SME vs. SMS Football Preview

After defeating the SM Northwest Cougars 37-7 last week, the Lancers look to overcome a bitter rival — the SM South Raiders.

After a two year break, the South-East rivalry will return to the football field. The team is hyped up for the match according to junior center Joe Krause.

“It’s going to be insane, we’re excited to play them again,” Krause said. “It’s going to be like the Rockhurst game last year.”

The Raiders, 3-1, haven’t had a winning season since 2001, and their last win against the Lancers was in 2009. However, the Raiders are on a three game win streak, shutting out Lansing High 27-0, taking down SM West 27-6, and defeating SM North last week 23-0.

The Lancers, 3-1, look to continue their hot streak over the last three games, defeating Lawrence 43-13, Olathe Northwest 41-0, and SMNW 37-7.

At practice this week, the team mainly focused on increasing their overall effort, and hustling at every moment of the play is their main priority according to Krause.

“We worked on our teamwork skills, and giving effort no matter what your role is in the play,” Krause said. “Looking back on some plays, we saw some guys walking at certain points. We can’t have that, and this week we really tried to cut that off.”

According to Krause, the team has had the best week of practice all year in preparation for the game, honing in on the lack of effort at certain times and replacing it with hustle.

After viewing some film from previous games, the team noticed that South’s defensive line had some weaknesses. This means East’s offense will be opting to run a majority of the time, according to Krause. The Lancers haven’t avoided the run game this year, with running back and junior Tony Friends rushing for 407 yards over the last four games.

“I think we’ll win by even more than the Northwest game,” Krause said. “Everyone on the team’s been going 110 percent, and every single player on the team is going to work to get this win.”

The rivalry returns to the gridiron on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. at Shawnee Mission North District Stadium. Tune in to smeharbinger.net for the live broadcast of the game.