Blocked punt spark for LHS

Olathe ? The play took two timeouts. No punt return should take two timeouts.

Only this one did in Lawrence High’s 21-10 state-playoff football victory Friday. With 53 seconds remaining in the half and the score tied at 7, the Lions used their precious final two stoppages in play to make sure a punt block was set up.

Tony Williams made it worth the wait.

LHS assistant coach Scott Stidham wrote up the scheme, also sending a final plea to Williams before he stepped onto the field.

“He said, ‘Tony, we need this block.'” Williams said, “and I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to go get it.'”

Streaking through the middle of the line, Williams stuck up a hand and deflected the Chris Foster kick, giving the Lions not only momentum but also field position at the Olathe South 18-yard-line.

Nolan Kellerman finished the drive three plays later, diving over the right side for the touchdown with 10 seconds to go in the half as the Lions took a 14-7 lead they never would relinquish at Olathe District Activities Center.

“We had a little switch,” Williams said. “Nobody touched me, so I went in there and blocked it.”

After allowing two back-breaking plays in the last meeting – a 14-0 midseason loss to Olathe South – LHS came up with a second game-changing play of its own late in the fourth quarter.

This time it was from running back Matt Stiles, who all but put the contest away for Lawrence with 9:21 remaining.

On a third-and-six from the 34, Stiles took a handoff up the middle and viewed a welcoming site – nothing but space in front of him.

“I saw a huge hole,” Stiles said. “I’m nothing special. Anybody could have scored. It was all the offensive line.”

Stiles raced up the gut, then dragged a defender into the end zone to give LHS an 11-point fourth-quarter advantage.

“Nolan (Kellerman) had been carrying the ball all night. He was carrying the team,” Stiles said. “That opens up my game. They weren’t expecting it.”

Stiles also credited the blocking up front for a better second effort against the Falcons.

“The line did a great job all night,” Stiles said. “We got shut out last time, and they took it to heart. They didn’t want to get shut out again. They played their hearts out for Lawrence High.”

As a senior in front of a huge LHS crowd on the road, Stiles said it was hard to imagine a better game for the Lions.

“It was a perfect night. It was meant to be,” Stiles said. “This is what you dream about when you go to Lawrence High – playing in these kind of games.”

Especially after the Lions had seen their season end last November on the very same field – and to the very same team.

“This happened to us last year, and we weren’t going to let it happen again,” Stiles said. “Three times was enough. It was our time.”