Lawrence High’s first win on a mud-caked field couldn’t have come at a better time.

Rain soaked Haskell Stadium the past two days, but it hardly slowed the Lions on Friday as they beat Free State High, 42-26, giving LHS bragging rights over its city rival.

“A lot of this comes down to Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices in whatever kind of weather that was,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said.

Senior running backs Brandon McAnderson and Chris Fulton, whom the Lions have ridden to success all season, combined for 403 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Fulton, an all-state sprinter, used his speed to turn the open field into his personal track meet, while McAnderson banged away at the Firebird defense.

After losses to Shawnee Mission Northwest and Olathe North on wet, muddy fields, it seems the Lions finally learned how to compensate for the lack of footing.

“We love the mud,” said Fulton, who had 232 yards on 18 carries, including touchdown runs of 61, 70, 38 and 2 yards. “We’ve been practicing in it. Our coaches told us that we needed to take short, choppy steps to find our footing.”

Lawrence (6-2 overall, 2-0 district), clinched at least a share of the district title, but Free State (6-2, 1-1) still can make the playoffs with a win next Friday at Topeka Washburn Rural.

At this point, that’s all FSHS coach Bob Lisher is looking for.

“We have to put this behind us and put our full focus into Washburn Rural next week,” he said.

While the mud certainly affected Free State’s passing game quarterback Matt Berner struggled to get a grip on the ball and his receivers couldn’t get their footing catching the ball was another headache.

Berner completed 14 of 29 passes for 174 yards, but couldn’t get a consistent release, or any traction for that matter. He’d slip on rollouts, on his drop or when eluding tacklers.

Lawrence High's Ryan Engle (11) and Brandon McAnderson embrace during the third quarter of their district football game. The Lions pounded Free State High, 42-26, in the intracity showdown Friday night at Haskell Stadium.

And that was just in the first quarter.

“At first, it wasn’t too bad,” Berner said. “But as the game went on, my hands dried up and got caked with mud. It made it real hard.”

He did manage to find senior Ben Gray for the game’s first score, which came on a rollout 5:26 into the first quarter. Berner eluded a would-be tackler, then nailed a sliding Gray in the front of the end zone.

It would be their only lead of the game.

On the second play of the Lions’ second drive, Fulton took a sweep around the right side and zoomed down the sideline untouched. When Derek Frink added the extra point he kicked from the right sideline to avoid the mud between the hash marks LHS took a 7-6 lead.

The Lions stopped FSHS on the next drive, taking over on their own 31, and proceeded to run the ball again. This time McAnderson got most of the work and the big play. On first and 10 from the FSHS 43, he took a handoff up the middle, was knocked around, but used his left hand to balance himself and kept on running.

Lawrence High's offense, covered in mud from the Haskell Stadium field, waits for a play during its district game against Free State High. The Lions won Friday night's intracity showdown, 42-26.

The Firebirds appeared to stop, thinking the play was over, but had to watch as McAnderson rolled into the end zone.

“He’s just a tough runner,” Wedd said. “That’s probably the third time this year when it looks like he’s been stopped, and he still scored. He’s just a load to bring down.”

After a Joe Aber touchdown cut the lead to 14-12, McAnderson scored again, this time from two yards out. Free State had a chance to score just before half, but its drive ended on its own 22 when LHS senior Kenny Poeverlein sacked Berner.

When the second half opened, Fulton kept the pressure on single-handedly, scoring two more touchdowns and stretching the LHS advantage to 35-12. Another Aber touchdown, this one a 10-yard pass from Berner, closed the gap, but Fulton added his fourth touchdown five minutes later, sealing the win.

Fittingly, Fulton’s big night pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark this season, rushing for 1,047 yards in eight games. He joined McAnderson, who had 171 yards on 22 carries, giving him 1,385 yards this year. They’re the only two backs in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in the same season.

“We’ve got so much speed in Fulton, and a big, bruising guy in McAnderson,” Wedd said, “that’s a lethal combination.”

Just ask Free State.