NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS WEEK 1 PICK SIX
NEMAHA CENTRAL AT MARYSVILLE
Last year’s season-opener between the K-36 rivals sent shockwaves throughout the state as Marysville, coming off consecutive 3-6 seasons, pulled off a stunning 16-8 upset of the Thunder, who went into the game riding a 26-game winning streak having captured back-to-back undefeated Class 2A state titles.
The game served as a spark for both teams as Marysville and Nemaha Central.
The Bulldogs continued to ride a stingy defense early in the season and started off 5-0 for the first time since 2019 before suffering a trio of tough losses at the end of the season to finish 6-3. Marysville lost standout quarterback Will Otott, who amassed more than 1,500 rushing and passing yards and accounted for 16 touchdowns. Six starters do return on offense and leading tackler Cameron Wetter is one of six starters back on defense.
Nemaha Central bounced back from the season-opening loss to win 11 straight and return to the Class 2A championship game for the third straight year. But the Thunder’s reign ended with a 36-28 loss to undefeated Southeast of Saline in the title game. While Marysville lost its engine, Nemaha has its back in quarterback Carter Hajek, who has put together two straight seasons of more than 2,000 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns. The Thunder only graduated four seniors off last year’s team overall and is once again a strong favorite to return to the 2A title game.
SILVER LAKE AT ROSSVILLE
Arguably the most storied rivalry in the state, the War on 24 rarely fails to deliver and last year’s game was simply another classic to add to the annals.
A defensive slugfest through two-plus quarters morphed into an offensive shootout late and when Rossville got a 1-yard touchdown run from Tayson Horak with 35.3 seconds left to go up 29-26, the Bulldawgs looked to be in great shape. But a squib kickoff set Silver Lake up near midfield and they quickly moved inside the Rossville 5 to set up a game-tying field goal by Dysen Schooler as time expired to force overtime.
Silver Lake got a TD run from Allen Lees on its OT possession and then the Eagle defense rose up and stopped Horak’s fourth-down run short of the goal line to preserve a 33-26 victory.
The tight loss was one of three straight one-score defeats Rossville suffered before the Bulldawgs got into Class 1A play and reeled off eight straight wins to reach the state semifinals before falling to Centralia a game shy of the state title game. Silver Lake ended its season 7-3, losing in the second round of the playoffs to Council Grove.
Both teams will have a somewhat new look on offense as each graduated their starting quarterbacks in Schooler and Horak. Both go into the season with multiple candidates to fill that spot – a key position in the spread offenses each like to run. Rossville does return second-leading rusher Conner Bush, who also was the team’s top tackler last year, while Silver Lake has back standout receiver Dayne Johnson, who had two TD catches in last year’s contest.
Silver Lake and Rossville have met 111 times with the Eagles holding the all-time edge 66-42-3.
RIVERSIDE AT JACKSON HEIGHTS
Even though both Heights and Riverside enjoyed their best seasons in years last fall, both teams come into this season’s opener a bit hungry, albeit for different reasons.
For Riverside, there’s sone desired payback to get with the Cobras, who cruised toa 35-7 victory in last year’s opener. The Cyclones were able to bounce back from that loss and win six straight on their way to a 7-3 season that not only surpassed the program’s win total from the three previous years combined (6), but also were the most wins since a 7-2 season in 2013. Riverside’s run ended with a playoff loss to St. Mary’s Colgan and the only other loss came to 1A runner-up Centralia in the district finale.
Heights, meanwhile, was looking every bit the team that might represent the east in the 1A title game as the Cobras used the convincing win in the opener to jump start a dominating regular season that saw them outscore their opponents by a combined 452-15 with Onaga the only other foe to score against them. Heights continued its roll in the playoffs and was seemingly on their way to the semifinals, holding a 38-21 lead on Rossville with 5:30 left in their quarterfinal clash.
But Rossville scored three touchdowns in the span of 1:27 – benefiting from twice recovering onside kicks – and shocked the Cobras with an improbable 42-38 victory. Even in posting the program’s best record since 2002, that defeat has sat with the Cobras all offseason and with four-year starting quarterback Drake Mellies and several other key figures back, Heights is chomping at the bit for the 2025 season. Mellies accumulated more than 1,000 yards both rushing and passing last year and though his running back complements have graduated, his top receivers do return.
Riverside also returns the bulk of its team, including three-year starting quarterback Beckham Griffin and all-league receiver Ty’Zell Harrington as well as All-Class 1A defensive back Chase Hewins.
