Week-1/2017 Game Previews

Week-1 Results

Thursday
OEH 21 vs HUT 22 - Final
OSF 6 vs SME 28 - Final
LAW 42 vs SMNW 21 - Final

Friday
LFS 56 vs SMW 9 - Final
LVP 13 vs LAN 6 - Final
ONE 39 vs WHF 25 - Final
ONW 20 vs GOD 49 - Final
SMN 19 vs SMS 22 - Final


Week-1

8-31

Olathe East vs Hutchinson (HUT leads the series 2-0) @ CBAC

* The Hawks and SaltHawks will meet for a third time, and only second in the regular season. While these two have little in common historically, both met in the 2005 6A State Title game 11 seasons ago. Third year Coach Jesse Owen has a proud program, and is looking to return the Hawks to it's long standing winning tradition in their 26th season of play.

SM East vs Olathe South @ Olathe South (OSF leads the series 16-3) @ ODAC 

* The Falcons and Lancers will kick off the 2017 at ODAC with both eager to start the season on a good note. While the Lancers find themselves with a host of losses to graduation all over the field. During the 2016 start, the Lancers took off against the Falcons early and never looked back making it nearly impossible for the Falcons to recover anything offensively to make a dent in the Lancer defense. Can the Falcons come away with an "upset" win in week-1? TBD as all four Olathe's will look to rebound from finishing 2016 a combined 13-24.

Lawrence vs SM Northwest (LAW leads the series 21-14) @ SM North

* Lawrence's own Chesty Lion, alumni-Head Coach Dirk Wedd is entering his 19th and final season leading this proud Sunflower program. Since 2012, the Chesty Lions have won five (5) straight against a struggling Cougars Football team. Third year Head Coach Bo Black, is looking to return the Cougars back to a strong, and quality program it was in the prior decade that was. With a young nucleus of starters hungry to win, the program can only go up after finishing 1-8 in back-to-back sea

9-1

Free State vs SM West (LFS leads the series 11-10) @ SM South
* In what ended in a huge SM West win in 2016, the Vikings won 41-40 over a very talented Firebirds Football team. SR Free State leader Jay Dineen (who is committed to play at Kansas) next Fall will hope to avenge last seasons disappointing week-1 loss. This will by far be one of the best games on the slate for week-1. This again could be a high-scoring game and plenty of thrilling play throughout.

Leavenworth vs Lansing (LAN leads the series 2-1) @ Lansing
* In a great local rivalry, it is great to see the Pioneers and Lions face off in only their fourth known meeting in their history. Both Mark Littrell, and John McCall are no strangers in facing each other while they are Coaching alumni of the Olathe #233. This will be a great early test for both programs.

Olathe North vs Wichita-Heights (WHE leads the series 2-1) @ ODAC
* The Eagles will meet the Eagles in their fourth meeting all-time. Coming off a bad loss by 20 in their first regular season meeting in 2016, Olathe North is wanting to start strong and to avenge their 3-6 season. To date, their seven game regression from 2015 (from 10-2) is the largest in modern Sunflower League history 1989 to present day. No Eastern representative in the 6A Semi-Final's has ever dropped that far in the overall Sunflower standings.

Olathe Northwest vs Goddard (GOD leads the series 1-0) @ CBAC
* In what could be a great test for the Ravens, trying to knock off the 5A Runner-up Lions led by Scott Vang will be a huge task to accomplish. Olathe Northwest lost by one to the Lions in double-OT in week-1 of 2016 at Goddard.

SM North vs SM South (Series tied 24-24-1) @ SM North  
* In a great SMSD matchup, the Indians, and Raiders will meet for the 49th time in all meetings played.  From 2012 to 2014 the Raiders won three (3) straight but have since dropped the last two games. The Indian's led by fourth year Head Coach Ben Bartlett hopes to have a QB that can replace Will Schneider and much of his offense that has all graduated. For the Raiders, the past few seasons, and 2016 have not been an easy task to overcome with a huge walk out of Senior student-athletes and a young core of untested Raider talent eager to achieve more for a brighter Football future.

SFL - Where Do They Stand #1

1Free State Firebirds

In their 21st season, the Firebirds led by their only Head Coach Bob Lisher is looking to continue to dominate play in the Sunflower League. 

Despite a tough week-1 loss to the SM West Vikings in 2017, the Firebirds are looking to change that momentum being on the road to start the season. Look again for the Birds to reel off a strong middle of the season game of play prior to week-9. Fortunately for a great program, the only road blocks the Firebirds hope to defeat in the west could be the Derby Panthers, which have ended great seasons in both 2015 and 2016.

