Coulda never has won a football game. Neither has shoulda.

That’s why Lawrence High coach Dirk Wedd has emphasized focusing on the start of Class 6A district play and not on last week’s frustrating 14-0 loss to Olathe South, the state’s top-ranked team.

“Defensively, we played really good,” Wedd said about the O-South game, “but offensively I didn’t think we played well at all. We need to get more physical, and that’s what we stressed in practice.”

Wedd will find out if practice translates into performance when the Lions begin the three-week district gantlet tonight against Washburn Rural.

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

At first glance, Washburn Rural looks like a solid underdog against the 5-1 Lions. The Junior Blues are 3-3, yet their three losses have been to teams with a combined record of 15-2. That includes a 30-27 overtime loss to once-beaten Manhattan.

“That gets your attention,” Wedd said. “They lost in overtime to Manhattan, and they should have won that game. They’re capable of coming in here and upsetting us. They’ve got some weapons.”

Washburn Rural’s main weapon is running back Steven Matthews who rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns in the Junior Blues’ 28-17 victory Friday over Emporia.

“They run the football just like we do,” Wedd said, “so each possession is important, or we may not get the ball back.”

Lawrence’s potent running attack features seniors Nolan Kellerman and Nathan Hickey. Kellerman, who leads the Lions with 723 rushing yards, had posted back-to-back 200-yard plus games until Olathe South held him to 68 yards last week.

The Lions have had little difficulty with the Junior Blues in district competition the last three years, winning 41-7 in 2002, 56-12 in 2003 and 33-7 last year. Still, Washburn Rural appears to have had a more difficult schedule than the Lions, who haven’t defeated a team with a plus-.500 record. Teams the Lions have knocked off have a combined record of 7-23 going into this weekend.

Tonight will be Senior Night because it’s the Lions’ last official home game. Free State is the host team for next Friday’s showdown at Memorial Stadium. The Lions will conclude district play Oct. 28 at Topeka High.