Olathe ? Heading into the Free State High-Olathe South game, one expected an offensive showcase of big plays and touchdowns.

That would be half right.

Free State's Cole Douglas, left, drags Olathe South's Brad Perkins, right and Marc Wagner in the third quarter. The Firebirds downed the Falcons, 27-12, Thursday evening.

The Firebirds received big plays from their skill players and grounded the Falcons’ high-flying passing attack, winning 27-12 Thursday at the Olathe District Activities Center. It was Free State’s first-ever win at ODAC, and its first against Olathe South since 1999.

“We were hoping to eliminate the big plays,” FSHS coach Bob Lisher said. “We knew it’d be tough to drive the ball the length of the field on them, so we were hoping we’d get some big plays of our own.”

It seems Lisher wrote the script for the game.

The Firebirds, 2-0, scored on touchdowns of 75, 9, 62 and 22 yards, and didn’t allow an Olathe South touchdown until 6:11 left in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Matt Berner, who threw for 254 yards in the Firebirds’ win last week, was right on target again. He completed 11 of 19 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns.

Berner had plenty of help from his receivers, especially senior Bijai Jones, who keyed the first three scores by utilizing his size on the smaller Falcon defenders.

Twice he out-leapt cornerbacks for passes, and his downfield block helped junior Cole Douglas score Free State’s first touchdown.

Of course, the FSHS offense needed some help from its defense. Olathe South missed a field goal on its opening drive, and punted on its next series. Till then, Free State hadn’t mustered any offense.

Free State's Cole Cruse, left, celebrates with teammate Bijai Jones after Jones scored a third-quarter touchdown. The Firebirds beat Olathe South, 27-12, on Thursday in Olathe.

That changed when Douglas burst through a hole, picked up the block from Jones, and rumbled 75 yards for a touchdown. Falcon cornerback Chris Hankins jumped on him at the two, but Douglas fell into the end zone.

“I didn’t even know if I got in,” he said. “But they signaled touchdown.”

When the defense halted Olathe South’s next drive at the FSHS 11-yard line, the Firebirds’ scrapped the running game and started airing it out. A 15-yarder to Jones, 13 yards to Dain Dillingham, three to Douglas, 10 more for Jones and then a 25-yard gain on third and eighteen by Dillingham brought FSHS to the Falcon 33. Berner floated the next pass high for Jones, who grabbed it, slammed to the ground and held on.

Douglas scored his second touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Berner, and the Firebirds were up 14-0.

The Falcons’ next two drives sputtered, then O-South was halted again in the third quarter deep in Firebird territory. Free State got the ball back, and Jones made the biggest catch of the night.

Berner lofted one Jones’ way, and the 6-5, 195-pound senior tipped the ball with his left hand, side-stepped the falling defender, caught the ball and raced 62 yards for the score. It was his sixth catch, giving him 131 yards.

“I’ve seen him and Dain make some pretty big catches,” Lisher said. “This is what we expect out of them.”

When Ben Gray returned an interception 22-yards for Free State’s final touchdown, the Falcons, 1-1, were done. Nevermind that quarterback Matt Schneider had completed 22 of 40 passes for 243 yards. Forget that Receiver Greg Oswalt caught 13 passes for 164 yards. And running back Shawn Allen’s 68-yard run midway through the fourth? Didn’t matter.

The top two offenses in the Sunflower League had 791 yards of total offense last week, and combined for 775 yards Thursday. But Free State got the big plays, and an even bigger win.

Simply put, it’s as big as it gets for Free State.

“Woooo, I don’t know,” Douglas said. “Last week we beat the No. 3-ranked team, this week it’s No. 2. It looks like Free State’s finally going to get some respect.”