2SM East Lancers

With fifth year Head Coach Dustin Delaney leading the way, the Lancers once again have strong aspirations to play past week-9 and further. 

Led by Milton Braasch, and a great Senior class-led program, the expectations remain high each and every week. Look for the Lancers to enjoy a great first three weeks of play with the SM Northwest Cougars, Olathe South Falcons, and Rockhurst Hawklets (@ SM North, for the first time since 1981). Sunflower League play will be a strong factor as they face the Olathe North Eagles immediately following the Hawklets in week-4.  

3SM West Vikings

Under 15th year Head Coach Tim Callaghan, the Vikings, similar to the Lancers and Firebirds knocking on the door to the top-spot in League play. The Vikings are certainly capable of finishing well above .500. In 2016, Tim Callaghan achieved his 100th win with the Vikings, as he looks to build on the SM West Football lore throughout the '17 season. 

The Vikings best play will come against their Sunflower foes when they are at their best. With games against the Firebirds, Chesty Lions, and Lancers, all three is where you will see the Vikings game planning, and knowledge on the field pay off. With experienced student-athletes all over the field, this is a huge benefit to a historically strong program. 

4Olathe South Falcons

The Falcons, the by second year Head Coach Craig Lewis, will look to continue their strides made from the 2016 season. With two big wins against intra-district rivals the Olathe East Hawks. 

With the Falcons also finding themselves with a negative record in 2016, the standard of play will once again be raised to start off strong, and make some noise in the first couple weeks of play. The Falcons face a tough week-1 test against the SM East Lancers. 

Week-2 SFL Suburban League Watch

Week-2 of the Missouri Football season is well underway and in the days ahead, 11 of the 12 Sunflower week-3(5) opponents will be playing except Lansing.

Below are the gridiron match ups of the 11 opponents our Sunflower League will play in week-3(5).

I apologize in advance for not having a whole lot of game information for these opponents in their current season.

Best of luck to all this Friday night!

* Rockhurst (0-1) vs. *Blue Springs South (0-1)
The Hawklets lead the series in dramatic fashion as this is always a great game, and often times televised. Rockhurst leads the series 16-5 all-time, and is 8-2 overall in their last 10 games vs. the Jaguars.

* Lees Summit North (0-1) vs. Ray-Pec (non-SFL opponent)

* Park Hill (1-0) vs. *Lees Summit (0-1)

* Blue Springs (1-0) vs. *Lees Summit West (1-0)

* Liberty (1-0) vs. Belton (non-SFL opponent)

* Grandview (0-1) vs. Park Hill South (non-SFL opponent)

* Winnetonka (0-1) vs. Smithville (non-SFL opponent)
Winnetonka will meet Smithville for their second ever meeting. The 2016 result ended in a 42-14 loss on the road.

* North KC (0-1) vs. Staley (non-SFL opponent)    
In a lopsided match up, the Staley Falcons lead the all-time series 5-0, with the Hornets having never defeated the school since it has opened.

* SFL Opponent

SFL - Where Do They Stand #2

Here is the second list of four High Schools, ranked #5 to #8 of #12 as we slowly make our way closer to our first week of games. 

For those keeping track, the combined record of the week-3 opponents is: 4-7 with the Lansing Lions remaining inactive until their week-1 game vs. Leavenworth. 

5Lawrence Chesty Lions

The Chesty Lions of Lawrence will hit the gridiron for one final time under retiring alumni, and Football Head Coach Dirk Wedd after 19 seasons of play. 

For the last handful of seasons the Lions will start play on the road. There is a great chance within the first couple games, the Lions will be able to get their Head Coach his 100th career win, and join Bill Freeman, Al Woolard, and Dick Purdy, in a great cast' of legendary Football coaches in the programs history. 

 6Olathe North Eagles

In an unprecedented feat of history, all within the Olathe #233, the Olathe 4 Football programs all concluded the 2016 at 3-6, 3-6, 3-6, and 4-6 totalling a 13-24 record. To date, this has never been achieved by either the SMSD, or BV-SD all within Johnson County major three school districts. 

It is evident within the Olathe North Eagles history that Chris McCartney, and his student-athletes are ready to reverse fortunes after a disappointing week-9 loss to the SM North Indians and eliminated from further post-season play. Motivation will be a key factor, as they play two non-conference teams within the first three weeks of play hosting the Wichita Heights Falcons, and a huge road game against the Blue Springs South Jaguars. 

