ONW WR Nathan Power goes over two Lawrence High defenders for a catch. Photo by Owen Rauckman.
Dalton Rook returned from a one-game absence and helped engineer one of many surprises during the second week of district play.
Rook, a senior quarterback for Olathe Northwest who sat out last week because of a concussion, completed 14 of 19 passes for 233 yards with two touchdowns as the Ravens stunned Lawrence on the road 21-3.
Northwest led 7-3 in the second quarter after a 7-yard touchdown run by Avery Parker and a 35-yard field goal by Lawrence’s Anthony Rosen. Rook then hooked up with Cody Sestrich on an 8-yard touchdown and connected on an 88-yard TD catch and run with 6-foot-10 senior Willie Cauley as the lead ballooned to 18 points by halftime.
It stayed there as both defense pitched second-half shutouts.
Cauley finished with seven catches for 172 yards for Northwest, 4-4, while senior running back Connor Middleton racked up 22 carries for 105 yards.
The win coupled with Free State’s 19-14 upset against Olathe North, which has lost three straight after a 5-0 start, leaves the district a muddled mess.
Free State is in control with two wins and a plus-11 scoring tie breaker.
Olathe Northwest and Lawrence are both 1-1, but the Ravens are plus-7 points and the Chesty Lions are minus-4 on the tie breaker.
Olathe North, which battles Northwest in the regular-season finale, is 0-2 in district play and minus-14.
That means the Eagles, who have played for the Kansas 6A title the last two seasons, must beat the Ravens by 11 points and needs Free State to beat Lawrence, which lost its top player, Brad Strauss, to a first-quarter ankle injury in Friday’s loss to Northwest.
