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All-Star Game

Established in 1991 by the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association, the Metro All-Star Challenge Football Game features the best high school seniors, representing both the Kansas and Missouri side of the greater Kansas City area.

From the first game in 1992, the friendly rivalry has helped promote high school football and annually showcase the area's premier players.

In recent years, interest in the game has grown dramatically to parallel the phenomenal growth of high school football in the metro area.

June 19, 2008

Ginavan Leads Kansas To 20-9 Victory

From The Olathe Daily News

Kyson Ginavan's versatility was crucial for the Olathe South football team last fall as the Falcons made a run to the Class 6A state championship game.

On display again Thursday at the Blue Valley District Activities Center, Ginavan's versatility helped pave the way to a victory for Kansas in the Metro Football Challenge XVII.

Ginavan booted a pair of field goals, a pair of extra points and four touchbacks after being pressed into duty as a kicker. He also hauled in Kansas' only completed passes, including a 25-yard bomb from former Falcons teammate Mike Keese to help ice a 20-9 victory versus Missouri.

"(BV West's) Mike Besler was supposed to be kicking, but he hurt his shoulder," Ginavan said. "I was his backup, so when he got hurt I knew I would be kicking."

Ginavan started the scoring in the second quarter when he knocked a 42-yard field goal through.

"With that wind, I thought I could make a 50-yarder," said Ginavan, who was being honored as Kansas Male Athlete of the Year at the Kansas City Sports Commission banquet around the time he put Kansas in front — where they would stay.

At that same banquet, which Ginavan missed to play in the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association's annual all-star event, the University of Missouri was awarded the Border Showdown trophy after topping the University of Kansas in the annual all-sports competition.

"Anytime, you can establish dominance between Kansas and Missouri is a good thing," Olathe Northwest graduate Nick Williams said. "That's been a rivalry since way back in the day, so anytime you get Kansas to beat a Missouri team it's great for all of Kansas."

Missouri may have been honored for winning the college battle Thursday night, but in the high school ranks it went the other way.

A crushing third-down sack by Williams set up the Kansas side's second score.

"We had a blitz off the end called, and our defensive end brought the tackle in with him and the running back went the other way," Williams said. "The quarterback (Lee's Summit's Andrew Schnell) wasn't looking my way, so I got him right in the back."

Williams' jarring sack also jarred the ball loose around the 26-yard line, where it took a picture-perfect belt-high hop to Schlagle's Eric Coulter for a fumble-return touchdown.

"That helped us get the momentum a lot," Williams said. "The first touchdown of the game always does, though, especially when it comes on defense like that."

Ahead 10-0 at halftime, two third-quarter turnovers by Kansas prevented the gap from widening, but Missouri only managed a field goal off the miscues. In the final minute of the period, Ginavan drilled a 28-yard field goal to reestablish a two-score lead for Kansas.

He and Keese then hooked up for dagger touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

From the slot, Ginavan ran a post pattern and Keese lobbed it to him in the back of the end zone.

"I've seen it so many times," said Aaron Kolich, another South graduate who played center and nose guard for Kansas. "I wasn't in for that, but it definitely looked familiar. It definitely looks different from the sideline, though."

Missouri finally found the end zone with 3:01 remaining then — for some unknown reason — missed a two-point conversion try.

Missouri's fading hopes were kept alive when the visitors recovered an onside kick, but CJ Krug, an Olathe Northwest graduate who will play quarterback at Ottawa University but lined up at safety for Kansas, intercepted a pass by Owen Lenander of St. Joseph Central.

"That kind of sealed the game there, and to beat Missouri and know we had bragging rights was an awesome feeling," Krug said. "Turnovers are always a killer. Before the game, they thought they were just going to come in and roll us, but we showed them up. They had another thing coming."

The game, of course, makes for strange bedfellows. For example, Kolich lining up shoulder to should with Olathe East graduate Matt Daniels, who was flanked on the other side by Olathe North graduate Bobby Sanchez.

"It was nice having some of those guys on my side this time," Sanchez said. "The rivalry, of course, is still there, North versus South, that kind of thing, but that doesn't affect us as players. Missouri versus Kansas brings us together. With the red jerseys on, we're just Kansas."

It even brought out long-forgotten alliances between Falcons and Hawks, if you can believe it. Daniels and Kolich, for instance, were teammates at Frontier Trail Junior High before becoming bitter rivals in high school.

"Winning the game was great, but getting to know the guys that are great football players you've never even heard of and have no idea who they are was the most fun," Daniels said. "Even the guys I lined up with that I hated since sophomore year, that was fun too."

Kolich noted: "We had our old Frontier Trail line calls going on and nobody knew what we were talking about. That was a lot of fun."

Ginavan was named the Most Valuable Player for Kansas, which got 109 yards on 18 carries from Louisburg's Jason Spradling.

"He's a hell of a running back," said Daniels, who had no idea who Spradling was before the first all-star practice. "We wanted to pound the ball with him early, try to get them to suck in like they did and everything ended up working out for us."

It was the second straight win in the series for Kansas, which now stands 10-6 all-time. But before last year, Kansas hadn't won since 2001.

"Missouri's players talk — a lot," Olathe South graduate Alex Nixon said. "You can get on Facebook and look at the groups they made and stuff like that. They think they're dominant, but that's two years in a row we've won. It's pretty exciting."

At halftime, Mark Littrell, who resigned as South's head coach to take a job in Texas, was named the Dave Bassore Kansas Coach of the Year.

"He deserves that," Kolich said. "He led us to all those wins and kept us in line. He was a good coach and knew what he was talking about. I've met the new coach (Jeff Gourley); he's pretty cool, but it won't be the same going back to a different coach."

Also at halftime, Johnson County Parks and Recreation Director Michael Meadors came up achingly short on a 40-yard field goal to win a new car.

Thursday, June 19

Metro Football Challenge XVII

at Blue Valley District Activities Complex

KANSAS 20, MISSOURI 9

MO 0 0 3 6 — 9

KS 0 10 3 7 — 20

Scoring summary

Second quarter

KS: Kyson Ginavan 42 field goal, 9:30

KS: Eric Coulter 26 fumble return (Ginavan kick), 5:48

Third quarter

MO: Sean Middleton 27 field goal, 7:03

KS: Ginavan 28 field goal, 0:56

Fourth quarter

KS: Ginavan 25 pass from Mike Keese (Ginavan kick), 6:07

MO: Nathan Paddock 16 pass from Andrew Schnell (pass failed), 3:01

Team statistics

MO KS

First downs 12 9

Rushing yards 32-39 33-109

Passing yards 189 58

C-A-I 17-32-2 3-10-1

Total yards 228 167

Fum/Lost 4-2 1-1

Pen/Yards 5-55 5-30

Individual stats

Rushing

Missouri: Tyler Hill 8-43, Donte Strickland 10-29, Jordan Simmons 6-11, James Harris 1-3, Aaron Rollin 1-3, Andrew Schnell 3-(-13), Owen Lenander 2-(-11), Morgan Ward 1-(-26); Kansas: Jason Spradling 18-109, Ryder Werts 6-8, Tyler Hunt 3-2, JD Steffen 3-(-3), Mike Keese 3-(-7).

Passing

Missouri: Schnell 11-21-1 147 yards, Lenander 6-11-1 42; Kansas: Keese 3-10-1 58.

Receiving

Missouri: Travis Mosby 8-110, Aaron Rollin 1-16, Nathan Paddock 1-16, Strickland 1-12, Justin Day 2-11, Kellen Bartlett 1-14, Kyle Knox 2-11, Jordan Simmons 1-(-1); Kansas: Kyson Ginavan 3-58.

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