High school football: Sunflower League rankings Week 9

Here are the Sunflower League football rankings after Week 8, including league record, overall record, last week’s result, this week’s opponent and a comment. All Sunflower teams are set to begin Class 6A and Class 5A playoffs this week.

1. Shawnee Mission East (6-0, 7-1)

Beat Shawnee Mission West, 54-0; Thursday vs. Shawnee Mission Northwest

SM East’s blowout win over district rival SM West was the cherry on top of a perfect Sunflower League season.

2. Lawrence Free State (6-0, 6-2)

Beat Lawrence, 42-7; Friday vs. Wichita South

A perfect finish in the Sunflower League still didn’t give Free State the best positioning for the playoffs: They’ll head into the west side of the bracket as only a sixth-seed.

3. Lawrence (4-2, 5-3)

Lost to Lawrence Free State, 42-7; Friday vs. Blue Valley West

Lawrence started the season hot, but has lost by a combined 57 points in the past two weeks.

4. Shawnee Mission West (4-2, 5-3)

Lost to Shawnee Mission East, 54-0; Friday vs. Wyandotte

A shutout loss to SM East was not the best way for West to gain any momentum heading into the Class 6A playoffs.

5. Shawnee Mission North (3-3, 4-4)

Lost to Olathe South, 70-40; Friday vs. Olathe North

SM North has held steady at a .500 record, but has allowed 70 points or more twice this season.

6. Olathe North (3-3, 3-5)

Beat Shawnee Mission Northwest, 40-28; Friday at Shawnee Mission North

Olathe North, with an 11-seed in the Class 6A playoffs, will take on a Sunflower League opponent it didn’t get to in the regular season, Shawnee Mission North.

7. Olathe South (3-3, 3-5)

Beat Shawnee Mission North, 70-40; Friday at Olathe East

Olathe South’s postseason will begin against a familiar opponent: Olathe East, which South beat 28-21 in September.

8. Olathe Northwest (3-3, 3-5)

Beat Shawnee Mission South, 34-0; Friday vs. Gardner Edgerton

Joe Hatzfeld collected a couple of touchdown passes from Easton Crupper, and Olathe Northwest used a 27-0 halftime advantage to cruise over Shawnee Mission South.

9. Olathe East (3-3, 3-5)

Beat Leavenworth, 59-26; Friday vs. Olathe South

Last week’s win over Leavenworth was Olathe East’s second 33-point victory of the year.

10. Leavenworth (1-6, 1-7)

Lost to Olathe East, 59-26; Friday at St. Thomas Aquinas

A one-win regular season for Leavenworth ended in a 14-seed for this week’s Class 5A playoffs.

11. Shawnee Mission Northwest (1-5, 1-7)

Lost to Olathe North, 40-28; Thursday at Shawnee Mission East

SM Northwest has scored 38 and 28 points in the last two weeks, but neither performance was enough for a win in the final weeks of the regular season.

12. Shawnee Mission South (0-6, 0-8)

Lost to Olathe Northwest, 34-0; Friday at Blue Valley

A winless season for SM South gave the Raiders the bottom seed in the eastern half of the Class 6A playoffs, with a matchup against perfect Blue Valley coming.

Other teams

While all Sunflower League teams are set to begin the playoffs this week, the following teams (Class 4A-I and below) will head into the final week of the regular season.

1. De Soto (4-1, 6-2)

Lost to Bishop Miege, 50-0; Friday at Eudora

Solid offensive performances over the past month ground to a halt for De Soto, which couldn’t score a point against Bishop Miege last week.

2. Spring Hill (5-1, 5-3)

Beat Eudora, 27-12; Friday at Bishop Miege

Letellier Jacob ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in last week’s win; Spring Hill’s offense will likely have to do more than that this week, a date with Bishop Miege on the horizon.

3. Maranatha/Immaculata (0-6, 0-8)

Lost to Maur Hill, 64-22; Thursday vs. Pleasant Ridge

The combined Maranatha/Immaculata team will head into the final week of the season hoping for its third win (and its first league victory).

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 2:17 PM with the headline "High school football: Sunflower League rankings Week 9."