The king isn’t dead, after all.

Perennial Class 6A state football champion Olathe North may have limped into the playoffs with three defeats, but the Eagles didn’t look a bit gimpy Friday night.

“I think they’re on a mission,” Lawrence High coach Dirk Wedd said after O-North thumped the Lions, 41-21, at Haskell Stadium. “We ran into a buzz saw.”

Both teams were sawing wood in the first half.

Thanks to Brett Urban’s 99-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff, a short Taylor Parker TD run and Parker’s eight-yard TD pass to Jeff Colter, the Lions managed a 21-21 deadlock at the break.

“In the first half, we matched them punch for punch,” Wedd said. “It was they score, you score. Then it got crazy after that.”

For certain, the Eagles threw all the punches in the second half.

The Lions, who entered with the Sunflower League’s best defensive numbers, were steamrolled by the 1-2 punch of tailback Justin Gore and quarterback Mike McCall.

Gore carried 30 times for 217 yards and two touchdowns. McCall had 15 carries for 114 yards and three touchdowns. Add ’em up and the turf-minded twosome gobbled 331 yards on 45 carries.

Lawrence stopped the Eagles on their first possession, but the Lions didn’t stop them again until their next-to-last series … and the outcome was no longer in doubt by then.

On the game’s third play, McCall threw an incomplete pass. So much for the Eagles’ aerial game. After that, O-North coach John McCall called 52 consecutive running plays, and six of them resulted in touchdowns.

Lawrence high senior John Davis reacts to the Lions' Class 6A state football playoff loss to Olathe North. LHS lost, 41-21, Friday night at Haskell Stadium.

Wingback Dustin Moomau was the other O-North player who scored. Moomau’s 18-yard run came early in the second quarter and gave the Eagles a 14-7 lead. It was Moomau’s only carry of the night. He suffered a concussion just before halftime and didn’t return.

The Eagles didn’t miss Moomau, not with Gore and McCall carrying efficiently on virtually every down. Not once did Gore, McCall or any of the other O-North backs fumble.

“To not put the ball on the ground showed great discipline by our kids,” coach McCall said.

Lawrence, the league’s leading rushing team, settled for 196 yards on 43 carries. In the second half, the Lions gained just 76 yards on 20 carries. Like the Eagles, the Lions didn’t lose a fumble, either, but Parker threw two interceptions.

“Offensively, we did some good things,” Wedd said, “but defensively we just had problems.”

Lawrence had been able to contain Gore and McCall during the first meeting — won by the Lions, 21-16, in the fifth week of the season — but not this time.

“They’re a big, strong team and they knocked us off the ball,” Wedd said. “We knew they’d line up and pound us.”

Pound the smaller Lions is exactly what the Eagles did.

“We’re not very big,” Wedd said. “We’ve had to bite and scratch all season.”

Lawrence was even smaller than usual this time because junior tackle Aaron Kie, the Lions’ biggest lineman at 260 pounds, had a sprained ankle and couldn’t play. Kie was replaced by 205-pound Tim Giblin. Wedd also had to use 180-pound Scott Penny at offensive guard in place of injured 215-pounder Brad Harrell (elbow injury).

“On the left side we had to start two guys who had one start between them,” Wedd said. “But that’s no excuse. We played as hard as we could, and we got our butts beat.”

Lawrence finished with a 7-3 record. Olathe North (7-3) will meet Shawnee Mission Northwest in the next round. The Class 6A state championship game is Nov. 29 at Memorial Stadium.

Lawrence High's Jeff Colter, left, Brett Urban, bottom, and Ian Handshy, right, bring down Olathe North running back Justin Gore. The Lions lost, 41-21, Friday at Haskell Stadium.