Varsity Kansas - The Blog

Derby junior Joanna McFarland has committed to play basketball for Oklahoma.

Is their any better football Class right now than 4A? Take a look at the remaining eight teams. They’re a combined 82-6. And it includes three unbeaten teams.

That’s what makes the champion out of this class a very worthy champ.

I’m sticking with Andale to win it all, but it’s going to be awfully tough. If the Indians get past Topka Hayden, they’ll face either Mulvane or Ulysses in semifinals. And if it’s Ulysses, this will mark the third straight year the two have met in the semifinals.

6A: I still don’t think anyone will touch Hutchinson.

5A: Blue Valley West may be the team to beat, but it will be interesting watching the western half of the playoffs. Carroll hasn’t been to the title game since 1978, and McPherson has never gone. I think one of them will be playing on Nov. 24.

3A: Garden Plain and Silver Lake have been perfect since they met in last year’s championship. Silver Lake won that one. I think Garden Plain finally wins it all this season. It’s a much tougher road to the 3A title game in the western half.

2-1A: C’mon, it’s gotta be Smith Center. The only real suspense is whether it can go an entire season with shutouts. The Redmen go to Oakley on Friday. I say Smith Center will win, but Oakley might get one end zone celebration.

8-Man I - Hanover hasn’t given up a point, but I think Macksville wins the title.

8-Man II - South Haven has had quite a run, but I think Sharon Springs will be the team to win it all.

I can’t say I’m surprised by many of these games tonight.

Hutchinson took care of Maize 41-13, but at least the Eagles didn’t give up 70-plus. Maize receiver Brett Soft set single-season records in receiving yards and receptions.

Southeast beats Emporia. It’s the Buffaloes’ first playoff win in 24 years. Not bad. Joseph Randle and Trezz Tillman go 197 and 190. Even better.

Derby gets beat by Junction City. Not much of a surprise there, but there’s no doubt that the Panthers made huge strides. Yes, they’re back. They avoided a third-straight losing season, finishing 5-5.

Kapaun got beat by Salina Central. This is a game the Crusaders should have won, but three interceptions, a fumble and giving up more than 300 rushing yards to two backs isn’t good.

Bishop Carroll takes care of Newton. Once again, not a surprise. Carroll, as Duane wrote today, has quietly proven itself to be one of the state’s top teams. And now, a trip to Great Bend, where the Eagles lost last year in the semifinals.

Goddard beat Northwest. It was a dominant performance by the Lions. Northwest had 28 offensive yards in the first half, as Goddard led 19-0. Goddard gave Hutchinson one of its best games of the year, although they wouldn’t meet until the 6A semifinals. Goddard plays host to Junction City next week. A tough matchup.

The other football — Soccer:  Heights lost in the semifinals, but Kapaun is playing for the 5A title. Of course, Kapaun faces St. Thomas Aquinas, which beat undefeated McPherson in the semifinals. Really, who’s surprised by Aquinas winning that game, even with 7 losses? Aquinas is such a strong program, I’d hate to face them at any time.

Onto my embarrassing moment  of the night — One of the things that comes with this job is we don’t cheer for any teams, we don’t show bias (although we do want the team that won the first game in a volleyball match to win the second so it doesn’t go to three games, and that team that breaks a late tie is one we like because overtimes are not our favorite things to deal with. It’s a deadline thing.)

Anyway, I do try to think ahead to what teams I’m covering and not wear either teams’ colors. Why bring that on myself by even having someone think I’m biased toward one or another. Well, tonight I committed a major sin — I wore one team’s colors.

I showed up to the Salina Central-Kapaun game wearing maroon, the Mustangs’ colors. Now, we’re not talking a similar shade. I mean the exact color. Doh! I even had a person on the Kapaun sideline ask me if I was from Salina. Double doh!

Ah well, it didn’t change how I covered the game.

It’s time again for your predictions. Wish I had some gifts to give you guys for the winners, but how about kudos to the ones with the most correct picks? Hey! It’s all I’ve got.

Tonight is Class 6A and 5A football, so here’s a handful for you to debate:

Maize at Hutchinson (If Hutchinson doesn’t win this, I’ll, well, I don’t know what I’d do.)

Junction City at Derby (I think Junction City is irked after losing to Emporia last week and having to travel to Derby. Junction wins.)

Wichita Southeast at Emporia (This is definitely a winnable game for Southeast, but I think Emporia wins.

Salina Central vs. Kapaun at WSU (Hmmm, this is tough. How about Kapaun in a squeaker over Salina Central — but only if Kapaun can stop Central’s running game and Andrew Braxton)

Newton at Carroll (Carroll, no question)

Now for the lone Saturday game in 5A and 6A  — Liberal at McPherson (McPherson wins in a walk.)

OK, I went out on a limb — which I detest doing — you need to, as well.

Pssst. This blog is the place for any questions you might have for Duane or I, or you can send e-mails to duane@varsitykansas.com or joanna@varsitykansas.com.

