September - Kansas City Sports & Fitness Magazine
September - Kansas City Sports & Fitness Magazine
September - Kansas City Sports & Fitness Magazine
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T<br />
here is a lot to see on local high school<br />
football fields this fall, but following<br />
are three teams, games, and players<br />
you will definitely want to check out.<br />
Three Must See Teams<br />
Lee’s Summit – New head coaches usually<br />
infuse a fresh level of excitement into<br />
a program that results in increased numbers<br />
and often more success on the field.<br />
However, new coaches do not usually have<br />
the luxury of a three-year starting quarterback<br />
who has committed to play at<br />
Missouri. That’s the situation Eric Thomas<br />
inherits at Lee’s Summit.<br />
Thomas comes from Columbia<br />
Hickman, where he was offensive coordinator,<br />
but prior to that he won a state title<br />
in 2005 as the Cameron head coach. He’s<br />
bringing a no-huddle spread offense to<br />
Lee’s Summit. The triggerman will be<br />
Corbin Berkstresser who has pledged to<br />
run a similar offense at Missouri.<br />
The Tigers already had momentum from<br />
their first playoff appearance since 1987<br />
last year. Add in a drop to Class 5 and<br />
Lee’s Summit just might be on the cusp of<br />
a special season.<br />
14 SEPTEMBER 2010 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS<br />
“Three To See” on high school level<br />
Liberty North/Blue Valley Southwest<br />
– Yes, that’s two teams in one, but they are<br />
the two brand new programs in the metro<br />
and it’s always<br />
fascinating to<br />
see how those<br />
squads progress.<br />
The Liberty<br />
North Eagles got<br />
an experienced<br />
head coach from<br />
Winnetonka’s<br />
Ken Clemens.<br />
He led the<br />
Griffins to<br />
arguably the best<br />
two seasons in<br />
school history the past two years. Now he’s<br />
building a program literally from scratch<br />
without any seniors and virtually no experience.<br />
However, numbers are good with<br />
more than 100 kids out, an exceptional<br />
total in the 500-student school.<br />
Blue Valley Southwest also got an experienced<br />
head coach in Emporia’s Bill<br />
Lowe, a Blue Valley grad. The<br />
Timberwolves have a handful of seniors<br />
and a bit more experience than Liberty<br />
North, but just like the Eagles have to<br />
establish a unique identity.<br />
On KCXL 1140 AM & KCTO 1160 AM<br />
Monday thru Friday 6:00-9:00pm<br />
Anatomy of Sport<br />
with Dr. Jim Krause and Steve Nash<br />
Forward Progress<br />
with Dr. Don Oyao and Mark Graves<br />
Good <strong>Sports</strong><br />
the KC <strong>Sports</strong> & <strong>Fitness</strong> Show<br />
with Steve Fisch and Jim Potoski<br />
Pettit Said It<br />
with Rusty Pettit and Steve Nash<br />
Both teams will be interesting to watch<br />
because recent history has seen new<br />
schools in the area establish a winning culture<br />
very quickly.<br />
Staley,<br />
which was the<br />
newest school<br />
in the area,<br />
went 9-3 and<br />
11-1 in their<br />
first two years.<br />
Blue Valley<br />
West won a<br />
state title in the<br />
school’s seventh<br />
season.<br />
Can these two<br />
schools match that level of success? It will<br />
be fun to find out.<br />
Olathe South – The Falcons stood at<br />
4-3 seven games into last season, but their<br />
three defeats were by a total of 10 points.<br />
Their final two games were lopsided losses<br />
to the two state semi-finalists from the east<br />
half of <strong>Kansas</strong> 6-A and Olathe South finished<br />
4-5, but optimism abounds for Jeff<br />
Gourley’s third Falcons squad.<br />
South returns 15 starters from last year,<br />
including what looks to be on paper the<br />
Sunflower League’s best offensive line.<br />
Running back Nick Sands may be poised<br />
for a big year as the Falcons complete the<br />
transition from Mark Littrell’s pass-happy<br />
spread to Gourley’s run-first offense.<br />
Olathe North is king of the Sunflower<br />
until dethroned, and SM West, Olathe East,<br />
and Lawrence Free State have been consistently<br />
good the past five years. But watch<br />
for Olathe South, a team that has a good<br />
tradition of their own, to once again challenge<br />
for a conference title.<br />
Three Must-See Games<br />
Staley at Kearney – <strong>September</strong> 24<br />
This has exploded into perhaps the<br />
northland’s best rivalry. The teams split<br />
two games last year, but Kearney won in<br />
the playoffs when it mattered most and<br />
went on to a Class 4 state title. The teams<br />
are in different classes now with Staley<br />
moving up to 5. Even though they definitely<br />
will not have a playoff rematch, expect<br />
both teams to pour everything into this<br />
bragging rights contest.<br />
Fort Osage at Raytown South –<br />
<strong>September</strong> 24<br />
Two ought to see games, unfortunately,<br />
fall on the same dates. These two have<br />
squared off four times in the last two years,<br />
once in the regular season and once in the<br />
playoffs. The rivalry has become like the<br />
Rockhurst vs. Blue<br />
Springs of Class 5 with<br />
nothing but great games<br />
in that span. Last year<br />
Fort Osage won both<br />
meetings by seven<br />
points. In 2008 they<br />
split, with Fort Osage<br />
winning by seven in the<br />
regular season and Ray<br />
South winning by six in<br />
the playoffs. This season,<br />
both teams replace<br />
Nick<br />
McCabe<br />
Contributing<br />
Writer<br />
numerous players from those games but<br />
the rivalry should be as intense as ever.<br />
St. Thomas Aquinas at Gardner-<br />
Edgerton – October 22<br />
This game is so big it will be nationally<br />
telecast on ESPNU. Aquinas was GE’s<br />
nemesis the past several years until the<br />
Trailblazers turned it around last season<br />
with a two-point regular season win and a<br />
49-7 blowout in the playoffs. The bad<br />
blood boiled over in the playoff game as<br />
the score got out of hand. The two EKL<br />
rivals went 22-1 against outside competition,<br />
with the lone loss by Gardner-<br />
Edgerton to the Hutchinson machine in the<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> 5-A state title game and both are<br />
once again pre-season favorites to challenge<br />
for 5-A supremacy.<br />
Three Must-See Players<br />
Bubba Starling, Quarterback<br />
Gardner-Edgerton<br />
Starling is one of the top dual threat<br />
quarterbacks in the country. Last year he<br />
ran and threw for about 1,400 yards each<br />
and totaled 38 touchdowns. This may be<br />
the last year we get to see him play football.<br />
He’s committed to Nebraska for next<br />
season, but he is a highly regarded baseball<br />
prospect as well, both as a hitter and<br />
pitcher. There is more and more chatter<br />
that Starling could be a first-round pick<br />
next summer and opt to sign a lucrative<br />
pro baseball contract instead of going<br />
to Lincoln.<br />
Darrian Miller, Running Back<br />
Blue Springs<br />
Miller is one of the most exciting running<br />
backs ever in the metro. He ran for<br />
almost 2,800 yards last year and has a<br />
chance to become the leading big-class<br />
rusher in Missouri history. He is expected<br />
to duel with Starling for the Simone Award<br />
this season, which goes to the top player in<br />
the city. A rebuilt offensive line and a new<br />
quarterback could slow his incredible production<br />
from last year, but he’s still the<br />
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