VALLEY HEIGHTS AT CENTRALIA
The Twin Valley League rivals meet in the season opener for the fourth straight season and Heights is still looking for its first win over the Panthers in that setting. Well, make that in any setting for quite some time as Centralia has won the last eight meetings with the Mustangs, who last beat the Panthers 2016.
The past two openers have been thrillers with Centralia pulling out an 18-16 win in 2023 and then taking a 20-14 win in last year’s opener. The Panthers lost the following week to Missouri power Mid-Buchanan, but then didn’t lose again until the state championship game where they were unable to deny Conway Springs a Class 1A repeat with a 41-6 loss in the title game.
Centralia had a dynamic duo in the backfield a year ago in Jacob Flentie, who ran for 138 yards and 2 TDs last year’s opener, and Quentin Alderfer, each finishing the season with over 1,000 yards rushing. Only Alderfer returns this year and he’ll move to the spinner back spot Flentie held down to lead a Centralia offense that returns xx starters.
Heights, meanwhile, fell one win shy of earning a rematch with Centralia in the championship game as the Mustangs won nine of their next 10 games to reach the 1A semifinals where they fell 55-22 to Conway Springs. Like Centralia, Heights had its own 1-2 punch in the backfield in running backs Jayden DeWalt and Logan Gray who combined for just over 2,500 yards with DeWalt setting the school record with 1,625 yards. Unlike Centralia, neither return this year for the Mustangs, who do return a pair of first-team All-Twin Valley League linemen in Creighton Smith and Lawson Stryker to clear the way for their replacements.
CHASE COUNTY AT LITTLE RIVER
Little River and Chase County had one thing in common last year – both saw their seasons end with heartbreaking Eight-Player Division I playoff losses to Central Plains. Chase County tumbled 58-52 to the Oilers in the quarterfinals and the following week, Little River dropped a 38-32 decision to the eventual state runners-up.
In last year’s opener, Little River took a 42-22 decision over Chase County as Logan Renken ran for 189 yards and 3 touchdowns and Jaren Garrison added 140 yards and 2 scores on the ground to offset 197 total yards and 2 touchdowns from Chase County quarterback Wyatt Griffin. The Redskins went on to post an 8-3 mark while Chase County finished 7-3.
Renken is gone, but Garrison returns and will take over as Little River’s hybrid quarterback this season after leading the Redskins in rushing with 889 yards and 12 TDs. Little River returns all but one other skill player, Kyler Bergkamp, and has experience up front as well.
Griffin is back for his third year as Chase County’s starting quarterback and added more punch in the run game last year, going over 1,000 yards on the ground to complement a 1,000-yard passing season. He’ll miss the services of graduated playmaker Luke Budke and at the start of the season Guthrie Danford, who was also the team’s leading tackler but is recovering from an ACL injury suffered during basketball. But sophomore Austin Andersen brings a speed component to the backfield and could ease those losses.
ELL-SALINE AT HANOVER
After losing to Hanover 34-16 in last year’s season opener, Ell-Saline regrouped and looked extremely capable of making a run through the Eight-Player Division I east bracket and into the state finals. But that run ended almost before it began as the Cardinals were upset in the second round by Madison 14-12, ending the season prematurely at 8-2.
That’s the exact same mark Hanover posted a year ago with the Wildcats also bowing out in the second round to a Lyon County League school, though their vanquisher was undefeated Burlingame in a 36-24 loss. The Wildcats’ only other loss came to Eight-Player Division II unbeaten state champion Axtell and Hanover shut out six of its 10 opponents overall.
Hanover is a popular pick to potentially dethrone four-time reigning Division II champion Axtell as the Wildcats return a veteran squad. They’ll miss leading tackler Camron Jueneman and standout lineman Braden Schwartz, but Alec Jueneman returns as the team’s top rusher the past two seasons and the two-headed quarterback tandem of Braylon Meyn and Kadrick Cohorst give opposing defenses multiple looks to defends. The Wildcats’ eight wins last year were their most since the 2020 state championship season.
Ell-Saline also has a veteran presence and is a strong contender in Division I. The Cardinals lost a pair of standout linemen in Victor Ruiz-Torres and Jacob Tillberg, but return the bulk of their skill players led by Reece Krone, who moved from end to quarterback last year and had over 1,000 total yards, and receiver Kas Kramer. Both are defensive standouts as well.
Hanover and Ell-Saline have met each of the past three seasons with Ell-Saline winning in 2022 and 2023 before Hanover’s victory last year.