Varsity Kansas - The Blog

As I said on an earlier post, I can’t believe how the fall season has sped past. We’ve already finished two sports in girls tennis and girls golf. Volleyball and cross country finish up this weekend, and soccer is on its way out. Shoot, take a look at next week with soccer quarterfinals and the beginning of football playoffs. And don’t even remind me that basketball practice starts in about three weeks.

But here’s my attempt at wading through all the stuff to point out what shouldn’t be missed this week. If I do miss something, comment on the blog. That’s what it’s there for.

Let’s start in soccer: Regional pairings, which can be found here in breaking sports, are out. The second round games on Thursday and Friday are the most interesting, although Northwest and Maize on Tuesday looks like a good game. That winner will play at Southeast on Thursday. Which second round game is one you want to see? I’d choose Southeast vs. Northwest or Maize and a likely matchup with Trinity and Andover Central.

Onto volleyball: In Class 6A, Goddard is the area’s lone shot at winning a title. So good luck to those Lions. In 5A, Valley Center has an extremely tough draw. Not only are the Hornets (22-14) the No. 8 seed, but they are in the same pool as the state’s top two ranked teams — Bishop Miege (38-1) and St. Thomas Aquinas (35-2). Only the top two teams come out of pool play. Now, Newton (38-2) has a chance. This is a very talented, experienced team and the Railers should definitely make it to the semifinals. The only problem? They likely will face either Miege or Aquinas in the semis.

Cross country: There’s nothing like the state cross country meets — everyone pray for dry weather. Bishop Carroll is definitely a favorite on the boys side in 5A, while Mulvane is the fave in 4A.

And now for football: This week is always interesting because it’s the final week of districts, there are games on Thursday night, as well, and there are plenty of teams desperately trying to make it to the playoffs. Of course, there are some meaningless games — two teams that are 0-2 in districts (i.e. East and South). And even those games that match up two 2-0 teams — it just doesn’t have the same climax that it did before because both will advance. Sure, to win is important in seeding, but there’s certainly not as much desperation.

Thursday’s games:

East at South. Yes, this is a meaningless game. Arthur Brown may not play in this game, either, because of an ankle sprain (which kept him out of last week’s game, too.) I guess it will be interesting to see how many yards Bryce Brown can rack up for the Aces. He’s currently at 1,647. He needs 126 yards to tie his City League rushing record from last year (1,773 yards).

Andover at Andover Central. An Andover win puts the Trojans in the playoffs. Andover Central’s already in. Augusta at Rose Hill. This game is important for Augusta, which still has a chance. Andover has 3 points, while Augusta has minus-12. Augusta needs help from Andover Central and needs to win big. It won’t be easy, though.

Independent at Collegiate. Both need a win to advance. Collegiate definitely needs to play well after its debacle at Garden Plain last week.

Mulvane at Belle Plaine. Mulvane’s in and will end Belle Plaine’s chances (it needs a win to advance) because the Wildcats finish the regular season 9-0.

Here’s a look at Friday’s games:

Liberal at Carroll. Both are in. Carroll wins.

Manhattan at Heights. Heights needs a win to get in and needs Junction City to beat Emporia. Count on both happening. But if Emporia upsets Junction, it comes down to points.

Southeast at Derby. There was a time when this game meant a trip to the playoffs (before the current system when half the state’s team advance). Now both are in.

Maize at Northwest. District championship is on the line. Both are in. Yawn. But there should be some excitement — can Northwest’s defense stop Maize quarterback Garrett Gould and receiver Brett Soft? It’s an interesting matchup.

Dodge City at Goddard. Goddard must have a win here, but Hutch plays Garden City, which is also 1-1 in district. So Goddard not only gets some help from Hutch, it has all tiebreakers with Garden City.

Kapaun at Newton. District championship on the line. Nothing else.

Hays at McPherson. Mac’s in and has all the momentum after beating Great Bend last week.

Smith Center. Expect yet another shutout. Wait a second, Smith Center doesn’t even play this week. Still.

Alright, so you’ve made it this far in this loooong post, disagree with me, think I’m the smartest sportswriter ever? Let’s hear what you have to say.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 at 10:48 a.m. and is filed under Cross Country, Football, Playoffs, Soccer, Volleyball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.