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PITTSBURG —
The high school football regular season ended Friday night and the state playoffs are ready to roll Tuesday for Class 4A, 3A and 8-man.
• Five of the six Crawford County schools completed a winning regular season: Girard 8-1, Colgan 6-3, Southeast 6-3, Pittsburg 5-4, Frontenac 5-4 and Northeast 4-5. That’s a combined 34-20 and .630 winning percentage.
• By comparison last season, county teams finished a combined 26-28 in the regular season with four winning teams (Colgan 9-0, Pittsburg 6-3, Frontenac 5-4, Girard 5-4) and only two schools making the playoffs (Colgan, Frontenac). This year, Girard, Colgan and Frontenac all qualified with two district champions (Girard, Colgan) and one district runner-up (Frontenac).
• Southeast improved by five wins, Northeast by four wins and Girard by three wins. Colgan dropped by three wins, Pittsburg by one win and Frontenac ended both regular seasons 5-4.
• Girard won its first CNC League title since 1999 by rolling through six opponents unscathed: Riverton 24-6, Columbus 19-14, Southeast 42-0, Colgan 29-0, Galena 41-12 and Frontenac 7-6. The Trojans outscored their CNC opponents 162-38, that defense allowing only 6.3 points per CNC game. Girard also beat Colgan for the first time since 1999.
• The CNC saw five of its nine teams earn playoff berths (Girard, Colgan, Galena, Columbus and Frontenac) and six of its nine finish the regular season with a winning record (Girard, Colgan, Galena, Southeast, Riverton and Frontenac). Erie and Baxter Springs finished a combined 1-17 overall in an otherwise balanced and competitive league this season.
• Girard played the most consistent football of any team in the CNC, taking its eight-game winning streak into the first round Tuesday night against Columbus, the league opponent which scored the most points on Girard . . . 14 on Sept. 14 at Frank Jameson Field, site of Tuesday’s game.
• Colgan makes its 14th consecutive playoff appearance and by virtue of its district title, hosts the Neodesha Bluestreaks (7-2) at Hutchinson Field on Tuesday night rather than face a lengthy road trip to Caney to face the Caney Valley Bullpups (8-1), the only team to beat Girard this season.
• This will be Colgan’s first playoff appearance in 3A, during their first season playing in this classification after years playing at 2-1A. Neodesha lost its only games this season to undefeated Silver Lake and Caney Valley, which lost its only game to defending state champion Conway Springs.
• The Bullpups, district champions, are fresh off a 72-24 win over Erie — Caney scored 50 first-quarter points and led 60-10 at halftime. Caney led 28-0 in the opening 2 minutes, 43 seconds of the game.
• The Bullpups and the Bulldogs of Galena are familiar opponents from playing in the same district the previous two seasons. This year, Colgan, Galena, Riverton and Southeast represented one of the most evenly-matched districts in the state.
The high school football regular season ended Friday night and the state playoffs are ready to roll Tuesday for Class 4A, 3A and 8-man.
• Five of the six Crawford County schools completed a winning regular season: Girard 8-1, Colgan 6-3, Southeast 6-3, Pittsburg 5-4, Frontenac 5-4 and Northeast 4-5. That’s a combined 34-20 and .630 winning percentage.
• By comparison last season, county teams finished a combined 26-28 in the regular season with four winning teams (Colgan 9-0, Pittsburg 6-3, Frontenac 5-4, Girard 5-4) and only two schools making the playoffs (Colgan, Frontenac). This year, Girard, Colgan and Frontenac all qualified with two district champions (Girard, Colgan) and one district runner-up (Frontenac).
• Southeast improved by five wins, Northeast by four wins and Girard by three wins. Colgan dropped by three wins, Pittsburg by one win and Frontenac ended both regular seasons 5-4.
• Girard won its first CNC League title since 1999 by rolling through six opponents unscathed: Riverton 24-6, Columbus 19-14, Southeast 42-0, Colgan 29-0, Galena 41-12 and Frontenac 7-6. The Trojans outscored their CNC opponents 162-38, that defense allowing only 6.3 points per CNC game. Girard also beat Colgan for the first time since 1999.
• The CNC saw five of its nine teams earn playoff berths (Girard, Colgan, Galena, Columbus and Frontenac) and six of its nine finish the regular season with a winning record (Girard, Colgan, Galena, Southeast, Riverton and Frontenac). Erie and Baxter Springs finished a combined 1-17 overall in an otherwise balanced and competitive league this season.
• Girard played the most consistent football of any team in the CNC, taking its eight-game winning streak into the first round Tuesday night against Columbus, the league opponent which scored the most points on Girard . . . 14 on Sept. 14 at Frank Jameson Field, site of Tuesday’s game.
• Colgan makes its 14th consecutive playoff appearance and by virtue of its district title, hosts the Neodesha Bluestreaks (7-2) at Hutchinson Field on Tuesday night rather than face a lengthy road trip to Caney to face the Caney Valley Bullpups (8-1), the only team to beat Girard this season.
