Bouknight runs over FSHS in showdown of unbeatens – Olathe North 35, Free State 7

? Free State High football coach Bob Lisher didn’t want to look for a silver lining.

One could hardly blame him.

Asked if there was anything positive to take from the Firebirds’ 35-7 loss to Olathe North on Friday at the Olathe District Activity Center, Lisher simply said no.

“We didn’t play well at all. Olathe North played hard, they hit hard, they tackled hard,” Lisher said. “They did everything better than we did.”

If the Eagles, 6-0 and riding a 31-game winning streak, have any weaknesses, they didn’t show especially when it came to their running game and standout back, Jim Bouknight.

He piled up 179 yards on 18 carries before halftime, scoring on runs of 39, 5 and 60 yards, breaking numerous tackles at and after the line of scrimmage. He added another 80 yards most of it on a 60-yard scamper on five carries early in the third quarter before coming out after scoring with more than seven minutes left in the quarter. The Eagles didn’t falter without him, piling up 428 yards on 57 attempts.

Free State couldn’t match any of that production. Quarterback Matt Berner was under constant pressure, overthrowing receivers, while the running game went nowhere against the Eagles defense. That wasn’t a surprise, considering North came into the game allowing 56 yards rushing, but the passing problems were uncharacteristic.

“About everything you expected to go wrong did,” Lisher said. “Mentally, it just didn’t seem like we were ready.”

That part was particularly distressing to Lisher, whose team suffered its first loss of the season. The Firebirds came in averaging 25 points a game and nearly 400 yards of total offense. Combined with the best start in school history, Lisher didn’t think motivation would be a problem.

“We just need to compete in these types of games,” he said. “We haven’t been in any. That’s no excuse, but that’s what we need to do.”

Free State assistant coach Brad Romme, left, consoles wide reciever Ben Gray. The Firebirds lost to Olathe North, 35-7, on Friday in Olathe.

Eagles coach Gene Wier was more complementary to FSHS, acknowledging that his team’s experience and slightly more physical style of play were the biggest factors.

“They’re a good football team. We’re just a little bit bigger than they are,” Wier said.

The one advantage the Firebirds should have had their passing game was off and on, and didn’t start to click until the second quarter.

Down 14-0 early in the second, Berner overthrew Cole Cruse down the right sideline to open a drive, but connected with Dain Dillingham for a short gain on the next play. On third and seven, Berner finally had some time and hit Cruse for 27 yards down the middle. After an incomplete pass, a short pass to Dillingham and a sack, Free State tried to convert a fourth and 10, but the pass was well over Cruse’s head.

It didn’t seem like a big deal, because the offense had finally moved the ball, but Bouknight then ripped off a 60-yard touchdown run. He took a sweep right, broke two tackles along the sideline, stayed in bounds, then cut back, outrunning the Firebird defense.

It wasn’t the final score, but that seemed to do it.

“Basically, we were getting to him at the line of scrimmage. (But) you have to wrap up on a back like Bouknight,” Lisher said. “That was something we worked on this week, but we didn’t do it.”

Free State finally scored with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter, when Berner hit Bijai Jones for a 13-yard score.

“They had guys that made plays,” Lisher said. “The people we needed to make plays weren’t stepping up and making them.”