NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS WEEK 3 PICK SIX
 
HAYS (2-0) AT MANHATTAN (2-0)
 
Perhaps no team in the state is off to a more impressive start than Hays.
 
After a historic 2024 season in which the Indians played in their first-ever state championship game, finishing runner-up in Class 5A, they’ve carried that success over to two of the biggest wins in program history to start this season.
 
Hays knocked off perennial Class 6A power Derby 22-21 in the season-opener, getting a touchdown and game-winning two-point conversion with five seconds left. The Indians followed it up with arguably an even bigger win last week, breaking in their new home field with a 21-19 win over Choctaw (Okla.), the reigning Class 6A Division II state champion in Oklahoma.
 
Hays built a 21-6 lead before holding off the Yellowjackets with a late defensive stop inside the red zone. Holden Lind has carried the Indian offense, rushing for 344 yards and 4 touchdowns.
 
This week is yet another huge test as Hays travel to Class 6A No. 1 Manhattan, last year’s state runner-up. Manhattan is coming off an impressive 47-7 road win over Free State, which upset preseason 6A No. 1 and two-time defending state champion Gardner Edgerton in its opener.
 
Manhattan shut out the Firebirds over the final three quarters after leading 14-7 at the end of the first period. The Indians outgained Free State 422-126, including a 296-53 edge in rushing yards. Mclain Aslin ran for 112 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Finn Watson added 127 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air.
 
Watson has thrown for 260 yards and 3 TDs this season while Aslin and Kha’Mario Davis each are averaging 100 rushing yards per game with Aslin rushing for 5 TDs.
 
 
SOUTHEAST OF SALINE (2-0) AT BELOIT (1-1)
 
The last time the North Central Activities Association rivals met, it was an instant classic.
 
After Southeast rolled 32-6 in their regular-season meeting, Beloit was in position to turn the tables in the Class 2A state semifinals. Beloit led 30-28 with 42 seconds when Southeast took over at its own 21-yard line.
 
But Southeast drove the length of the field and scored on the game’s final play to pull out the improbably 34-30 victory on its way to going 13-0 and capturing the Class 2A state championship.
 
The defending champion Trojans have look every bit as formidable as they were a year ago, outscoring their first two foes this year by a combined 106-28, including a 68-0 advantage in the first half.
 
In last week’s 46-7 win over Clay Center, Grady Gebhardt ran for 216 yards and 4 touchdowns while Gannon Jacobson threw for 189 yards and a score. Gebhardt has run for 303 yards and 6 touchdowns this season while Jacobson has thrown for 456 yards and 6 TDs. Gebhardt has also caught three TD passes.
 
Beloit was upset by Concordia last week, 27-26, despite freshman quarterback Truitt King throwing for 192 yards and two touchdowns and Joel Rexroat rushing for 111 yards and a score. King has thrown for 304 yards and 3 scores this season and Rexroat has run for 193 yards and 2 TDs.
 
Southeast has now won 41 consecutive regular-season games.
 
 
NEMAHA CENTRAL (2-0) AT ROSSVILLE (2-0)
 
Now Big East League rivals, Nemaha Central and Rossville had already formed a nice little rivalry before becoming member of the same league last year – most of their meetings coming deep in the Class 2A playoff with each team taking their turn with the upper hand. 
 
Last year, the Thunder held on for a 31-28 win with Rossville making a late comeback to make it close. It was the third straight one-score defeat for the Bulldawgs, who then proceeded to reel off eight straight wins to reach the Class 1A semifinals before falling to Centralia.
 
Things have been a complete reversal for Rossville this season as the Bulldawgs have won two straight one-score games to open the season. Despite getting severely outgained by Silver Lake in the opener, Rossville used a defensive and special teams touchdown to get the game to overtime and beat the Eagles 28-27 on a blocked extra point. Last week, the Bulldawgs scored with 55 seconds left on an Andre Johnson 4-yard run to pull out a 40-34 win over St. Marys.
 
Canann Mitchell has been the driving force of Rossville’s offense in his first year as starting quarterback, throwing for 295 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushing for 219 yards and 3 scores. Cameron Miller has been his top target with 11 catches for 152 yards and 2 TDs.
 
