Free State High football coach Bob Lisher can pretty much forget about a career as an oddsmaker.
"Olathe South is (ranked) fifth in the state. It wasn't going to be easy," Lisher said of the No. 4-ranked Firebirds' 56-45 win over the Falcons on Friday night. "We thought maybe it'd be a 21-14 game, but obviously, we don't know what we're talking about."
Just for the record, Olathe South led 21-14 with 2:38 remaining in the first quarter.
In fact, after jumping to an early 7-0 advantage, Free State (1-1 overall, 1-1 Sunflower League) didn't have the upper hand again until regaining the lead for good at 49-45 with 8:52 remaining.
"I'm going to need a cardiologist on the sidelines with me from now on," Lisher quipped. "Those are the games that I'm sure are fun to watch and it's fun when we come out on top, but I don't like being in that situation.
"I would like to have a game one time where we're three or four or five touchdowns ahead, where everybody can play and I can relax."
All told, the game featured 101 points, 964 yards total offense and nine touchdowns of 20 yards-or-longer, including five TDs of at least 75 yards.
"They kind of make you nervous once in a while," FSHS senior quarterback Nate Vail said of high-scoring games. "But offensively, this is the best game we've had yet. Jake Lawrence did a very good job of running. T.K. Peterson did a great job of receiving and running with the ball."
Lawrence, Free State's senior running back-linebacker, certainly had a hand in the offensive eruption.
In the greatest individual effort in Free State history -- if not city history -- Lawrence had 218 yards rushing, 302 total yards and five touchdowns -- including runs of two, four, 75 and 76 yards and a 77-yard TD reception.
"Jake has the ability to find small creases in the offensive line, explode through them and make people miss," Lisher said. "Some of the creases weren't very big, but Jake has the ability to get through them.
"And then he can go around you, out-run you or certainly can go through you."
Lawrence set new school records for rushing yards, total yards and touchdowns in a game. The senior also led the way on defense, notching a team-high 10 tackles with two for losses and a sack.
Peterson also contributed on both sides of the ball, making three grabs for a school-record 136 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a fumble recovery and a key block on one of Lawrence's scampers.
Some of the credit went to the offensive line -- senior tight end T.K. Peterson, senior left tackle Connor Treanor, senior left guard Jeremiah Feurt (who also had an interception), senior center Thomas Champion, senior right guard Jimmy Hahn and senior right tackle Wayne Cobb.
"I was very impressed in the offensive line," Lisher said after watching films. "That was a pleasant surprise. Our offensive line from the Olathe North game to the Olathe South game made a tremendous improvement. The way they knew their assignments and their techniques really stood out."
The win didn't always go according to plan, though, especially late in the second quarter when Free State was flagged for jumping offsides and roughing the passer on an Olathe South scoring drive.
The Firebirds also suffered a delay of game penalty in the closing minute of the first half while trying to set up a hook and ladder play.
"He was pretty worked up," Vail said about Lisher during intermission.
The Free State coach didn't disagree, either.
"We went in and made some adjustments," Lisher said. "We talked to them a little bit about what it means to play defense in this town and how we need to step it up and start making some plays."
Free State travels to Shawnee Heights for a game Friday night. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
-- Robert Sinclair's phone message number is 832-7185. His e-mail address is rsinclair@ljworld.com.
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