Overland Park ? Do you believe in miracles? Shawnee Mission East does.

Wide receiver Roy Loren caught a last-ditch pass in the end zone with only :29 on the clock and the Lancers stunned Free State High, 21-17, in the first round of the Class 6A state football playoffs.

“We had good coverage,” Free State coach Bob Lisher said after he had spoken to his wet-eyed players following Friday night’s game at SM South District Stadium, “but their guy made a great play.”

Free State appeared to have shaken the pesky Lancers (4-6), the only 6A team in the playoffs with a losing record, with 4:21 remaining when junior Will Malcolm booted a 32-yard field goal against the wind to snap a 14-14 deadlock.

But SM East started on its own 35 after the kickoff and had marched to the Free State 30 when running back Andy Relihan was thrown for a five-yard loss on third and five. Quickly, SM East called time with only 36 ticks left.

Once play resumed, the Lancers faced a fourth-and-10 situation and they went for the bundle.

Loren, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior, streaked down the left sideline as Free State cornerback Stanley Redwine, playing with his right hand in a cast because of a broken bone, matched him step for step.

As both players reached the end zone, Loren leaped and the 5-11, 165-pound Redwine leaped as well. For a moment, it appeared Lewis’s pass had bounced away, but Loren held on to the ball and fell to the end zone grass.

As Redwine lay near him in despair, Loren jumped up, erupted into a dance and earned a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty that forced Matt Miller to kick a 35-yard conversion.

Free State wasn’t done, though. After the kickoff, quarterback Matt Berner connected with Dain Dillingham for 24 yards and Bijai Jones for 11 more, but time was running out and Berner’s desperation pass into the end zone with only one second remaining was intercepted by Kyle Zeller.

“Football games don’t come down to one play,” Lisher said. “There were tons of opportunities to make plays and they made them.”

Free State High's Will Malcolm walks into the end zone untouched freed by offensive lineman Misha Hernandez (56) for the first of the junior running back's two touchdowns. Malcolm scored all of the Firebirds' points in a 21-17 first-round state playoff loss to Shawnee Mission East on Friday night at Shawnee Mission South District Stadium.

Actually, both teams missed several opportunities. In the first half, SM East coughed the ball up three times :quot; two fumbles and an interception :quot; but the Firebirds didn’t convert any of the gaffes into points and settled for a 7-0 halftime lead.

Then the Firebirds’ only lost fumble of the night, a muffed punt by Dillingham, led to the Lancers’ first touchdown in the third quarter. Free State answered with an mistake-free 81-yard, 15-play drive to post a 14-7 advantage, but the Lancers came right back to go 64 yards in 12 plays to knot the count at 14-14 with 8:01 remaining.

Less than four minutes later, Malcolm converted the go-ahead field goal, then Loren made his spectacular catch and Free State’s season ended with a 7-3 record.

“Our kids played hard,” Lisher said. “They had a tremendous season compared to where we’ve been.”

Ironically, Free State made the playoffs last year with a 3-6 record :quot; the same record SM East brought into Friday’s clash.

Free State High's Cole Douglas is hammered after pulling in a short pass. Shawnee Mission East stopped the Firebirds, 21-17, Friday night at SM South.

If not for Loren’s game-winning reception, Malcolm would have been Friday night’s hero. The 5-11 junior scored all 17 of the Firebirds’ points with TD runs of 10 yards and one yard, two extra-point kicks and the field goal.

“Will stepped up and did a good job,” Lisher said. “He had some nice runs.”

Joe Aber started at tailback in place of the ailing David Allen, but Malcolm replaced Aber on the Firebirds’ third offensive series, finishing with 46 yards in 15 carries. Allen, the team’s leading rusher, sat out the last two games with a bruised leg.

Douglas led the Firebirds with 62 yards on six carries, all in the second half.

“We played well,” Lisher said. “We just didn’t finish.”

:quot; Sports editor Chuck Woodling can be reached at 832-7147.