• This will be Colgan’s first playoff appearance in 3A, during their first season playing in this classification after years playing at 2-1A. Neodesha lost its only games this season to undefeated Silver Lake and Caney Valley, which lost its only game to defending state champion Conway Springs.
• The Bullpups, district champions, are fresh off a 72-24 win over Erie — Caney scored 50 first-quarter points and led 60-10 at halftime. Caney led 28-0 in the opening 2 minutes, 43 seconds of the game.
• The Bullpups and the Bulldogs of Galena are familiar opponents from playing in the same district the previous two seasons. This year, Colgan, Galena, Riverton and Southeast represented one of the most evenly-matched districts in the state.
• It’s approximately 95 miles and 1 hour, 49 minutes distance between Pittsburg and Caney; Colgan will travel a few blocks Tuesday from its high school to Hutchinson Field.
• Frontenac makes its first 4A playoff appearance, under first-year head coach Mark Smith. The Raiders unreeled five consecutive wins after an 0-3 start and fell two points shy of six consecutive wins and a district title.
• We already mentioned Colgan’s playoff appearances in a row. Frontenac makes its third consecutive playoff appearance, all three as district runner-up and all three involving road trips, previous two years to Wellsville and this year to Coffeyville. Girard makes its first playoff appearance under head coach Leon Miller and its first appearance overall since 2006.
• Since a 12-0 loss to undefeated Fort Scott in Week 4, the Golden Tornado of Coffeyville have won four of five games and three straight. Over its last four, Coffeyville accumulated 217 points, averaging 54.3 points.
• Fort Scott (9-0) completed an undefeated regular season and undefeated run through Southeast Kansas League play with a home win over Chanute. The Tigers are one of only two undefeated teams in 4A, along with Holton.
• Taking a look at 4A and 3A only, 12 teams (KC Piper, Girard, Eudora, Fort Scott, Coffeyville, Holton, Wichita Collegiate, Andale, McPherson, Maize South, Mulvane and Concordia) have at least 7 wins in 4A and 17 (Nemaha Valley, Hiawatha, Silver Lake, Caney Valley, Rossville, Humboldt, Neodesha, Conway Springs, Garden Plain, Norton Community, Sacred Heart, Cimarron, Scott City, Sedgwick, Hillsboro, Beloit and Holcomb) have 7 in 3A.
• Crawford County features four 1,000-yard rushers: Anthony Scholes of Girard, Conner Dayton of Colgan, Alex Barnes of Pittsburg and J.T. Richardson of Northeast. Players scoring at least 10 TDs include Scholes, Barnes, Dayton, Richardson and receiver Daniel Peak of Southeast.
CNC LEAGUE TEAM STATISTICS
• SCORING OFFENSE: Galena 32.1 (289/9), Girard 31.4 (283/9), Southeast 31.4 (283/9), Frontenac 30.4 (274/9), Columbus 29.1 (262/9), Riverton 28.2 (254/9), Colgan 27.0 (243/9), Erie 8.2 (74/9), Baxter Springs 6.7 (60/9).
• SCORING DEFENSE: Girard 8.8 (79/9), Colgan 13.2 (119/9), Galena 15.8 (142/9), Frontenac 18.7 (168/9), Southeast 22.9 (206/9), Riverton 24.8 (223/9), Columbus 26.3 (237/9), Baxter Springs 41.9 (377/9), Erie 44.8 (403/9).
• SCORING MARGIN: Girard +204 (283-79), Galena +147 (289-142), Colgan +124 (243-119), Frontenac +106 (274-168), Southeast +77 (283-206), Riverton +31 (254-223), Columbus +25 (262-237), Baxter Springs -317 (60-377), Erie -329 (74-403).
SEK LEAGUE TEAM STATISTICS
• SCORING OFFENSE: Coffeyville 40.0 (360/9), Fort Scott 38.7 (348/9), Pittsburg 35.9 (323/9), Chanute 35.0 (315/9), Labette County 17.3 (156/9), Independence 13.4 (121/9), Parsons 9.0 (81/9).
• SCORING DEFENSE: Fort Scott 11.7 (105/9), Chanute 12.4 (112/9), Coffeyville 18.9 (170/9), Labette County 27.6 (248/9), Pittsburg 34.9 (314/9), Independence 42.1 (379/9), Parsons 58.2 (524/9).
• SCORING MARGIN: Fort Scott +243 (348-105), Chanute +203 (315-112), Coffeyville +190 (360-170), Pittsburg +9 (323-314), Labette County -92 (156-248), Independence -258 (121-379), Parsons -443 (81-524).
THREE RIVERS LEAGUE 11-MAN TEAM STATISTICS
• SCORING OFFENSE: Oswego 29.7 (267/9), Northeast 19.9 (179/9), Jayhawk-Linn 10.7 (96/9).
• SCORING DEFENSE: Northeast 32.7 (294/9), Jayhawk-Linn 31.4 (283/9), Oswego 30.9 (278/9).
• SCORING MARGIN: Oswego -27 (267-294), Northeast -115 (179-294), Jayhawk-Linn -187 (96-283).
