No. 5 in 6A Lawrence Free State (3-1) at Olathe South (2-2)
This will be the first matchup between the two teams since 2021, when Free State earned a 33-14 victory. The Firebirds have dominated the series as of late as they haven’t lost to Olathe South since the 2012 season, but it will be an important game, not only in the Sunflower League, but for seeding in the Class 6A playoffs, which is currently wide open at the moment.
Olathe South is coming off a tough loss to Shawnee Mission East in what was a high-scoring 49-35 defeat. The Falcons are led by quarterback Gage Lee who has thrown for 428 yards and three touchdowns on the year, but has also been able to hurt teams with his legs. He leads the Falcons with 459 yards rushing to go along with five scores. Running back Juelyus Wyatt has 416 yards on the ground and four touchdowns. The Falcons have wins over Shawnee Mission West and Olathe East, along with losses to Shawnee Mission East and state-ranked Great Bend.
Free State, outside of a tough loss to state-ranked Manhattan in week two, has found itself on the winning side of things. After a close win over defending state champ Gardner-Edgerton in week one, the Firebirds have cruised to victories over Shawnee Mission West (49-27) and Olathe East (35-27). They have done it with a two-headed rushing attack of running back Maddon Brittingham and quarterback Finn Moore. The two combined have rushed for nearly 1,000 yards in four games and have 13 touchdowns between the two behind a strong offensive line led by tackle Braden Wilmes.
Gardner-Edgerton (3-1) at Olathe West (3-1)
Gardner-Edgerton and Olathe West haven’t met many times, but the Trailblazers have dominated the Owls in that short time span. Gardner-Edgerton leads the series 5-0 and defeated Olathe West 49-26 a year ago en route to its second straight state championship. The Owls will try and get their first win over the Trailblazers on Thursday as the two teams try to stay atop the Class 6A standings.
Since coming off the close loss to Lawrence Free State in week one, Gardner-Edgerton has bounced right back. The Trailblazers defeated St. Pius X in a cross-state game, then followed it up with wins over Shawnee Mission South and Olathe North in a combined score of 93-14. They have done it with a strong rushing attack led by Syre Padilla. Padilla has rushed for more than 200 yards in each of their wins this season and had a four touchdown performance against Olathe North.
As for the Owls, they bounced back following their lone loss of the season with a 42-24 win over Shawnee Mission North last week. Olathe West had a balanced attack as quarterback Brody Hale threw for 213 yards and three scores, and his favorite target, Sam Krzykowski, had four catches for 154 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Foland also had a big game on the ground for Olathe West as he carried the ball just eight times for 142 yards and a touchdowns.
No. 2 in 4A Bishop Miege (2-2) at No. 1 in 5A St. Thomas Aquinas (4-0)
Bishop Miege and St. Thomas Aquinas has provided some big games in recent seasons and this one is no different as the two state-ranked teams square off Friday at St. Thomas Aquinas. En route to a state championship, Aquinas narrowly defeated Bishop Miege for a 28-24 victory in week five a year ago. It has been a pretty even matchup since 2020, but Aquinas holds a 4-3 edge during that span.
Aquinas, the defending state champion in Class 5A, has had its way with teams through four weeks. The Saints have knocked off Blue Valley West, St. James, Blue Valley, and most recently, earned a 41-14 win over Blue Valley Southwest last week. Running back Cal Arndt has put the team on his back as he has 795 yards rushing through four games to go along with 11 touchdowns as he runs behind a veteran offensive line led by all-state player Stephen Carroll.
As for Miege, the Stags are coming off a 35-0 loss to cross-state rival Rockhurst, which broke a two-game win streak. After a season opening loss to St. James, the Stags reeled off wins over Blue Valley West and Blue Valley Southwest. Quarterback Khi Allen, who has been the starting quarterback since week two due to an injury, led Miege with a pair of touchdown passes against West. He also added three more touchdowns in a win over Southwest.
