Topeka ? Don’t expect to see the football in air too often tonight at Washburn Rural.

Lawrence High ranks 11th in the 12-team Sunflower League in passing yards (457) and pass attempts (49).

Washburn Rural throws the ball even less than the gravity-friendly Lions.

“They run the football, and they have an outstanding running back,” said LHS coach Dirk Wedd, whose team will open Class 6A district play at 7 p.m. against the Junior Blues of the Centennial League. “They’re a lot like us. They just pound it and pound it. If you don’t stop them, they’ll have the football for a long time. For us to be successful, we have to have the football.”

Junior Mark Stotts leads Washburn Rural (4-2) with 749 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, but he’s not Rural’s only weapon. Jay Perez rushed for 105 yards last week in a 40-14 victory at Emporia.

Junior quarterback Bryce Cronister has completed 20 of 43 passes for 325 yards and two TDs.

Lawrence High (2-4) will counter with a loaded backfield, led by senior Jeff Colter. The running back has rushed for 577 yards and three touchdowns, despite missing one game and most of another because of an illness. Backup Nolan Kellerman has 308 rushing yards and a team-high six TDs, and fullback Ian Handshy has rushed for 185 yards and a TD.

LHS quarterback Brian Heere has completed 21 of 46 passes for 344 yards and three TDs. LHS has complemented its passing game the last two weeks by completing three of three halfback passes for 113 yards and two TDs.

One of those TDs went to Brandon Lassiter, who ranks third in the Sunflower League with 13 catches for 309 yards and three TDs. Lassiter caught six passes for 134 yards last week, but it wasn’t enough for the Lions in a 35-34 overtime loss to Olathe South.

“I think we will find out a lot about our football team this week,” said Wedd, whose team had won two in a row after an 0-3 start. “That was a very disappointing loss. They’re a great football team, but we had opportunities to win it. I think this is a big test for us to see if we’ve grown up and are as good as we think we are.

“This has been a resilient team all year. Losing those first three games taught us a lot of lessons. We’ve improved every week.”

LHS will finish out the regular season at home, playing host to Free State (1-5) and Topeka High (3-3) the next two weeks at Haskell Stadium.