Missouri Week 5 Games to Watch in Kansas City

The regular season is at the halfway point now and some teams are pulling away from others in conference races throughout the Kansas City metro area. There are some intriguing Kansas vs. Missouri showdowns that pits either powerhouse programs or state-ranked teams versus talented schools from across the border. Here’s a few games to keep an eye on <strong>Bishop Miege (Kan.) at Rockhurst</strong> The Class 4A No. 1-ranked Stags come to Kansas City to face Rockhurst in a battle of powerhouse programs, but the records don’t show that this year, so far. Bishop Miege is 1-2 — and still ranked No. 1 with three 3-0 teams behind them — and got win No. 1 last week over Class 5 No. 4-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas. Rockhurst is in a similar situation with a 1-3 mark and coming off the first win of the year. Senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="178003" first="Joe" last="Leggio"] was a bright spot last week for the Hawklets, running for 139 yards and 2 TDs in a win over Blue Springs South. <strong>Blue Valley (Kan.) West at Raytown</strong> Another Missouri vs. Kansas game against Blue Valley West (2-1) and Raytown (2-0). This game is Intriguing because it will be the first for the Blue Jays after a two-week hiatus due to COVID-19 issues within the program. The last time Raytown played, they won handily (48-6 over Raytown South) but that was the first week of September. Zhamari Gary will be a player to watch for the Blue Jays. He ran for 112 yards and 4 TDs and had three catches for 122 yard and a TD in the most recent game. He’s ran for 100-plus yards in both games. <strong>Smithville at Platte County </strong> Likely the biggest game of the week will have the Class 4 No. 1-ranked Smithville Warriors playing at Class 5 No. 7-Platte County on the road. The game will be big not only for a state-ranking angle, the two towns are rivals and this will likely determine the conference champion. Smithville has been prolific on offense and have yet to be contained. QB [player_tooltip player_id="179109" first="Andrew" last="Hedgecorth"] threw for 140 yards and 3 TDs last week, while RB [player_tooltip player_id="96156" first="Hayden" last="Sigg"] had 156 yards and 3 TDs. That combination has been making the Warriors roll. The Pirates have won three in a row and have upset ranked teams the past two weeks. Platte County’s [player_tooltip player_id="199014" first="Cole" last="Rhoden"] was a standout early in the season with two 90-plus yard TD catches. In last week’s upset win over North Kansas City, Rhoden kicked three field goals. <strong>Liberty North at Blue Springs </strong> This game features the Class 6 No. 2-ranked Liberty North Eagles facing a traditional power in Blue Springs. However, the Wildcats are struggling this year with a 1-3 record. Blue Springs was limited to 104 yards of offense in the 50-0 loss to Park Hill. RB Kyle Bruce has turned into the feature back for the Wildcats, a role that was expected to go to Manu Tapusoa, who showed promise last year. Blue Springs has some top-tier talent like Ike Ezeogu, an Iowa State commit, but are playing this year without fellow Iowa State commit and starting LB [player_tooltip player_id="104345" first="Carson" last="Willich"] due to injury. Liberty North was idle last week after COVID issues with Staley. The last time the Eagles played, they knocked off then Class 6-No. 1-ranked Raymore-Peculiar. Senior LB Tanner Sims — who has taken a visit to Division II Washburn — had nine tackles in the last game and the Eagles held Ray-Pec to 125 yards on the ground. That will be a test this week against a Blue Springs team that has mostly run the ball. <strong>Lee’s Summit North at Blue Valley North </strong> Class 6 No. 5-ranked Lee’s Summit North will put its undefeated record on the line against 3-0 Blue Valley North. The Broncos are 4-0 and already have matched last year’s win total. The most recent win was a big one, knocking off defending champion Raymore-Peculiar. QB [player_tooltip player_id="171825" first="Tre" last="Baker"] was effective in limited passing attempts last week, completing 12 of 16 passes for 141 yards and 3 TDs. The Abilene Christian commit has scored at least two TDs every game between his arm and legs.