Nemaha counters with a three-year starter at quarterback who’s been one of the state’s most productive players the past two seasons. Senior Carter Hajek, who has run for more than 2,300 yards and 40 touchdowns each of the past two seasons, is off to another big start. Through two games, he’s already run for 451 yards and 5 touchdowns, a bulk of that coming in last week’s 42-7 win over Silver Lake where he ran for 265 yards and 4 TDs.
 
 
JEFFERSON COUNTY NORTH (2-0) AT OSKALOOSA (2-0)
 
Oskaloosa is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2017, picking up wins over Pleasant Ridge (38-17) and Valley Falls (18-6).
 
First-year starting quarterback Richie Rockhold threw for 280 yards and 3 touchdowns against Valley Falls and now has thrown for 567 yards and 5 touchdowns in the first two weeks. He and Cash Perry have each run for 140 yards this season with Perry rushing for three touchdowns. Derrick Harvey is the top receiver with 234 yards, but two others are over 100 yards as well and four different receivers have TD catches.
 
After reaching the Class 1A state championship game in 2023 with a senior-dominant team that finished 11-2 and as state runner-up, Jefferson County North slipped back to a 5-4 mark last season in a rebuilding season. Those five wins all came right after the season-opening loss to Maur Hill, including a 30-0 shutout of Oskaloosa.
 
The Chargers have shut out both of their first two opponents this year, blanking Maur Hill 40-0 and Horton 48-0. 
 
North has won nine straight against Oskaloosa with the Bears’ last win coming in 2015.
 
 
ST. MARYS (1-1) AT JEFFERSON WEST (2-0)
 
The fourth quarter of last week’s games couldn’t have gone any differently for St. Marys and Jefferson West.
 
St. Marys led Rossville 28-20 going into the final period before seeing the Bulldawgs outscore them 20-6 in the final period to pull out a 40-34 win and hand the Bears their first loss. Jefferson West, meanwhile, trailed Royal Valley 20-7 going into the fourth quarter but scored 21 points in the final minute, getting two pick-sixes after a go-ahead TD pass from Brixton Schwinn to Crayton Holman to stun the Panthers with a 35-20 victory.
 
At 2-0, West has already matched its win total from last year in Jeff Schwinn’s first year as head coach. The Tigers haven’t won more than two games since going 8-2 in 2019 and opened the season with a 14-13 win over Riley County. 
 
Brixton Schwinn, a freshman, has thrown for 267 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the Tiger offense. Holman and Brody Thelen had the interception return TDs last week and Holman is also the leading receiver.
 
St. Marys quarterback Lane Smith had a big game against Rossville, throwing for 222 yards and a touchdown and also rushing for 52 yards and two TDs. Killian McCann had 176 yards receiving against Rossville. Korleone Holz has run for 261 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead St. Marys’ ground game.
 
 
BURLINGAME (2-0) AT MADISON (2-0)
 
The Lyon County League title will likely be on the line with the winner in the driver’s seat.
 
Despite losing a trio of first-team All-Eight-Player Division II selections off last year’s 10-1 team, Burlingame hasn’t missed a beat so far this season. Danny Cain has stepped in at quarterback and has thrown for 408 yards and 10 touchdowns and run for 198 yards and two scores. His top target has been senior Drake Skirvin, who has 17 catches for 274 yards and 7 touchdowns.
 
Burlingame’s defense was impressive in last week’s 52-0 rout of Waverly, holding a Bulldog offense in check after it put up 90 points in the opener and shutting down Dustin Foster, holding him to just 4 yards after he ran for  385 yards and 8 TDs in the opener.
 
A considerably bigger test awaits this week in Madison, which has beaten Lebo 51-20 and Hartford 49-0. Cruz Leiser ran for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns and Brayden Grimmett threw for two TDs and ran for another in the win over Hartford while Lane Smith opened the scoring with a 45-yard punt return touchdown.
 
Burlingame cruised to a 66-16 win in last year’s contest.