Week 4 preview: Undefeated teams clash in the Wichita area. Here are predictions
Undefeated league rivals meet in Week 4 for the Varsity Kansas Game of the Week as Goddard goes to Andover Central.
Here is The Eagle’s high school football preview for Week 4 in the Wichita area with predictions for the biggest games.
Records: Goddard 3-0, Andover Central 2-0
Week 3 Results: Goddard won 46-13 vs. Ark City, Andover Central won 45-31 vs. Eisenhower
Previous Meeting: Andover Central 38, Goddard 21 (Week 3, 2019)
Preview:
Last year, Andover Central sent Goddard on a spiral.
The Jaugars beat the Lions 38-21 in what was considered an upset at the time. Of course, Central went on to the Class 4A championship game while Goddard finished 4-6, but that loss sent Goddard on a five-game losing streak.
With senior quarterback Kyler Semrad back after a season-ending injury suffered against Maize last year, Goddard is undefeated in 2020 and looks to have one of the best passing offenses in Kansas. With 834 yards through three games, Semrad is Kansas’ No. 2 passer behind Newton’s Ben Schmidt.
On the other sideline, some of Central’s big names from last year are gone. All-Metro receiver Xavier Bell and All-Metro linebacker Trey DeGarmo have graduated. But the Jags have some standout replacements.
Central senior quarterback Chase White has thrown for 517 yards in only two games after the Jags’ Week 2 matchup at Buhler was canceled after a positive COVID-19 test.
With a pair of dynamic receivers in Kyle Kohman and Davin Simms, who transferred from Derby, the Central offense doesn’t seem to be missing a beat. Expect points in maybe the biggest game of the AVCTL II schedule.
Prediction: Andover Central 38, Goddard 35
Records: Collegiate 3-0, Hesston 3-0
Week 3 Results: Collegiate won 34-31 in overtime vs. Rose Hill, Hesston won 24-15 at Pratt
Previous Meeting: Hesston 42, Collegiate 28 (Week 9, 2018)
Preview:
The last time Collegiate met Hesston, it ended the Spartans’ season.
Collegiate is looking for a bit of redemption with its Week 9 loss in 2018 still relevant enough to the Spartans’ seniors. But this year’s Hesston team looks to be no different in terms of talent.
Both teams enter undefeated, but both won in unconvincing fashion in Week 3. Collegiate needed overtime against a winless Rose Hill team, and Hesston won by 9 points over Pratt, who won two games last year.
Collegiate’s offense can hum behind sophomore quarterback Wesley Fair, who has run for 450 yards in three games. If he is on, the Spartans will be tough to stop.
For Hesston, expect to see the ball in the air. Quarterback Ryan Eilert has 637 passing yards to four outstanding receivers in Ben Bollinger, Brayden Schilling, Max Werner and Brady Cox.
Prediction: Collegiate 35, Hesston 32
Records: Newton 0-3, Hutchinson 3-0
Week 3 Results: Newton lost 34-27 at Maize, Hutchinson won 34-33 vs. Maize South
Previous Meeting: Newton 24, Hutchinson 21 (Week 5, 2019)
Preview:
Records won’t show how good this game should be.
Newton hasn’t won a game this season, but as The Eagle reported Wednesday, that isn’t indicative of how talented the Railers are behind the state’s leading passer.
Quarterback Ben Schmidt leads Kansas with 985 passing yards in three games. That is 150 more than the next closest passer. And Schmidt is throwing to Kansas’ No. 2 leading receiver, Peyton Maxwell, who has 492 receiving yards.
But Hutch will be looking to prove its first three games were no fluke. The Salthawks stunned Maize South at home 34-33 last week in what was the biggest win of coach Mike Vernon’s tenure.
Hutch won 14 straight in this series before 2018 but hasn’t beaten Newton since.
Prediction: Newton 42, Hutchinson 38
Records: Andover 2-1, Eisenhower 1-2
Week 3 Results: Andover won 35-6 vs. Salina Central, Eisenhower lost 45-31 at Andover Central
Previous Meeting: Eisenhower 20, Andover 14 (Week 3, 2019)
Preview:
Andover and Eisenhower have become schools similar in profile.
