If Lawrence High's football team has proven anything the first two weeks, it's that the Lions come to play in the fourth quarter.
In the opener, LHS scored 14 fourth-quarter points to rally for a 17-11 victory over Shawnee Mission North. In Manhattan on Friday, the Lions scored with 3:14 remaining to pull within six points before MHS ran out the clock to secure a 20-14 victory.
The Lions (1-1) didn't allow a point in the fourth quarter of either game.
"We stressed to them playing the full 48 minutes," LHS head coach Dirk Wedd said. "I think they're starting to believe what we're trying to get across as far as having strong practices and outworking the opponent."
On fourth-and-goal late in the fourth quarter, LHS quarterback Bryce McMichael connected with Ryan Phelps on a 12-yard touchdown pass
"We're a fourth-quarter team like we showed against Shawnee Mission North," Phelps said. "If we make one more stop or have one more minute, I think we would've won that game (against Manhattan)."
McMichael and Phelps hooked up for both LHS scores. In the second quarter, McMichael dumped a short pass over the middle to Phelps that resulted in a 59-yard touchdown. Phelps, a 5-6, 170-pounder, broke a tackle after making the catch before darting to the end zone.
"I thought we improved a great deal from the first game, but we still have a long ways to go," Wedd said. "We played really hard, but sometimes not real smart. We have to do a better job coaching, teaching technique and assignment."
SM North and Manhattan have been able to pick on Lawrence's secondary. North QB Danny Bartlett threw for 213 yards and Manhattan QB Danny Wilson threw for 189 yards. The Lions, though, have yet to surrender a TD pass and the longest pass thrown against LHS is 30 yards.
"We commit both our ends and linebackers to stopping the run because that's what scared us," Wedd said of Manhattan. "That leaves basically four people back there to defend the pass. The flats are going to be open when you afford that many people against the run."
LHS sophomore strong safety Rob Scott, whose brother, Riley, was the Lions' quarterback last season, intercepted Wilson twice and recovered a fumble.
"Rob's a very instinctive player and very intelligent," Wedd said.
Scott is one of two sophomores on the Lions' roster.
"I thought we played very hard, played like Lions," he said. "We didn't get down on each other and we fought back but fell short."
Next for the Lions is Shawnee Mission West (2-0) on Friday. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Haskell Stadium.
Brown to concentrate on track: Lawrence High senior speedster Charles Brown, a running back, defensive back and kickoff and punt returner, has quit the Lions' football team to concentrate on track.
Brown dinged his left knee -- the same one he injured early his junior season -- in last Tuesday's practice. He played in the Lions' opener on Sept. 3 but did not travel to Manhattan.
"He talked it over with his parents and he thinks he's a Div. I track athlete, which very easily could be," Wedd said. "He banged his knee and it scared him."
Brown was a state track qualifier last spring in the 100, 200 and 400.
-- Steve Rottinghaus' phone message number is 832-7152. His e-mail address is srottinghaus@ljworld.com
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