Shawnee Mission Northwest (2-2) at No. 4 in 5A Mill Valley (3-1)
These two Sunflower League teams haven’t met up much over the years. In fact, they have only played each other twice, in 2022 and 2023, with the Jaguars winning both in what were state championship seasons for Mill Valley. Each team will lean on their rushing quarterbacks to get them started as both teams will look to improve their seeding in their respective classes.
Shawnee Mission Northwest‘s triple option attack has been effective this season under new head coach Kurt Webster, thanks in part to Trai Woodruff. The Cougar quarterback has caused opposing defenses fits and he will look to lead the Cougars as they try and get back in the win column after a tough 31-28 loss to Olathe Northwest, in which it led by 14 points at halftime. In their previous win over Olathe West, Woodruff had more than 200 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.
As for Mill Valley, the Jaguars are led by a running quarterback of their own in Blake Jay. The Mill Valley senior, who made the move to quarterback from wide receiver, has 422 yards rushing on the season with nine touchdowns. In last week’s game, however, the Jaguars leaned on junior Max Piva in their 42-21 win over Lawrence. Piva had 237 yards rushing with three touchdowns as he ran behind a strong Mill Valley line, led by K-State commit Lamarcus Barber. Mill Valley has just one loss on the season, which was a game across state lines against Lee’s Summit North.
Atchison (3-1) at KC-Washington (4-0)
The Meadowlark Conference championshp could be on the line Friday as Atchison will make the trip to KC-Washington. Atchison is trying for its fifth straight league title and the Phoenix haven’t lost to Washington since the 2019 season. Last year, the Phoenix cruised to a 55-6 win over the Wildcats, but Washington is hoping to take control of the Meadowlark standings as it has won its first four games to start the season.
Washington’s offense has been unstoppable to start 2025 as the Wildcats have scored 49 or more points in all four games this season, which includes 49-26 win over Kansas City-Central last week. It all starts under center with quarterback Savion Stone. The Wildcat quarterback has tallied more than 1,500 total yards and has 21 touchdowns on the young season. His favorite target has been Cam’Ron Fields as the junior receiver has 676 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns. Defensively, the Wildcats are led by sophomore Zayvion Hayslett who already has 12 sacks on the season.
Unlike Washington, Atchison didn’t play in week four due to a forfeit by Schlagle. The Phoenix suffered a tough 49-7 loss to Ottawa to start the season, but have since righted the ship. They earned a 55-0 victory over Harmon in week two and then followed that up with a 55-28 victory over Sumner Academy the following week. Senior Kolten Bonnel leads the Phoenix offense, which included a 2-touchdown performance against Harmon, while senior running back Jack Bilderback also had a pair of scores.
Ottawa (3-1) at Spring Hill (3-1)
Ottawa and Spring Hill have one thing in common as both have suffered losses to Frontier League foe Eudora the last two weeks. They will try and keep pace with Cardinals in the league standings as they square off at Spring Hill on Friday. Last season, Ottawa knocked off Spring Hill, 31-24, but the Broncos still managed to win the league crown.
Ottawa has had to deal with the injury bug for most of the season as the Cyclones lost all-state receiver Nate Sims for the season, while starting running back Julius O’Bryan is also out with an injury. Despite that, the Cyclones have still been able to keep its offense going thanks to quarterback Haydon Hull. The Ottawa senior threw for 275 yards and two scores in last week’s loss at Eudora and still has experienced targets in Aiden McCullough and Jayce Mourning.
Following their loss to Eudora in week three, the Broncos bounced right back last week with a 49-21 win over Piper in a non-league contest. Senior quarterback Jordan Miller had a big game for Spring Hill as he led the team with 148 yards on the ground and 116 threw the air and had four scores. On the season, Miller has 655 total yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior Hank Kotchavar also had 124 yards rushing against Piper, while junior receiver Cameron Wells had two catches for 70 yards and both were touchdowns.