St. Thomas Aquinas hosts Lawrence High Friday night at 7 p.m.
Both teams are 4-0. The Saints came back from down three touchdowns to defeat SM Northwest last week, 35-34. The Chesty Lions defeated Bishop Carroll (Wichita), 37-28, in Lawrence.
Lawrence is coached by Steve Rampy, who won four state championships and nine Eastern Kansas League titles while coach at Blue Valley from 1985 to 2009.
Kpreps.com ranks Lawrence No. 1 in Class 6A, and Aquinas No. 1 in Class 5A.
"Lawrence is another challenge for this team," said Aquinas coach Randy Dreiling. "We've had to be competitive every week this season, and we've met that. We've had a number of players answer the call. We'll need that again against Lawrence. Everyone needs to do their job."
The Saints average margin of victory over four games this season is 33-21.
While they have a clear margin in first downs (92-62), they and their opponents both are having success converting third and fourth downs (34 of 71 for Aquinas; 29 of 73 for opponents).
"Last week in the second half against Shawnee Mission Northwest, our defense did a great job of getting their offense off the field," said Dreiling. "Lawrence also is explosive on offense, so, as usual, we will need the defense to bring their best effort and be sound all game long."
The Saints continue to dominate on average in the running game, 313-112. And last week the passing game came alive with 183 yards.
On offense, senior fullback, Tyron "Tank" Young, is averaging 200 rushing yards per game. Sophomore fullback, Sean Carroll, is averaging 72.
Junior wideout Evan Kammerer has 144 receiving yards and three touchdown catches.
Following his winning punt return touchdown last week, junior Dajni Brooks is averaging 29 yards per punt return. Brooks also has 14 solo tackles, two breakups, a tackle for loss, and an interception return for a touchdown against Raytown.
Senior defensive lineman, Caden Reeves, leads the team tackle chart with 12 hurries, three tackles for loss, and three sacks. Three other defensive linemen, Jalen Marshall, Cameron Penny, and Sa'o Siavi'i, follow Reeves on the tackle chart.
Sophomore defensive back, Jacob Bittner, has 19 solo tackles and five pass breakups. Senior safety, Elias Carson, has 27 tackles.
