Johnson County week three football previews
•Blue Valley Northwest, 0-2, at Salina South, 1-1, 7 p.m. Friday.
Both teams are coming off tough losses. The Huskies fell to Blue Valley by double digits in their first East Kansas League game, while Salina South was blown out 44-7 by a riled-up Hutchinson team that was coming off its first loss in years. New Salina South coach Chip Sherman used to be the coach at Platte County High School, so he’s no stranger to success. Once again, BV Northwest will need to play well to win.
•Blue Valley West, 2-0, at Bishop Miege, 1-1, 7 p.m. Friday.
The Jaguars haven’t lost in over a year, and although their offense is inexperienced (11 new starters), their veteran defense has carried them to wins over Mill Valley and Goddard. Bishop Miege has only three days to prepare for this game after Monday’s 46-21 loss to Aquinas, which got a bit out of hand at the end. Look for Bishop Miege to try to clean up their play offensively, especially turnovers.
•Gardner Edgerton, 2-0, at Paola, 1-1, 7 p.m. Friday.
The Trailblazers have been dominant so far this season. In wins against De Soto and Baldwin, the Trailblazers outscored their opponents 86-7. Paola, which fell to Baldwin 21-7 in week one, will have its work cut out for it if it wants to stop Gardner’s offense, which gained 547 yards last week.
•Iowa School for the Deaf at KSD, 1-1, 2 p.m. Saturday.
KSD got its season off to a great start with a 66-14 win over Bishop Seabury, only to fall to Minnesota School for the Deaf 40-12 in week two. Now the Jackrabbits will try to rebound.
•Lawrence Free State (1-1) at Shawnee Mission Northwest (1-1), 7 p.m. Friday at SM North District Stadium.
The Cougars showed last week they aren’t a finished product, losing 28-0 to Olathe East. But coach Aaron Barnett thinks the team’s flaws are correctable. This should be another tough test for SM Northwest, which needs to get its running game rolling after being thoroughly contained on Saturday. The Cougars will also need to slow down Free State’s Chucky Hunter, who is averaging 6.9 yards per carry.
•Louisburg, 2-0, at De Soto, 0-2, 7 p.m. Friday.
De Soto is still searching for its first win of the season after a 36-33 loss to Eudora. If De Soto wants to beat Louisburg, it will need to shore up its run defense. Eudora gained over 300 rushing yards last week.
•Maranatha, 0-2, at Sherwood, 0-3, 7 p.m. Friday.
One team will pick up its first win of the season in this Crossroads Conference match-up. Maranatha, which is coming of a 40-6 loss to Lone Jack, allowed five rushing touchdowns to the Mules last week.
•Mill Valley, 1-1, at Basehor-Linwood, 1-1, 7 p.m. Friday.
After being shut out by BV West in the season opener, Mill Valley managed to get star running back Nicholas Woods involved in a 21-6 win over Piper last week. Woods carried the ball 28 times for 138 yards and a touchdown. Look for the Jaguars to continue feeding him the ball against the Bobcats, who dropped a 35-14 decision to Bonner Springs on Monday.
•Olathe Northwest (0-2) at Olathe North (1-1), 7 p.m. Friday at ODAC.
These teams are coming off very different week two outcomes. The Ravens were shut out 14-0 by Shawnee Mission North, while the Eagles emphatically entered the win column with a 60-7 win at Leavenworth. After a quiet season-opening effort, Olathe North tailback James Franklin bounced back last week. His 7.8 yards per carry ties him for the top spot in the Sunflower League.
Next page >
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.