Prospect Matchup: Sectional Round Preview

It's Sectional Round time in the Sunflower State, which means we're only a few weeks away from Championship Saturday. After an eventful Regional Round, a new state champion will be crowned in Class 5A and Class 4A. Those will be the two classification levels I'll be previewing in this report.    On paper the quarterfinal matchups taking place in the Kansas City metro and surrounding counties shape up to be just as good as the games from last week. This week's slate of games features matchups between old playoff foes, and a big-time rematch between two United Kansas Conference programs. Be sure to check out the action and see who advances to the state semifinals.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Leavenworth 5A (9-1) @ Basehor-Linwood 5A (10-0)</h2>   Starting us off first is the UKC rematch I mentioned above. Basehor-Linwood and Leavenworth finished the regular season as the top two teams in their conference. Their meeting back in Week 1 ultimately was the deciding factor in the Bobcats claiming the UKC crown over the Pioneers. Since that meeting both squads have put together two of the longest winning streaks in Class 5A. A win for the Bobcats would give them their most victories since 2016. For the Pioneers, a win would continue their special season and would give them their first Sub-State birth since 2014. Safe to say these league rivals will head into Friday night with extra motivation.    One matchup folks should be excited to see is between seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1260097' first='DyVair' last='McCray'] of Leavenworth and [player_tooltip player_id='1114730' first='Nash' last='Morrison'] of Basehor-Linwood. McCray is likely to be heavily involved in Leavenworth's game plan on both sides of the ball. He'll be used to help limit Morrison and Basehor's passing attack, and offensively he's capable of creating some big plays. On the other side, Morrison will surely be targeted heavily. Back in Week 1, Morrison helped lead the Bobcats to victory as he caught six passes for 94 yards and one score.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mill Valley 5A (8-2) @ St. James Academy 5A  (9-1)</h2>   On the other side of the Class 5A East bracket is a clash between two of the more prominent programs in the KC metro. After a seven year hiatus the Mill Valley Jaguars and the Thunder of SJA are set to rekindle their old EKL rivalry. Mill Valley is coming off what some might call ‘Game of the Year', as they took down reigning 5A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas 28-27 during Regionals. The Thunder on the other hand extended their winning streak to eight games after defeating a tough Spring Hill squad. Mill Valley has gotten the better of St. James in this rivalry. But with a trip to the semifinals on the line, the Thunder are sure to give the Jaguars one heck of a fight.    In order for the Thunder to come out victorious they must find ways to slow down Mill Valley's ground game. A player that can assist in accomplishing that goal is senior linebacker Gavin Puchalla. Through two postseason games, Puchalla has recorded nine total tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack. For Mill Valley, they'll obviously want to get their rushing attack going early. That's where junior Max Piva comes in. Piva is averaging over nine yards per carry and has hit pay dirt 19 total times this season.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bishop Miege 4A (5-5) @ Eudora 4A (9-1) </h2>   My third Sectional Round preview is the matchup between the Bishop Miege Stags and the Eudora Cardinals. For many years now Miege has dominated rural area teams. They've even prevented Eudora from advancing in the playoffs on multiple occasions. However, the Cardinals are one of the few Class 4A programs that have hung tough with the Stags in recent years. It will be interesting to see if Miege advances to yet another Sub-State, or could this be the year that a rural area program takes down Goliath? We'll find out Friday night.   There are two dynamic prospects two watch for in this one and they are Vinny George of Miege (Jr.) and [player_tooltip player_id='1619536' first='Sy' last='Thomas'] of Eudora (So.). George has found the end zone multiple times so far this postseason, and he's a player Miege likes to get the ball to often. Thomas has been a baller since he burst onto the varsity scene last year, and he shined during Regionals. The sophomore threw a 37-yard touchdown pass and came up with a 76-yard pick six in Eudora's win over Paola.

It's Sectional Round time in the Sunflower State, which means we're only a few weeks away from Championship Saturday. After an eventful Regional Round, a new state champion will be crowned in Class 5A and Class 4A. Those will be the two classification levels I'll be previewing in this report.