Thanks to a night of rain and a football game that afternoon, the field at Haskell Stadium wasn’t fit for a rodeo by the time Lawrence High and Shawnee Mission North played Saturday night.

Not that the mud slowed either offense in the Indians’ 39-28 victory against the Lions.

Lawrence High's Chris Fulton (24) ties the score with this fourth-quarter touchdown run. The Lions took the lead on a two-point conversion, but Shawnee Mission North upended the Lions, 39-28, on Saturday at Haskell Stadium.

They racked up more than 800 yards of offense, most of it coming on one big play or another. And the winner of the big play battle was SMN, which improved to 1-1.

“They just made plays and we didn’t,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said.

Not that the Lions, 1-1, were sloppy, or even slow on a field that had featured plenty of football Haskell played at 1 Saturday afternoon and was two inches deep in mud between the 30s.

LHS senior running back Brandon McAnderson had 187 yards on 20 carries, scoring on runs of 54 and 35 yards. Senior Chris Fulton was just as impressive, amassing 176 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns. His second touchdown, a 78-yard romp with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, looked to be a back-breaker. He took the ball off left tackle, cut alongside the line of scrimmage and dusted the Indians defense.

A McAnderson conversion gave LHS a 28-26 lead, and since the Indians faltered during their last three drives the Lions may have been too comfortable.

SMN returned the kickoff to their own 29, then engineered a drive of 71 yards on 13 plays that culminated with an eight-yard touchdown from quarterback Brooks Faddis to Drew Morrell with just under four minutes left.

“At halftime I thought we’d done some good things offensively. But we didn’t come out ready to play in the third quarter, which is my fault,” Wedd said.

“After Chris scored on the long touchdown, for them to take the football and march down the field on us and score, that’s not Lawrence High football.”

Three plays into their next drive Lions quarterback Tommy Mangino fumbled, and the Indians recovered at the LHS 24. Bryan Bennett, who busted an 83-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, scored again from 18 yards out.

By then, the Lions’ defense was unable to defend against the Indians’ passing attack. Faddis, who finished the game 13 of 24 for 218 yards, repeatedly found open receivers on slants, taking advantage of an LHS defense that looked tired.

Wedd said that wasn’t the case.

“No, they’re in good shape and it was a cool night,” he said.

“We need to have more kids step up and make plays. That’s it.”

The Lions also need to get healthy.

Senior linebacker Brian Seymour’s absence because of a strained left medial collateral ligament was noticeable. McAnderson’s offensive production was limited because he spent so much time on defense, and cornerbacks Taylor Parker and Brett Urban, each recovering from the flu, didn’t play much until the fourth quarter.

With Olathe East coming to Haskell next Friday, ensuring a healthy secondary becomes a priority. That and eliminating mental mistakes.

“We had a lot of missed opportunities,” Wedd said. “We had a touchdown called back because of an illegal receiver downfield and another because a sophomore made an illegal block. We just can’t do that.”