Lions have abundance of unanswered questions

On the average, Lawrence High football coach Dirk Wedd says he would like to use only four or five players on both offense and defense.

Yet eight Lions will be going both ways in tonight’s season opener against Leavenworth.

“We don’t want to play that many both ways,” Wedd said, “but we don’t have a whole lot of depth right now.”

Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. at Haskell Stadium. A delayed telecast is at 10:30 p.m. on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6.

Wedd does plan to use his younger, more inexperienced players in spots in order to give his two-way players breathers. He isn’t concerned, though, about primarily using just 14 players.

“Lawrence High won the state title in ’86 with just 12,” Wedd said. “So it has been done.”

What the Lions will do this year depends largely on how they can overcome the loss of last year’s dynamic rushing duo of powerful Brandon McAnderson and blazing Chris Fulton.

On paper, it appears Wedd will replace them by a committee of juniors Jeff Colter and Ian Handshy and senior Will Thomas at tailback; senior John Davis and junior transfer Jabril Richardson at fullback; and senior Brett Urban at wingback.

“We have six kids who can run the football,” Wedd said.

Lawrence High potentially has a solid passing game, too, with quarterback Taylor Parker tossing to wide receiver Drew Cummings and tight end Josh Lawrence. But while it’s likely the Lions will pass more than in the past, option No. 1 always will be the run.

“Our strength is running,” Wedd said. “I believe in it. I think that’s how you win football games. But we do need more balance.”

With only four starters returning on offense, Wedd understands he has a work in progress. He’ll be disappointed, though, if the defense struggles early.

“I like our defense,” he said. “We’re not very big and we’ll have to play with a lot of heart, but we can run. We’re not really fast, but we can get to the ball.”

Nine of the 11 defensive starters are seniors. The other two starters are junior Colter at cornerback and sophomore Scott Penny at defensive end.

Penny, younger brother of former LHS standouts Nate Penny and Jon Penny, is the first soph to earn a starting job with the Lions in two years.

Wedd’s biggest concern is kicking. Neither punter Will Thomas nor place-kicker Liam Kirby have any game experience with those duties. Kirby also is a member of the Lions’ soccer team.

In the Pioneers, the Lions will be facing a team that hasn’t had a winning season since 1990. Leavenworth, 2-7 last season, didn’t roll over in the 2002 opener against the Lions, hanging tough late before bowing, 34-20.

Tonight, Wedd hopes the Pioneers have just as many or more question marks than he has.

“Hopefully,” he said, “they’re feeling their way like we are.”

Lawrence High has won 26 straight games from the Pioneers. Leavenworth’s last victory was a 13-0 decision in 1973.