No. 9 Rock Bridge (2-1) vs No. 1 Lee’s Summit West (3-0)

7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12 at Lee’s Summit West

Overview:

The Bruins recovered from a brutal season-opening loss to now-No. 5 Rockhurst to defeat DeSmet and new crosstown rival Battle. A rain delay in last week’s game helped the Bruins come back from a slow start to beat the Spartans 25-11. They enter Week 3 ranked No. 9 in the Class 6 Sportswriters Poll and No. 10 in the MaxPreps rankings. The LSW Titans have played a slightly easier schedule than RBHS so far, easily defeating their first two unranked opponents before holding off third-ranked Class 5 Winnetonka 47-38. They sit in the top spot in the rankings entering play this week.

Breaking it down:

The Bruins have been an enigma so far this year. Their Week 1 shellacking gave the appearance of a weak team unlikely to finish the season with a respectable record. However, after the development in the weeks since, they seem to be back on the right foot. RBHS head coach A.J.Ofodile attributes some of this turnaround to an increased focus on assignment-oriented football. 

“That’s what we’v e been trying to do since the Rockhurst game,” Ofodile said. “We kinda lost our heads a little bit, lost sight of where our eyes need to be. We just weren’t fundamentally sound in the first game. Instead of getting fancy, we’ve just been really working on the basic things. Our guys the last couple of weeks have done a better job with that.”

With the increased focus on fundamental defense, the Bruins will look to control the Titans’ potent offensive scheme.

Key Players:

• QB–Logan Twehous has a 57 percent completion rate (brought down by a 12-for-23 game vs. Rockhurst) and two interceptions. He’s improved as the season has gone on. Expect him to come up big against the Titans. The Titans counter with Brice Kreikemeier (69%, 1 INT). Kreikemeier is also a threat to run, who has 111 rushing yards (37  YPA).

• WR–Alex Ofodile, after gathering only 40 receiving yards against Rockhurst, has 297 yards on the season on 16 receptions. (18.6 YPC) Other contributors include Johnson (at tight end), Taten Lyngstad (slot reciever), and Malik Gleason. While they’re not significant big-play threats, they help spread the field and allow Ofodile to use his speed to make plays.

• RB-Nick Collins has been a huge addition to the Bruin offense this year. And huge is an understatement. He has 326 rushing yards, a whopping 109 yards per game. (5.6 yards per carry). His presence allows for a multi-dimensional attack for RBHS. Twehous had words of praise for his new offensive asset. “He’s an amazing back and an even better person,”Twehous said. “I love him, we’re always hanging out. He’s a hard runner, he’s fast, he’s great in protection. He’s pretty much all you can ask for out of a back.”

• Defense-Trey Smith had a big game for the Bruins last week, coming up with a goal-line interception and a few defended passes. The Titans have a stout run defense, but gave up 341 passing yards last week.

Extra points:

Twehous has pretty high expectations for this year. He’s set his sights pretty high, especially for Week 4.

“I’m excited. This team, we still have a lot of things that need to be answered depth-wise,” Twehous said. People need to “relax and focus on their assignments. If people do that then I think we can make it back to the dome pretty easily. Each week’s a test. If you lose one week it’s not the end of the world. I’m really excited for this next one.”

Prediction:

The Titans’ close win in Week 3 shows that they’re not invincible. They’re not the unmovable #1 that Blue Springs was last season. If the Bruins can play to their full potential this week, a win should be within reach. However, I think that the Bruins are not a developed enough team to defeat LSW. At least not in Week 4.
Lee’s Summit West 35, Rock Bridge 21.