The final week of the 2022 regular season was hardly an uneventful one.
In fact, the upset bug still had plenty of teeth going into the postseason.
Fresh off knocking off Class 5A No. 1 Mill Valley last week, Olathe North saw the tables turned. The Eagles built an early deficit against Free State -- just as they had against Mill Valley last week – but this time couldn’t recover.
Free State jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and fought off North’s comeback bid, knocking the Eagles from the undefeated ranks with a 31-19 victory – the Firebirds’ fourth straight win after a 1-3 start.
North was one of three ranked 6A teams going down in Week 8. No. 4 Wichita Northwest traveled to No. 1 Manhattan and was tied 14-14 early with the Indians. But Keenan Schartz ran for four touchdowns and the Indians posted their first undefeated regular season since 2016 with a convincing 56-28 win.
No. 5 Gardner-Edgerton also went down, seeing Olathe South score and convert a game-winning two-point conversion in the final seconds of a 37-36 Falcon win.
North drops from No. 2 to No. 3 behind Derby, which rallied from a halftime deficit to blow past Newton. Northwest held at No. 4, while Olathe South replaced Gardner-Edgerton at No. 5.
There’s a new No. 1 in Class 4A after Bishop Miege lost 28-21 to Blue Valley Northwest. The Stags got down 21-0 but rallied to tie before Northwest got a game-winning touchdown from Grant Stubblefield late.
The Stags flip-flop with St. Thomas Aquinas, which moves up to the No. 1 spot. Eastern Kansas League rival St. James Academy falls out of the rankings after its 25-20 loss to winless Blue Valley North with Louisburg moving in after a last-second 20-17 win over Spring Hill.
Class 3A also saw two of the top 5 go down, but both fell to higher-ranked teams in 2A. No. 4 Ellsworth suffered its first loss of the year, dropping a 46-7 decision to No. 2 Southeast of Saline. The Bearcats trailed 46-0 at halftime.
No. 5 Sabetha led No. 1 Nemaha Central 7-0 at halftime before the Thunder stormed back in the second half for a 24-7 victory.
Sabetha stays at No. 4 while Ellsworth is replaced at No. 4 by Silver Lake.
In Eight-Player Division I, No. 3 Burlingame took its first loss as Lyndon scored a touchdown with 9 seconds left and got the two-point conversion for the wild 60-59 victory. The Bearcats drop to No. 5 with Meade and South Sumner each moving up one spot.
The rankings in Class 5A, 3A, 1A, Eight-Player Division II and Six-Player did not change.
KSHSAA COVERED’S WEEK 8 RANKINGS
CLASS 6A
Team … Record
- Manhattan (1) … 8-0
- Derby (3) … 6-2
- Olathe North (2) … 7-1
- Wichita Northwest (4) … 6-2
- Olathe South (NR) … 6-2
Others – Blue Valley Northwest 5-3, Free State 5-3, Garden City 6-2, Gardner-Edgerton 5-3, Junction City 6-2, Lawrence 5-3, Olathe West 6-2, Washburn Rural 6-2, Wichita East 5-3.
CLASS 5A
Team … Record
- Maize (1) … 8-0
- Mill Valley (2) … 7-1
- Hays (3) … 7-1
- Bishop Carroll (4) … 5-2
- De Soto (5) … 7-1
Others – Goddard 5-3, Great Bend 6-2, Highland Park 6-2, Hutchinson 6-2, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 4-4, KC Sumner 6-2, Salina Central 6-2, Valley Center 6-2.
CLASS 4A
Team … Record
- St. Thomas Aquinas (2) … 6-2
- Bishop Miege (1) … 6-2
- Chanute (3) … 8-0
- Wamego (5) … 8-0
- Louisburg (NR) … 7-1
Others – Andover Central 5-3, Atchison 8-0, Basehor-Linwood 6-2, Circle 6-2, Coffeyville 5-3, Eudora 7-1, KC Piper 5-3, McPherson 7-1, St. James Academy 4-4, Wellington 5-3.
CLASS 3A
Team … Record
- Andale (1) … 8-0
- Holton (2) … 7-1
- Wichita Collegiate (3) … 7-1
- Hayden (4) … 7-1
- Girard (5) … 8-0
Others – Bishop Ward 6-2, Cheney 6-2, Frontenac 5-3, Galena 6-2, Hesston 5-3, Holcomb 7-1, Hugoton 6-2, Pratt 6-2, Rock Creek 7-1, Scott City 7-1, Wellsville 8-0.
CLASS 2A
Team … Record
- Nemaha Central (1) … 8-0
- Southeast of Saline (2) … 8-0
- Kingman (3) … 8-0
- Silver Lake (NR) … 6-2
- Sabetha (5) … 6-2
Others – Atchison County 6-2, Beloit 6-2, Caney Valley 6-2, Chaparral 6-1, Council Grove 6-2, Ellsworth 7-1, Hoisington 6-2, Humboldt 6-2, Lakin 6-2, Norton 5-3, Osage City 7-1, Russell 5-3.
CLASS 1A
Team … Record
- Centralia (1) … 8-0
- Olpe (2) … 6-2
- Troy (3) … 7-1
- Inman (4) … 7-1
- Wabaunsee (5) … 7-1
Others – Conway Springs 5-3, Hutchinson Trinity 6-2, Jayhawk-Linn 7-1, Pittsburg Colgan 7-1, Pleasanton 6-2, Smith Center 6-2, St. Marys 6-2.
EIGHT-PLAYER DIVISION I
Team … Record
- Leoti-Wichita County (1) … 8-0
- Little River (2) … 7-1
- Meade (4) … 7-1
- South Sumner (5) … 8-0
- Burlingame (3) … 7-1
Others – Atwood-Rawlins County 6-2, Chase County 7-1, Clifton-Clyde 7-1, Ell-Saline 6-2, Hill City 7-1, Hoxie 6-2, Lyndon 6-2, Macksville 8-0, Oswego 6-2, West Elk 8-0, Wichita Independent 7-1.
EIGHT-PLAYER DIVISION II
Team … Record
- Axtell (1) … 8-0
- Canton-Galva (2) … 8-0
- Thunder Ridge (3) … 7-1
- Dighton (4) … 8-0
- Victoria (5) … 8-0
Others – Beloit-St. John’s 6-2, Colony-Crest 6-2, Lebo 6-2, Minneola 7-1, Osborne 7-1, Sharon Springs-Wallace County 5-3, South Barber 6-2, Stafford 8-0, Sylvan-Lucas 6-2.
SIX-PLAYER
Team … Record
- Cunningham (1) … 8-0
- Ashland (2) … 6-1
- Waverly (3) … 8-0
- Cheylin (4) … 7-1
- Tescott (5) … 7-1
Others – Burrton 5-3, Deerfield 4-3, Ingalls 5-2, Northern Valley 6-2, Peabody 5-3, Wetmore 6-2.