7Olathe East Hawks

3rd year Head Coach Jesse Owen is looking for his Hawks to get off on a fast start, yet take it one week at a time. 

With a huge road game in week-1 vs. the Hutchinson SaltHawks, it will take a lot of work to come away with a road win. In two prior meetings the SaltHawks are 2-0 vs. the Hawks. With a great schedule ahead of them, the Hawks show promising improvements with a 6-12 record in the past two years. Will the Olathe South Falcons be a thorn in the side of the Hawks again in 2017? TBD come week-4.

8SM Northwest Cougars

The SM Northwest Cougars, under 3rd year Head Coach Bo Black face a tough task early on with both Lawrence, and SM East at home the first two weeks. 

Can the Cougars reverse these trends of recent losing seasons? 2010 was their last winning season and look to get back to that way in the seasons ahead to close out this decade of play. Bo Black has the boys going in the right direction and are looking to see much improvement since his taking over in 2015. 

SFL - Where Do They Stand #3

9. Olathe Northwest Ravens

The Olathe Northwest Ravens, under fifth year Head Coach Chip Sherman, will have a daunting task of taking on the Goddard Lions at CBAC for week-1. The Lions are coming off a wild second place finish to the Mill Valley Jaguars in the 5A State Final just a year ago in a one point-overtime loss. 

With the tough road ahead, the Raven's could do some damage with the transfer of Seth Zegunis (formerly of BV Northwest) could make in impact in the Raven's lineup. While play has yet to be seen come a test against the Goddard Lions, the Raven's could like to add more wins from their 3-6 2016 season. Chip Sherman is 10-8 vs. all 2017 opponents. 

10. SM North Indians

In a historic 2016 run, the SM North Indians led by fourth year Head Coach Ben Bartlett are spiked for another similar scenario. That said, it will take a lot of work for the Indians to achieve with the loss of SR QB Will Schneider and multiple other weapons he had on his offense propelling the Indians to two playoff wins. 

With two home games to start of the season, the Indians will have a great chance to finish 4-4 prior to their week-9 game. Seeding of course will depend, as did 2016 how the Indians will do in 2017.

11. Leavenworth Pioneers

The Leavenworth Pioneers are entering their final season of play in the Sunflower League after 37 years of play. Prior to the 1981 season, the Pioneers spent an eternity in the Centennial League. 

Mark Littrell's talent pool is strong no doubt, but will continue to face it's Sunflower struggles despite their 2015 success. Week-1 will provide a great kickoff to the Pioneers' season with local foe and rival the Lansing Lions. Look for the Pioneers to even the series at 2-2 with this being their fourth-ever meeting between the schools. 

12. SM South Raiders

The Raiders of SM South are in some uncharted territory after last seasons first ever winless season in school history. 

3rd year Head Coach Brett Oberzan is looking to turn around a program that is facing a possible 17th straight losing season in program history. With last season's choices made by a Senior class that were some unfortunate decisions, their are many student-athlete's who are looking to reverse that identity, and return Raiders Football to greatness of years past. 

SFL 2017 is upon us all

Long time no see to our loyal followers/readers alike amongst the Sunflower Faithful! 

With a new season upon us, the Sunflower League will once again, remain strong, and contend heavily against our local foes in the EKL. 

Although the off-season did not consist of Coaching changes, their will be a few tidbits of change entering the 2018 season. 

2017 will however be the final season of the Leavenworth Football Pioneers after 37 years of service to the League across all Fall, Winter, and Spring athletics. However, do not count them out totally, come entering the 5A-East post-season bracket. There will always be a chance of them running in to a local Johnson County foe sometime during week-9 or later depending on their future playoff scenarios. 

This year will also consist of a Junior Varsity Olathe West Owls Football program. While the High School does not have any Seniors enlisted on the first ever roster, this will become a great project for first year Head Coach TJ O'Neil, formerly of the Mill Valley Jaguars. The Jaguars have a strong, and experienced Coaching staff capable of game planning against any future #SFL foe, and post-season opponent come 2018 and beyond. 

The Lawrence Chesty Lions will look to field a strong season under retiring Head Coach Dirk Wedd, who is in his 19th and final year of the Chesty Lions. With 99 wins under his belt, he will look to reach 100 overall and beyond prior to retirement. Although the school year is yet to begin "officially" by KSHSAA standards on the calendar, there will be a very high interest in this position as it will open up. Interest will reach not only state wide in Kansas, yet also within the Kansas City area of the great Coaching staffs around the metro area.