This picture was easy to paint.

A one-sided football game Friday night left Lawrence High with an unwanted one-sided record. LHS was outmanned, outgunned and outdone by Olathe North, a superior team with the tools to run the table in 2004.

The Lions were convinced after being pummeled by the Eagles, 29-8, at Haskell Stadium.

Olathe North racked up 26 first downs (three times Lawrence’s total), compiled 420 yards of total offense (255 more than LHS), and showed no weaknesses in improving to 2-0 on the young season. LHS (0-2) remains winless after two weeks for the first time since 1997, and just the second time in two decades.

“They’re a great football team,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said of O-North. “They’ve been a great football team for years. We battled, but we were never really in the game.”

The talk among coaches during the offseason revolved around Olathe North’s move to Class 5A after the student body took a major hit with the opening of Olathe Northwest.

But despite being the second-smallest school in the Sunflower League, it no doubt will take a Herculean effort to dismantle the Eagles this year, something the Lions didn’t have.

Still working out the kinks of inexperience, LHS once again had problems on the line, and the passing game couldn’t pick up the slack where the running game struggled. Lawrence had just 24 yards in the air, and 141 on the ground. Junior Nathan Hickey accounted for 62 of the rushing yards with two carries against Olathe North’s scout team in the final minute of the game. Senior Jeff Colter added 53 yards on 11 carries.

The Eagles, meanwhile, brought an expected, excellent ground game to Haskell, led by senior Justin Gore, who carried the ball 34 times for 234 yards and four touchdowns.

Olathe North's Justin Gore tries to escape Lawrence High's Nolan Kellerman (26) while the Lions' Brett Sims (88), Darrick Henry (18) and Cory Gaston give chase. Gore had 34 carries for 234 yards and four touchdowns in the Eagles' 29-8 victory Friday night at Haskell Stadium.

Gore was visibly fatigued by the end of the night, but not as much as Lawrence’s defense. If LHS even could get off an O-North blocker to get to the ball Friday, Gore had enough speed and enough moves to shake his way to extra yardage nearly every time. He was tackled for a loss just once all night.

“We’ve got to take some pride in playing better defense,” Wedd said. “Our defense got tired. They were out there too much.”

The Lions’ offense, meanwhile, crossed midfield just twice all night. The first time, two holding penalties pushed them back in their own territory. The second time, Hickey had a 40-yard run, followed by a 22-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left. Richard Demby scrambled in for the ensuing two-point conversion.

The shutout was avoided, but moral victories have never meant much to the LHS program. With another powerful team, Shawnee Mission North, coming to Haskell Stadium next week, Lawrence is looking for small steps to reach the still-reachable big goal.

LHS football falls to Olathe North

“I learned a long time ago that the football season isn’t a sprint,” Wedd said. “It’s a journey.”