Week 8 football rankings

Last week featured some amazing games. Cheney over Andale 36-30 in OT to end the streak, Hays over Liberal 48-41 in double OT to hand Liberal their first loss, Lawrence over Free State 31-24 in OT to hand Free State their first loss, Frontenac over Parsons 10-8 with a GW FG to give the Vikings their first loss, Olathe East knocks off undefeated and top-ranked Gardner-Edgerton 21-7, and Sterling needs two overtimes to beat Hutch-Trinity 13-7. This week features what could be another brilliant slate of games, especially in class 2A, where six of our top eight teams will face each other.

Class 6A

1. Washburn Rural (7-0)

2. Olathe North (6-1)

3. Manhattan (6-1)

4. Olathe East (5-2)

5. Gardner-Edgerton (6-1)

Really deep classification that we hope produces lots of fun playoff games. We talked about Olathe East in the preseason and they pulled off the shocker last week against Gardner-Edgerton. Wichita Northwest, Derby, Wichita East, Blue Valley Northwest, Lawrence, Free State, and even Blue Valley and Blue Valley West could all be a factor in this postseason race. 

Class 5A

1. Mill Valley (5-2)

2. Blue Valley Southwest (6-1)

3. Kapaun (6-1)

4. Eisenhower (7-0)

5. De Soto (6-1)

Mill Valley lost to 6A power Olathe North 28-14 and while they do look a little more vulnerable this year than in the past we're going to ride with them until they are knocked from their lofty perch. Any of the remaining Top 5 looks very capable of challenging the Jags this season.

Class 4A

1. Bishop Miege (6-1)

2. St. Thomas Aquinas (5-2)

3. Louisburg (7-0)

4. Tonganoxie (5-2)

5. St. James Academy (1-6)

We'll finally concede that Louisburg and Tonganoxie appear equipped to take down the one-win SJA Thunder, but outside of the top two it really appears a lot of teams could take the third spot in the poll including a healthy Chanute team, Buhler, Abilene, Wamego, Andover Central, Wellington, and a Basehor-Linwood squad that appears to be playing its best football of the season. Atchison got a convincing win over Perry-Lecompton last week to improve to 7-0 and should be in good position to get wins in Weeks 8 and 9, but the regional round is where the Phoenix are likely to get their biggest test of the season.

Class 3A

1. Cheney (7-0)

2. Andale (6-1)

3. Hayden (7-0)

4. Wichita Collegiate (6-1)

5. Clay Center (6-1)

Everyone knows by now, Cheney made an improbable comeback and ended Andale's incredible win-streak in overtime. The Cardinals have a great team, but are likely going to have to beat the Indians again in the playoffs if they want to end Andale's streak of state championships, that is if teams like Clay Center, Wichita Collegiate, or Scott City don't prevent the rematch from happening at all. Hayden and Wellsville played an epic regional playoff game a season ago and look like the clear favorites on the east side of the bracket.

Class 2A

1. Sabetha (7-0)

2. Nemaha Central (7-0)

3. Southeast of Saline (7-0)

4. Hoisington (7-0)

5. Kingman (6-1)

Should learn quite a bit about this classification this week with games featuring Nemaha Central at Sabetha, Southeast of Saline at Ellsworth, and Kingman at Garden Plain. Those three games specifically should tell us a lot about the overall depth of 2A. 

Class 1A

1. St. Mary's Colgan (7-0)

2. St. Marys (4-3)

3. Marion (7-0)

4. Smith Center (6-1)

5. Conway Springs (5-2)

The east appears to feature Colgan and St. Marys at the top with injuries and a lack of depth at Centralia and Olpe leaving them a couple steps down the ladder. Jeff County North could have what it takes to make some noise as well, in spite of the loss to St. Marys a couple weeks back. Marion has really looked great on film with a physical style of play on both sides of the ball and could be the beast in the west, but the defense will be tested by Sedgwick's wide-open offense this week. Valley Heights posted one of the most impressive wins of last week's slate scoring 64 points against Wabaunsee and could give Smith Center a run for their money this week at home. Conway Springs and Brayden Kunz are going to be a tough out.

8-Man I

1. Wichita County (7-0)

2. Moundridge (7-0)

3. Lyndon (7-0)

4. Cair Paravel (5-2)

5. Rawlins County (7-0)

Cair Paravel with the big win over Chase County last week and their two losses are to Axtell by 16 and Lyndon by 28. Hoxie and Rawlins County play a key game this week. The Central Burden game with South Sumner features a battle of unbeatens. Ell-Saline continues to look good since their Week 1 loss to Moundridge and they get what could be a stiff test this week against an improved Lincoln squad.

8-Man II

1. Axtell (7-0)

2. Victoria (6-1)

3. Osborne (6-1)

4. Minneola (7-0)

5. Canton-Galva (6-1)

Victoria made a statement with their dominant win over previously unbeaten Sylvan-Lucas last Friday just a week removed from shutting out Sharon Springs-Wallace County. The Knights would likely be a favorite in a rematch with Kinsley. The question for this classification, is anyone up to the challenge of Axtell, the state's new active win-streak leader at 33 straight games? Minneola's win over Hodgeman County looks good on paper but it's hard to know if the Wildcat schedule matches the strength of the higher ranked teams.

6-Man

1. Cheylin (7-0)

2. Ashland (6-1)

3. Cunningham (6-1)

4. Waverly (6-0)

5. Northern Valley (6-1)

Cheylin maintains its stranglehold on the top spot in the poll. Chetopa has put together a fantastic season for a long-struggling program. Now the Green Hornets have to make the five hour trek to Ashland for a 3 p.m. kick on Saturday.