But here’s one from a reader who went to our Q&A Forum:

“Do you see the city winning a 6 or 5a state football title, if not ,is it due to lack of quality coaching , last years Hieghts team had talent ,this years East team had talent. ” 

I have a hard time looking at your two examples of Heights and East and saying, “The reason this team didn’t win a state title is because of a lack of quality coaching.”

The fact is, Brian Byers, East’s first-year coach, coached collegiately and East had its best record in more than a decade. Heights coach Rick Wheeler has made a longtime pitiful program into a consistent winner.

Here’s what I believe the problems are with why these two programs did not win the 6A titles the past two years — In Heights’ case, the Falcons ran into Hutchinson, a total buzzsaw. I don’t want to hear any disagreement on this because everyone who has seen this team play in the past few years knows just how good it is.

So let’s move on to East. Why blame Byers for East not going to the playoffs? It’s not as though East is a perennial power. This is a program that had so many years of, not mediocrity, but terrible football. Yet what everyone seemed to think this year was that East, with two of the nation’s top players — two, not 12, not 5, two — would win a state title? I wasn’t buying it, neither was Duane. It’s why we didn’t pick East to win the City League.

Carroll didn’t come out of the blue and win, win, win. Carroll had to build a program, Carroll had to have multiple talented players. Heights didn’t suddenly become a 6A contender, it built to that point. Both had to change the culture of losing.

I truly believe that there exists a culture of losing at schools that struggle for years on end. That has to be eradicated.

Was East a good team? Yes. Without a doubt. But it had injuries, it dealt with major scrutiny from fans, media, national media that no other Wichita team has had to deal with, at least in my 12 seasons. Byers handled that with aplomb. Did he always make right decisions? I can’t imagine that he did. Nor do I think any coach does during the course of a season.

Am I giving East excuses for not making the playoffs? You bet. The expectations put on this team by so many people were ridiculous. So East failed at achieving those expectations? Shocking.

 Now, I’m sure you have plenty to say about this — agreeing or disagreeing — would love to hear it.

Check out this story that moved on the Associated Press wire:

AMERICAN FORK, Utah (AP) — A high school football coach accused of critically injuring a pheasant that was released on the field during a game said he had no intention of harming the bird.
Richard Layton, 47, an assistant coach for Viewmont High School, stepped on the bird Friday and was cited for animal cruelty, a misdemeanor. The pheasant, barely breathing after the incident, was subsequently killed, police said.
Layton released a statement Wednesday in which he said that he is “a compassionate person with a respect for animals.”
“After several minutes of unsuccessful attempts by others to catch the bird, it came running toward me on the sideline,” Layton said in the statement. “In an effort to pin down the bird, I tried to stop it with my foot, causing me to lose my balance.”
American Fork Police Chief Lance Call said that after watching a video taken at the game he believes Layton “stomped” on the pheasant.
Two teens from American Fork High who released the bird on the field are accused of animal cruelty and disorderly conduct. Their cases are being handled in Juvenile Court.”

Now, that’s some definite problems for a coach. What would you do in this situation? Seems to me if it needs to be caught, what do you do, dive after it? Maybe trying to stop it with his foot wasn’t the best idea — maybe that should be left for stopping loose paper blowing in the wind in the parking lot. Just my thoughts.

Andover Central’s Bailey Gee is the latest female basketball player from the area to commit to a Division I scholarship — she’s going to Missouri, where Circle’s Bekah Mills is (I heard she tore her ACL. What a rotten way to start a college career.)

The area has already had several Division I commitments — South’s Christine Elliott to SMU, Heights’ Jennifer Lane to Virginia Commonwealth, Southeast’s Jordan Cyphers to Utah and teammate Adonis Gantt to Georgia Southern.

Who will commit next? This doesn’t have to only be Wichita area kids, but what players across the state have Division I scholarships in their sights? Let me know your thoughts.

Talked to Derby’s Joanna McFarland yesterday (she’s got a great first name, doesn’t she? Sadly, she had never heard of Kool and the Gang’s song “Joanna.” I’ve got her looking on itunes, though!)

Anyway, this is another Division I recruit — she’s only a junior — and is currently keeping her options wide open. She’s getting a ton of attention from coaches, which should surprise no one considering her pedigree (sister Jessica played at Kansas State and Jackie is a senior playing at Colorado) and her skill. She can flat-out dominate the inside.

Smith Center made national news when it scored 72 points in the first 8.5 minutes of the first quarter on Tuesday night against Plainville — see Duane’s story here. The Redmen made ESPN’s top plays, at No. 8, with their national record-setting quarter.

It’s truly amazing what the Redmen have done this season. I know some of you think their dominance is simply because of inferior competition, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that they are obviously so talented that their backups are carrying the load.

I have no problem believing that they’ll continue to roll through the playoffs and win the 2-1A title.