Friday night lights: Olathe North, Blue Valley, De Soto cruise to Kansas football wins
Olathe North took a trip west to Lawrence on Friday and returned tied atop the Sunflower League at season’s end.
The 7-1 Eagles, No. 9 in the 810 Varsity Top 25 high school football rankings, concluded the regular season with a 35-21 win at Free State, which also entered the game with one loss.
The two teams were vying to finish tied for No. 1 with No. 8-ranked Gardner Edgerton (7-1). The Trailblazers had beaten Olathe North two weeks ago, 21-14, and thus held a tiebreaker for the league crown.
On Friday, North and the Firebirds were tied at 21 until TJ Porter did what he’s done to so many teams: he found the end zone. After Free State tied it again, Olathe North went on a run-heavy drive capped by Porter’s 16-yard touchdown scamper.
Free State coughed up the ball on the ensuing play, which gave the Eagles a short field. Five plays later, Porter scored again, this time on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Jamison Sarver.
Porter finished with three touchdowns and 93 rushing yards.
Free State quarterback Wesley Edison rolled up 211 rushing yards and two TDs, along with 172 passing yards and a TD through the air.
Olathe North opens the Kansas Class 6A playoffs as the No. 2 seed, facing Shawnee Mission West next Friday. Free State (6-2) will play host to Garden City.
In other Friday night games:
De Soto 48, Basehor-Linwood 21
For the fourth time since the inception of the United Kansas Conference in 2018, De Soto finished as league champ.
The Wildcats pulled away from perennial contender Basehor-Linwood for a 42-21 victory on Friday night. With the win, De Soto sealed the No. 1 seed from the Kansas Class 5A East.
With the game tied at 14, De Soto produced an 80-yard drive, capped by Ben Hutchinson’s 4-yard run to the right for a 21-14 lead.
Before long, De Soto got the ball back at its own 43. And two plays later, running back Jayden Lang busted loose up the middle, dodged a couple of defensive backs at midfield and outraced the Bobcats for a 53-yard TD that made it 28-14.
De Soto continued its barrage with touchdowns from Drew Parks and Amarion Green for a 41-14 lead. Parks capped the Wildcats’ scoring with a 28-yard run in the fourth.
Hutchinson totaled 219 yards and two scores, Parks added 82 yards and two TDs and Lang finished with 99 total yards and two TDs.
The Wildcats (7-1) open the playoffs at home against winless Turner next week, while Basehor-Linwood plays host to Paola.
Blue Valley 24, Blue Valley West 20
In front of a packed house, including some Chiefs players, coaches and front office personnel, Blue Valley claimed an important win entering the playoffs.
The Tigers (4-4) beat Blue Valley West 24-20 on Friday with Chiefs players Trent McDuffie, Harrison Butker and Justin Reid in attendance alongside general manager Brett Veach.
Tate Nagy, son of Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, led the Jaguars at quarterback, and linebacker Dawson Merritt is the son of Chiefs defensive backs coach Dave Merritt.
Martell Buchanan opened the game with a kickoff-return TD for a 7-0 Blue Valley lead. A safety and 4-yard touchdown by John Price put the Tigers up 17-0 with 8:20 left in the first half.
Blue Valley West (3-5) answered with a touchdown, but Price scored again, this time from 11 yards out, and it was 24-7.
The Jags pulled with 14 points (24-10) at halftime, and Crew Myers hauled in a 37-yard TD pass from Nagy to make it 24-17 with 7:37 left in the third quarter. Myers finished with 114 receiving yards, while Nagy passed for 149.
From there, Blue Valley held the Jaguars to a field goal and improved to 4-4 overall.
Blue Valley opens the Kansas Class 6A playoffs at home against Olathe West next Friday, while Blue Valley West plays host to Shawnee Mission North.
For playoff brackets, stats, recaps, online broadcasts and more, visit 810Varsity.com.
