NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS WEEK 7 PICK SIX
BASEHOR-LINWOOD (6-0) AT SEAMAN (5-1)
Both teams can clinch no worse than a share of the United Kansas Conference championship with a win in Friday’s showdown at Seaman. The Bobcats and Vikings are the lone unbeatens left in the league, each sitting 5-0 in league play. Basehor will close with Lansing and Seaman finishes with De Soto, with the Wildcats sitting a game back and needing a Seaman win this week to keep their hopes of sharing the league title alive.
Basehor is coming off its best offensive performance of the season, one that ranked as one of the best in school history. In a 44-6 romp past Tonganoxie, the Bobcats put up 527 yards of total offense, a total that ranks as the sixth-best single-game showing in program history. Quarterback Carson Dixon had the fourth-best passing game in program history, throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns with Nash Morrison on the other end of two of those scoring passes and finishing with 138 yards on 7 catches.
Dixon has now thrown for 1,131 yards and 15 touchdowns this season with Morrison (300 yards, 5 TDs) and Austin Adair (280 yards, 6 TDs) his top targets. Nick Doering has run for half of the Bobcats’ 1,073 yards on the ground with 529 yards and 9 TDs.
Seaman is also coming off a prolific offensive performance in its 59-34 win over rival Shawnee Heights. The Vikings racked up 616 yards of total offense in the win, including a whopping 406 yards on the ground. Kaden McKinney ran for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns and Max Huston added 168 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Huston also threw for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns, putting him at 1,365 yards and 17 touchdowns passing this year. McKinney has run for 574 yards and 10 touchdowns while Huston and Samson Tootle have combined for another 493 yards and 6 scores. Bryer Finley leads the receiving corps with 879 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Basehor has won the only two meetings between the programs, those coming in the last two seasons. The Bobcats pulled out a 27-24 win last year after winning 47-32 in 2022.
GIRARD (4-2) AT PRAIRIE VIEW (4-2)
Girard can clinch the Class 3A District 2 title with a win while Prairie View would still need a win over Iola in the finale to wrap the crown up. Both teams enter 2-0 in district play.
In last week’s 51-14 win over Anderson County, junior Parker Schwarz became the Buffaloes’ all-time leading rusher and the first in program history to go over 4,000 yards in his career. Schwarz rumbled for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Bulldogs, giving him 1,355 yards and 17 touchdowns this season and 4,033 yards and 54 touchdowns in his career.
Josh Goodwin has complemented Schwarz with 513 yards and 9 touchdowns and as a team, the Buffaloes are averaging 399.5 yards per game on the ground with 2,397 yards and 32 touchdowns.
Both of Girard’s losses were by a touchdown, a 21-14 loss to St. Mary’s Colgan in the opener and a 15-8 loss to Class 3A No. 4 Frontenac in Week 4. The Trojans squeaked past Iola 28-23 in Week 5 before rolling past Burlington 42-7 last week.
Prairie View won last year’s meeting 21-0, ending Girard’s two-year winning streak in the series. The two teams have played five times in the last six years with Prairie View holding a 3-2 advantage.
BELOIT (4-2) AT ELLSWORTH (5-1)
Ellsworth saw its undefeated season come to a somewhat surprising end a week ago as Halstead pulled off a 31-13 upset after going into the game with just one win. The Dragons held Ellsworth scoreless in the second half.
Bearcat back Landin Johnson ran for 190 yards in the game, but didn’t find the end zone for the first time this season. The senior back has enjoyed a huge breakout season as a senior, rushing for 1,236 yards and 14 touchdowns after going into the season with a total of 521 yards through his first three seasons.
Johnson has accounted for 61.8% of Ellsworth’s offensive production this season.
Beloit’s only two losses have come to the No. 1 and 2 teams in the KSHSAA Covered Class 2A rankings, falling to No. 2 Southeast of Saline 32-6 in Week 3 and 14-7 to No. 1 Norton in Week 5. The Trojans bounced back last week to beat Minneapolis.
Beloit has a marquee feature back of its own in Joel Rexroat, who has rushed for 884 yards and 9 touchdowns. But he’s got weapons to go around him with quarterback Jackson Weston throwing for 623 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Ellsworth has won the last two meetings with Beloit, each coming in the past two season openers.
