terrible but it can only do so much when the team gives up over 40 points a game.

Trending UP

▲ Olathe North - The Eagles showed off their offense again after destroying a struggling Olathe South team 40-14. They should hopefully earn a few more wins as their next four opponents have gone a combined 2-10 so far. The first team up is SM South (0-3).

▲ Lawrence  - The offense should get a chance to regroup against a weak SM Northwest (1-2) defense that's given up 128 points in three games. If the defense plays as well as it has lately, they can beat anybody in the state. Maybe even the Lancers.

Trending DOWN

▼ Lawrence Free State - I swear this team is good! A lot of people would agree with me when I say that the Firebirds are one of the best 0-3 teams that we've ever seen. I got to see two of their losses and I can say they have found the perfect ways to lose in the most heartbreaking ways possible.

▼ Olathe South - We can at least say they are 1-1 against Olathe teams. They have one chance to get that final win against Olathe Northwest, but that won't happen if they play like they did against the Eagles. Poor offense and a porous defense is never a good combination and if they can't solve at least one side of the ball, a 3-6 record might be the best outcome. The bright side? 2nd place in their district is still an obtainable goal. 

Power Rankings:

1. -- Shawnee Mission East (3-0) - These guys have gotten to the point where they're difficult to write about because it's the same result every week. The Lancers have their first taste of real competition against #3 ranked SM West (3-0) who shouldn't be written off as easily as the last three opponents.

2.  -- Lawrence (3-0) - I said that I would move Lawrence up if they destroyed Free State. They failed to do so despite winning so here they remain. The offense should perform better in the near future but until then, they must stay here.

3. -- Shawnee Mission West (3-0) - The Vikings won nicely, but I'm not ranking SM North leagues above Free State just yet. A win against SM East will remove the little doubts I still have about this team's ability.

4. -- Olathe North (2-1) - The top four teams won, so not much movement here. The Eagles have it easier than most teams for the next few weeks so they need to be careful of potential trap games against SM North and Olathe East.

5. ▲1 Olathe Northwest (2-1) - That 30-7 win over the Pioneers had to be nice. A win over Olathe South this week would be even nicer. The Ravens are 0-11 against Olathe South and this is the best opportunity yet to end that drought.

6. ▼1 Lawrence Free State (0-3) - I'm doing away with ties in my power rankings, but it seems unfair to just put Free State above Olathe East even though the Hawks won. I do know that I would pick Free State to win against Olathe East this year so they get this spot for the week.

7. ▲3 Olathe East (1-2) - Congrats to the Olathe East Hawks for beating the bottom team on this list. Let's see them try to do the same against the second worst ranked team.

8.  ▼1  Olathe South (1-2) - Well, this week didn't exactly shed any light on which team is better between Olathe South and SM Northwest.  Both teams lost badly and neither were able to take away much except a "nowhere to go but up" mindset moving forward.

9.  ▼1 SM Northwest (1-2) - The expectation for the Cougars to win was never there to begin with, but to give up 44 points in two quarters is pretty awful.

10. -- Shawnee Mission North (1-2) -  The Indians need to at least slow opposing offenses down to come even close to a winning record. I'm not seeing much from them anymore besides a 4-5 ceiling and a playoff berth.

11. -- Leavenworth (0-3) - Nobody is really expecting much outside of maybe a 3-6 record thanks to their 5A classification, but they need at least one win against 6A competition to scare anybody.

12. -- Shawnee Mission South (0-3) - The Raider offense made an astronomical jump in points scored by nearly doubling the total offense to 15 points in three games. If only we could ignore that they gave up a flat 100 points as well.