It's hard to believe, but at halftime of games tonight, the regular season for high school football in Kansas will be half way over.
One of the greatest parts of sports is the rivalry, and rarely will you find a better one than when two schools in the same community square off. How close are Andover & Andover Central? For starters, they share a field, so even though one team will be home, and one away, they will both be playing at their home stadium. If that's not the definition of a turf war, then I don't know what is.
The Andover Trojans won three games in the past two years, but this year they've enjoyed a renaissance of sorts with three wins in the first four games. It's safe to say the Trojans are riding high coming into the rivalry game with the Jags.
For the Jaguars, success has been a given the past 6 years, having made the state playoffs every years since then. This season they've had a tough early schedule with losses to the second-ranked team in 6A (Derby) and a Maize South team that is not ranked, but still undefeated, leaving them with a 2-2 record entering the Battle for Andover.
For the top team in 5A, it's been a pretty easy ride through the first half of the season. The Bishop Carroll Golden Eagles had to face perrenial City League power Wichita Heights in the first game of the season, but then dominated North, South & West in weeks two through four. Those three teams currently have a combined record of 2-11. Next on the docket for Bishop Carroll is a date with their west-side rival, Wichita Northwest.
The Grizzlies have fired out to a 3-1 record so far, having dropped their week two game at Dodge City. Northwest has used it's dual-threat quarterback Chris Hughes to knock off Kapaun Mt. Carmel, Wichita East & Southeast so far this season.
With only a mile separating these two schools, emotions will be riding high in the first of two rivalry weeks for Carroll. Coming off this west-side rivalry game, Bishop Carroll will next face rival Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
With a three-week district system in place for determining playoff berths, Week 5 marks the second-to-last chance for teams to correct any mistakes before districts start in Week 7.
U Pick 'Em will once again be the game to play this season. Everyone is invited to sign up and compete against the Eyewitness Sports team. Anyone who beats KWCH Sports Director Bruce Haertl in a given week will be eligible to win a prize, plus you can compete against your friends to see who is the king or queen of high school football.
A new addition to the line-up this season is the Catch It Kansas Tailgate Party. The Crew from KSCW and Bruce Haertl will be at a different game each week, and will be live in newscasts at 4:00, 5:00 & 6:00. If you're going to be at the game in Maize this week, be sure to come early for the chance to win prizes and eat a brat to support the Salthawk booster club.
Click here for the weekly CatchItKansas.com Football Rankings
CatchItKansas.com and KWCH 12 Eyewitness Sports will be across the state on Friday, bringing the most complete coverage of high school football in the state of Kansas. Below are all the game you can expect coverage from on KWCH 12 Eyewitness Sports, and the Catch It Kansas Show on KSCW 33, Cable 5 at 11:00 pm on Friday night.
#1 Bishop Carroll @ Wichita Northwest
#3 Garden Plain @ Cheney
Salina South @ #1 Hutchinson
