1. St. Thomas Aquinas

Last week: Defeated BV West 38-35 (3OT)

The Saints probably shouldn’t have even been in overtime against the Jaguars were it not for some clock-management issues on the final drive in regulation. Still, coach Mike Thomas was understandably proud of the way his squad gutted out a tough win.

2. Blue Valley West

Last week: Lost to St. Thomas Aquinas 38-25 (3OT)

The Jaguars showed a lot of guts, too, scoring two late touchdowns to force overtime. BV West actually dominated from a yardage standpoint, outgaining the Saints 402-258 with a near perfect balance between run and pass. Penalties hurt coach Scott Wright’s bunch a couple of times.

3. Blue Valley Northwest

Last week: Defeated Gardner Edgerton 28-21

The Huskies, who opened the season with losses to St. Thomas Aquinas and BV West, returned to .500 with back-to-back solid showings against Bishop Miege and Gardner Edgerton. But the road doesn’t get any easier with Blue Valley up next.

4. Blue Valley

Last week: Defeated Bishop Miege 28-12

It has been a roller coaster season already for the Tigers, and not just for the offense, which is breaking in a new quarterback. The defense also struggled the previous two weeks, but things seemed to come together for Logan Brettell and the Tigers’ D. Now, the trick is striving for consistency.

5. Bishop Miege

Last week: Lost to Blue Valley 28-12

The Stags’ offensive struggles continued and remain a problem for first-year coach Jon Holmes and a squad that believed – and still does believe – that it can contend for the Kansas 5A title. But Miege has a long, long way to go before making that a remote reality.

6. Blue Valley North

Last week: Defeated BV Southwest 31-28

So long 13-game losing skid. The Mustangs knocked off a Timberwolves team that won six games last season and took St. Thomas Aquinas to the wire two weeks ago. As the defense continues to improve, BV North could pick up a couple more wins, but toppling the unbeaten Saints will be tough.

7. Blue Valley Southwest

Last week: Lost to BV North, 31-28

The Timberwolves played St. Thomas Aquinas tough and knocked off Gardner Edgerton despite coughing up 224 yards to junior running back Traevohn Wrench, but they seemed to overlook BV North. Coach Bill Lowe and his seniors, who have high hopes for the season, want to believe it was a blip on the radar.

8. Gardner Edgerton

Last week: Lost to BV Northwest 28-21

The Trailblazers’ losing streak has reached three. The only win so far came in a tropical depression when Gardner Edgerton scored on the opening kickoff against Blue Valley and never again. Now they face a motivated Jaguars team, which lost in triple overtime the previous week and is a threat both running and passing.

| Tod Palmer, tpalmer@kcstar.com