Two weeks into the season, football sits with a record of 1-1. With games against Shawnee Mission West and Blue Valley West, the football team has had one home game and one away game under their belt.
The season started on the road against the Vikings of Shawnee Mission West, and the Owls were in control for all 48 minutes of the game.
In the first quarter, the Owl offense got things going with an early screen pass to junior Josh Foland, who took the catch 25 yards to the endzone. He later added another three-yard rushing touchdown in the quarter.
With an interception from junior Brody Butler and a field goal by senior Kyle Kurth, Olathe West was cruising with a 17-0 start after the first quarter.
In the second, the offense kept their foot on the gas, with sophomore Cameron Kruse completing numerous passes. One pass early in the quarter was particularly impactful, which was when Kruse found senior Tevyn Gasaway for a 60-yard touchdown pass that put the Owls up 24-0.
After a fumble on the kickoff that was recovered by the Owls special teams unit, junior Dylan Wiman made his first field goal of the night.
After another defensive stop, with two sacks by senior Chase Campbell, Kruse threw the ball up to Gasaway again for another long touchdown pass, this one from 56 yards away.
At halftime, the Owls led the Shawnee Mission West 34-0.
Entering the third quarter, the Owls were firmly in the lead. With another interception by Butler, the offense was once again on the field.
Throughout the third quarter, the rushing attack for the Owls was still strong. Foland found the endzone for his third touchdown of the day and junior running back Adrik Reeves punched the ball in for his first touchdown of the year. Senior Carter Findley also grabbed a touchdown pass.
Senior James Dorsey, junior Jalen Johnson, and senior Chase Campbell were pressuring the Viking offensive unit all game, and senior defensive back Simba Mundava notched a sack too.
With all these plays, the game was all but over after the third quarter, with the Owls up 54-0.
In the fourth quarter, the rare occurrence of a running clock was used. Shawnee Mission West went down the field for the first time all game. With all of the running plays that the Vikings did, the clock was winding down quickly.
In the final minute, SMW grabbed a touchdown to soften the lead but missed the extra point.
With the late touchdown, the game ended with the score being 54-6, the Owls moving to 1-0 on the season.
A week later against Blue Valley West was a taller task for the Owls. With the mighty Jaguars coming into CBAC and looking for a win following their 25-21 loss against St. Thomas Aquinas.
On a sunny and cool Thursday night, the Owls took the field looking for a 2-0 start to the season.
The Jags set the tone early with a touchdown on their first drive of the game, with little resistance coming from the Owls’ defense.
When the offense took the field, hope was high that the Owls could answer with a touchdown of their own. Driving down the field, the offense set up shop in Jaguar territory.
After a quick drive for the offense, the Jaguars got the ball back on a punt, but failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
A fumbled handoff between Kruse and Foland on the next play turned the ball over on a failed handoff to give BVW the ball again. This ended the quarter with BVW up 7-0.
When the defense got a clutch stop on fourth down, they could get much of a break. Kruse had a pass to junior Sam Krzykowski that got intercepted by Blue Valley West.
After a quick touchdown by the Jags offense and a fumble on the kickoff, the Owls were backed into a corner and reeling from the early miscues.
The game looked to change when junior linebacker Gray Maffitt intercepted a Jaguar pass to set up an important drive for the offense. The momentum didn’t last long however when Foland fumbled on the next play and BVW scored soon after.
With another touchdown scored for BVW, the Owls went into the locker room down 28-0 and looked to change their fortunes in the second half.
The third quarter started on a high note for the offense when Cameron Kruse found the endzone with a 4-yard touchdown run. After a missed two-point conversion, the score was 28-6.
Another touchdown for the Jaguar running back made the score 35-6 at the end of the third quarter.
An interception by junior Cole Purdy and a touchdown by sophomore Eli Ables made the score a little bit easier to swallow, as the game ended with the score of 42-12.
The Owls look to rebound on Sept. 20 when they take on the Olathe East Hawks at 7 p.m.
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