OSAGE CITY (6-0) AT SILVER LAKE (5-1)
For the second straight Class 2A District 3 game, Osage City had to play from behind and for the second straight week, the Indians were able to rally and pull out the victory to keep their undefeated season going.
After scoring on the last play of the game to win a Week 5 showdown with Flint Hills League rival Council Grove 26-20, the Indians found themselves down 16-7 to St. Marys last week. But Osage City pitched a second-half shutout and got an 89-yard touchdown run from Kasen Parsons and 15-yard touchdown run from Dylan Theel in the fourth quarter to take a 24-16 victory over the Bears.
Parsons ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 135 yards in the win. This season, Parsons has thrown for 763 yards and 9 touchdowns and run for 517 yards and 10 TDs. Theel has added 406 yards and 7 scores on the ground and Quenten Stark has 19 catches for 334 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Silver Lake also is undefeated in district play, suffering its lone loss to Nemaha Central in Week 2. The Eagles jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Riley County in the first half and cruised to a 28-6 victory.
Dysen Schooler threw for 124 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 1,393 yards and 14 TDs passing this year. Dayne Johnson has 632 yards and 6 touchdowns receiving and Brody Deiter and Logan Cathcart each have three TD receptions.
Osage City and Silver Lake haven’t faced each other since 2019 with the Eagles cruising to a 57-0 win in that meeting. The Indians haven’t beaten their former Mid-East League rival since taking a 19-6 win in 1993 with Silver Lake having won the last 18 meetings.
OLPE (5-1) AT ROSSVILLE (3-3)
After suffering a season-opening loss to Class 2A unbeaten Osage City, Olpe has reeled off five straight wins. Rossville, meanwhile, dropped its first three games – all to Class 2A Big East League rivals including No. 3 Nemaha Central and No. 4 Silver Lake – but has won three straight.
Olpe is coming off a 34-14 win over Mission Valley in which Eli Markowitz ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns and Abbott Bailey added a pair of rushing touchdowns. Dexton Hoelting accounted for 197 yards from scrimmage, rushing and passing for over 80 yards.
Hoelting has thrown for 487 yards and 2 touchdowns and run for another 358 yards and 5 TDs this season. Markowitz has added 490 yards and 8 TDs on the ground.
Rossville’s three losses came by a combined 15 points with the loss to Silver Lake in overtime after the Eagles kicked a game-tying field goal on the final play of regulation. Since moving into Class 1A district play, the Bulldawgs have outscored two opponents 114-24 with the other win coming via a forfeit from Maranatha.
Tayson Horak has carried the Rossville offense, rushing for 558 yards and 6 touchdowns and throwing for 608 yards and 7 touchdowns. Conner Bush has added 345 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground.
Olpe and Rossville haven’t played each other since 1976 when the Eagles took a 57-16 win on its way to a 12-1 season. The Bulldawgs won a 1975 meeting 28-20 while Olpe won the 1974 game 28-0.
This year’s winner will claim the Class 1A District 2 title.
CENTRAL PLAINS (5-1) AT LITTLE RIVER (5-1)
Rolling past its first five opponents of the season with the closest game a 22-point win over Chase County in the opener, Little River was upset last week, falling 38-36 to Ell-Saline.
After taking an early 8-0 lead, the Redskins fell down 22-8 in the second quarter and were down 30-16 in the third before battling back to tie the game 30-30 early in the fourth quarter. Ell-Saline reclaimed the lead on a 2-yard run by Reese Krone and got the two-point conversion and then stopped Little River’s game-tying two-point conversion after a late touchdown pass pulled the Redskins within two.
Logan Renken and Jaren Garrison have been a strong 1-2 punch in the Little River backfield with Garrison rushing for 508 yards and 7 touchdowns and Renken right behind with 503 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a team, the Redskins have run for 1,320 yards and 27 touchdowns and Renken has added 277 yards and 7 touchdowns through the air.
Central Plains’ only loss came to Eight-Player Division II No. 2 Victoria in Week 2, a 62-12 blowout loss. In the Oilers’ five wins, they’ve been on the other side of the blowout, outscoring those foes 252-6.
The two programs have split their last two meetings with Little River winning 48-0 in 2019 and Central Plains taking a 46-0 win in 2018.