So much for momentum.
Fresh off its best offensive outing of the season, Lawrence High fizzled Thursday night in a 10-6 football loss to Shawnee Mission South at SM South District Stadium.
From the get-go, the Lions stumbled. LHS was penalized for holding three times on its first series and never recovered as the Raiders, tops in the Sunflower League defending the run, stuffed Lawrence.
"We played very poorly," said LHS coach Dirk Wedd, whose squad has lost three in a row to dip to 1-3. "They took the run away and that hurt us a great deal. They were covering all five of our linemen. We couldn't get the ball to the edge. We got beat up front."
The Lions, averaging 221.3 yards entering the contest, finished with a season-low 85 rushing yards on 34 carries.
"We couldn't run between the tackles and it hurt us a lot," LHS senior quarterback Bryce McMichael said. "They shut us down. Words can't describe how disappointed we are right now. We came in fairly confident. To lose like that is like having your heart torn into 1,000 pieces."
The Raiders (2-2) led 10-0 heading into the fourth quarter. With 4:21 left in the first half and facing third down and 32 yards, junior running back Adam Stephens broke loose for a 49-yard touchdown run on a draw play.
South junior Kyle Vohland booted a 28-yard field goal with 5:53 left in the third quarter for the Raiders' final points.
"Defense, golly, what an awesome performance by them," said third-year South coach Brett Potts, now 2-1 against the Lions. "I'm so proud of our defensive staff and the defensive players because they took it on their backs tonight and they carried us."
The Lions scored their lone touchdown with 8:54 left in the game when Jason Fender plunged into the end zone from one yard out on fourth down. LHS didn't regain possession until 43 seconds remained after the Raiders turned the ball over on downs at the Lions' 23-yard line. The Lions drove to their 40, where McMichael was sacked as time expired.
"Our defense was on the field the whole game," Wedd said. "I'm sure there's a certain amount of exhaustion. They took a lot of snaps. We needed that one more stop so we could have some time to move the football."
South converted twice on fourth and inches to run off eight minutes from the clock in the final period.
Third-string quarterback Brian McConnell, normally a free safety, guided the Raiders in the second half after replacing hurting backup Andy Walter (shin injury) at halftime.
"With only a few reps he came in and did that," Potts said. "He deserves some credit. He played defense all week."
Stephens, the third leading rusher in the league, finished with a game-high 154 yards -- 92 in the second half -- on 23 carries.
"You couldn't have done that without good stuff up front," Potts said.
The Lions' defense, burned for 421 yards by SM West last week, surrendered a season-best 227 yards to the Raiders.
"It seems like we can't get the whole team to play together at once," said LHS junior linebacker Dustin Gooden, who forced a fumble in the first half.
Looming next for LHS is top-ranked Olathe North, the three-time defending Class 6A state champion. Kickoff is 7 p.m. next Thursday at Olathe District Activities Center.
"We'll find out what were made of," Wedd said. "It'll be a good character test for us."
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.