Overland Park ? Three touchdowns counted. Three touchdowns didn’t.

Fortunately for Lawrence High, three TDs were enough to post a 21-7 Sunflower League football victory against Shawnee Mission East on Friday night at SM North District Stadium.

Brandon McAnderson ran for two touchdowns that counted and two that didn’t. Chris Fulton ran for one TD and another that was wiped out.

Penalties, penalties, penalties. Eight for 79 yards.

“That’s just not indicative of our team as far as discipline,” said Lawrence High coach Dirk Wedd, who was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct in the fourth quarter after arguing too vehemently about, yes, a penalty.

At least Wedd’s 15-yarder  his second in four years as a head coach  didn’t wipe out a touchdown.

Here’s a rundown of the Lions’ phantom touchdowns:

l First quarter: Fulton 60 yards. Flag: Illegal use of hands.

l Third quarter: McAnderson 57 yards. Flag: Unnecessary roughness.

l Fourth quarter: McAnderson 38 yards. Flag: Holding.

Each time, McAnderson said, he suspected something was amiss.

“I could tell the way the players were celebrating,” McAnderson said. “That sure didn’t feel good to me.”

Still, despite the two erasures, McAnderson put up big numbers. The 6-foot, 210-pounder carried 29 times for 207 yards and scored twice on runs of 16 and five yards against the second-best defense in the league.

It was also McAnderson, playing linebacker, who stuffed SM East’s ball-carrier Collin Cooper when the Lancers faced fourth and goal at the Lions’ one with time running out in the first half.

If SM East had scored, the Lancers would have forged a 14-14 tie and regained momentum.

“It was really intense,” McAnderson said of that goal-line stand. “We heard ’em say, ‘Same play, same play.’ Our style is to keep hitting and see how they react, and they didn’t react.”

SM East never scored again despite advancing a couple of times inside the Lions’ 20.

Lancers coach Todd Dain said the goal-line stop before halftime hurt his team’s chances.

“It was crucial,” he said. “But we had other opportunities, and you don’t get very many in a 48-minute game. We were still confident, but that was big.”

Lawrence High nursed its one-touchdown lead until early in the fourth quarter when Chris Fulton exploded down the left sideline and rambled 50 yards into the end zone.

No flags this time.

Fulton, a 6-1, 180-pound senior, finished with 141 yards on 14 carries. He and McAnderson carried 43 times and gained all but seven of the Lions’ 355 rushing yards.

Eventually, Dain knew, the Lions’ 1-2 running punch and their big offensive line would wear the Lancers down.

“We did some things well,” Dain said, “but they outweighed us about 500 pounds up front.”

What SM East (1-5) did best was control the ball. The Lancers ran 12 more plays than the Lions (71-58), but the Lions outgained them 406 yards to 223. SM East also posted a goose egg in turnovers.

Lawrence climbed to 4-2 overall and in the league by bouncing back from last week’s disappointing 20-6 home loss to Olathe North.

“We had a lot to prove after last week,” Wedd said. “Our defense really played well. We probably made more adjustments on defense than anything at halftime, and we had a great second half defensively.”

Notes

 Lawrence High booster Jim Fender was ejected in the fourth quarter after complaining to the official who threw the flag on Wedd for unsportsmanlike conduct. Fender returned after the game and was escorted out again.

 The Lions will begin district play next Friday against Washburn Rural. They’ll play host to intra-city rival Free State in two weeks.