Season just getting started

Three weeks in the books for Kansas high school and college football, four weeks for junior college football, and here’s some of the main developments:

• The Pittsburg State Gorillas have started their season 3-0, keeping pace with fellow Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association unbeatens Emporia State (3-0), Missouri Southern (3-0), Missouri Western (3-0), Truman State (3-0) and Washburn (3-0). Or, the fellow unbeatens are keeping pace with Pitt State. Western and Truman are both 2-0 in conference, while the other unbeatens have won all their games against conference foes.

With winless Lincoln (0-3) coming up this weekend, the first four Pitt State opponents have combined for an 0-12 record after three weeks — Central Oklahoma (0-3), Northeastern State (0-3) and Southwest Baptist (0-3).

• Pitt State junior receiver-return man John Brown leads Division II in all-purpose yards, averaging 263.7 yards per game.

Only four DII players (Brown, J.B. Mathews of Colorado State-Pueblo, Joe Glendening of Hillsdale and Brian Marshall of Tusculum) have more than 600 all-purpose yards after three games and Brown stands alone in the 700-yard club with his 791 total accumulated by 386 receiving yards, 194 kick return yards, 140 punt return yards and 71 rushing yards.

Brown and several other players are tied for 17th in the nation with 22 receptions and his 386 receiving yards rank Brown fifth. Would it be too early for Harlon Hill talk to start?

At his current pace, 126.7 receiving yards per game, Brown would eclipse his 14-game total of 1,216 yards last season in 10 games this season. Brown already ranks fourth on the PSU all-time receiving yards chart with 1,602.

• Pitt State sophomore quarterback Anthony Abenoja ranks 17th nationally in passing efficiency (164.39), one spot behind Emporia State quarterback Tyler Eckenrode, as well as 14th in total passing yards (933). With the PSU single-game passing record (378 yards) already in his possession after his first collegiate start against Northeastern State, Abenoja could break the single-season passing record (Andy Majors, 3,065 yards in 14 games, 2005) in 10 games if he maintains his current 311 yards per game pace.

• Pitt State junior linebacker Nate Dreiling ranks second in the nation in total interceptions with two. Dreiling led Pitt State with seven interceptions last season and his pick Saturday gives him 10 for his career.

Dreiling passed Troy Wilson on Saturday to become No. 6 on the Gorillas’ all-time tackles chart; he passed Wes Baker the previous week against Central Oklahoma. Dreiling rests at 321 tackles and he will need 39 more tackles to pass Andrew Poling for No. 5. Dreiling averages 11.1 tackles per game over his 29-game PSU career and given that rate, he should pass Poling over his next four games. That fourth game would be Homecoming Oct. 20 against Missouri Western.

• On a team level, Pitt State ranks 17th in total offense (489.3 yards per game), 14th in passing offense (322.3 ypg), 24th in red zone offense (89 percent), 13th in time of possession, 11th in third down conversion percentage (53.3), 27th in first downs offense (71), tied for 34th in total sacks (3.0 per game), tied for 25th in tackles for loss (9.0 per game), 27th in turnover margin (1.33) and tied for 17th in passes intercepted (6).

• The Gorillas own the No. 1 spot in the American Football Coaches Association poll released Monday, joined by MIAA schools Missouri Western (7), Washburn (9) and Northwest Missouri (12). Central Missouri and Emporia State receive votes.

• Five of the six Crawford County high school football teams possess winning records and St. Mary’s Colgan (3-0), Southeast (3-0), Pittsburg (2-1), Northeast (2-1), Girard (2-1) and Frontenac (0-3) combine for a 12-6 overall record, a .667 winning percentage.

• Northeast ended its 19-game losing streak last Monday with a 34-14 home win over Fredonia and came back Friday with a 35-6 road win over Eureka — from 19 losses in a row to a two-game winning streak in less than a week.

The Vikings and the Oswego Indians share the best overall record among Three Rivers League 11-man football teams.

The Vikings last won at least two games in a season during a 3-6 campaign in 2004. A two-game winning streak counts as the longest for Northeast since the state-playoff qualifying season of 2002.

Junior quarterback J.T. Richardson ran for a game-high, season-high and career-high 329 yards Friday night against the Tornadoes of Eureka, a whirlwind offensive performance. He’s scored all nine Northeast touchdowns, four against Fredonia and five against Eureka, including a 96-yarder. He leads all Crawford County rushers with 593 yards on 66 carries.

Northeast will have a formidable challenge this week, a road game against undefeated Galena (3-0). The Vikings and the Bulldogs last played in 2007 (Galena 55-0) and the Vikings last defeated the Bulldogs in 2003, 39-7.

• Pittsburg had its seven-game winning streak against Fort Scott snapped Friday night during a 41-20 loss at Hutchinson Field.

This seven-game winning streak (2005-2011) counts as the third-longest in the history of the series, all Pittsburg winning streaks. Only the 11-game winning streak from 1985-1995 and the nine-game streak from 1940-1947 are longer runs.

The 41 points scored by Fort Scott were the most scored by the Tigers since 1920 (75). Since 1920, Pittsburg owns a 63-27-5 series edge.

Pittsburg sophomore running back Alex Barnes upped his season total to eight touchdowns and senior quarterback Spencer Bernhardt his rushing TDs to five.

• Colgan defeated Anderson County 23-12 last Thursday night, the first meeting of the two schools in football. Anderson County plays in the Pioneer League, along with Prairie View, former SEK League member Iola, Osawatomie, Wellsville and Central Heights.

The Panthers, playing their first season in Class 3A, have a schedule of five straight Class 4A opponents — Baxter Springs, Anderson County, Frontenac, Girard and Columbus — before district play.
That Class 3A district already looks on paper like a formidable one — Colgan 3-0, Galena 3-0, Southeast 3-0 and Riverton 2-1, good for a combined 11-1 record and .920 winning percentage.

• On the junior college level, after four games, Fort Scott Community College freshman running back Stanley Hagan (Nashville, Tenn.) already has made himself known on the national stage. He recorded a season-high 225 yards in his collegiate debut against Highland and has gone over 100 yards in three of four games this season, the only exception 72 yards on 29 carries against national powerhouse Butler.

His totals of 628 yards on 135 carries rank Hagan second nationally in carries, yards and yards per game. His 4.7 yards per carry place him 35th in that statistical category. Only Terrell Lane of Hutchinson has run for more yards, 669 on 105 carries, including a 308-yard game against Garden City.