With similar enrollment, top-level boys basketball teams, both suburban schools on either side of Wichita, it’s no wonder they have traded wins in each of the past seven meetings.
Andover enters with one of the best defenses in Kansas. The Trojans have allowed 26 points through three games and only six since their season-opener at Maize.
Eisenhower has turned into one of the top scoring teams in the past two weeks with 76 points against Salina Central and Andover Central.
The Tigers are coming off of a frustrating shootout loss at Andover Central in Week 2, and Andover is riding high after a 29-point win over Salina Central.
Prediction: Andover 21, Eisenhower 17
Records: East 1-0, South 2-0
Week 3 Results: East did not play, South won 56-0 vs. North
Previous Meeting: East 26, South 14 (Week 4, 2019)
Preview:
This game will reveal a lot.
East put up an 80-point shutout of North in its first game of the season but hasn’t played in two weeks. South beat North 56-0 and Southeast 52-0. A meeting between East and South should show who is the real City League contender.
Since 2008, East leads the series 7-5. Year-over-year, it has been tough to nail down the identity of these two teams with eight coaches between them in that time.
With coaches Ene Akpan at East and Russ Wells at South, and a 3-0 record between them in 2020, this game might go a long way in the development of culture.
Prediction: East 35, South 21
Records: Andale 3-0, Halstead 2-1
Week 3 Results: Andale won 63-7 vs. Wellington, Halstead lost 32-22 at Hoisington
Previous Meeting: Andale 35, Halstead 0 (Week 9, 2018)
Preview:
Andale hasn’t lost to Halstead in the 21st century.
Although the teams don’t play every year, the Indians, like they do to most opponents these days, has dominated. But Halstead is within a shout in 2020.
The Dragons are coming off of a 10-point loss to Hoisington, but Hoisington was one of the best teams in Class 2A last season. They get a tough draw to open district play against the defending 3A champions.
Andale hasn’t lost a regular season game almost 1,500 days, and behind an offense that averages more than 60 points per game, it is tough to imagine that streak ending, even on the road.
Prediction: Andale 35, Halstead 14
Records: Buhler 1-1, El Dorado 2-1
Week 3 Results: Buhler won 21-9 vs. Winfield, El Dorado won 30-14 at Labette County
Previous Meeting: Buhler 55, El Dorado 0 (Week 2, 2019)
Preview:
There is a big asterisk, but El Dorado has a better record than Buhler through three weeks for the first time since 2005, the final season before coach Steve Warner took over in Buhler.
It has been 15 years and 250 wins later for Warner, and his group will be eager to get back on the field after its first win of the season, a 21-9 home victory against Winfield. The Crusaders had to cancel its Week 2 game against Andover Central after one of the Central players tested positive for COVID-19.
For El Dorado, the Wildcats have won back-to-back games for the first time since 2017 after beating Labette County and Augusta. Senior running back Zach Wittenburg has been one of the state’s top rushers with 370 yards.
But Buhler hasn’t lost to El Dorado since that 2005 season, and that is believed to be the only win the Wildcats have ever gotten in the series.
Prediction: Buhler 23, El Dorado 13
Records: Garden Plain 2-1, Douglass 3-0
Week 3 Results: Garden Plain lost 44-7 vs. Cheney, Douglass won 38-21 at Trinity Academy
Previous Meeting: Garden Plain 51, Douglass 30 (Week 2, 2019)
Preview:
Garden Plain is seeking a bounce-back.
After its worst loss in the history of the Cheney rivalry in Week 3, losing 44-7 at home, the Owls’ offense will be looking to soar again. But its Week 4 opponent is 3-0 for the first time since 1993.
Douglass hasn’t played the strongest schedule in Kansas, against Remington, Marion and Trinity Academy, but the Bulldogs have gotten through those opponents with relative ease. Running back Dalton Hilyard is the No. 7 rusher in all of Kansas with 531 yards through three games.
Despite the momentum, Douglass hasn’t beaten Garden Plain since 1993. The Owls have won 23 straight.
Prediction: Garden Plain 36, Douglass 14