Nearly 11 years have passed since Lawrence High won the state title in football, shutting out Derby, 20-0.

“The game itself is a blur,” J.D. Loudabarger, the 1995 team’s starting quarterback, said. “I remember the celebrations, the faces.”

The details may have been lost, but a familiar face has returned. Coach Dick Purdy, who guided the Lions to an 11-1 record in 1995, stopped by practice Wednesday and will attend Friday’s LHS-Olathe North game at Haskell Stadium.

Friday’s opponent is appropriate because Olathe North represents the greatest adversity LHS faced during the ’95 season. After the Eagles defeated the Lions – a team with championship expectations – during the second game of the season, LHS players were downcast. But that loss served as a watershed moment.

“You could pack it in,” said Brett Romme, a former offensive lineman, “or just go get better.”

The Lions did the latter. They faced the Eagles again during a sub-state game. Purdy installed a new offense – a three-back option offense instead of a two-back set – for that game, and the team learned it in less than a week. LHS won the rematch, 32-7, setting the stage for its title run against Derby.

The team’s ability to master a concept quickly came as no surprise. The ’95 LHS squad did not have the most speed, size or physical ability, Purdy said, but the fiercely competitive bunch took instruction well and employed flawless fundamentals.

Former Lawrence High football coach Dick Purdy, left, visits with former assistant Chuck Holley during the Lions' practice. Purdy visited drills Wednesday and will be in town for Friday's opener at Haskell Stadium against Olathe North.

“The ’95 team was really a great example of a technique football team,” Purdy said. “The game films look like clinic films.”

After winning state in 1995, the team celebrated in simple style. The players hung out at each other’s houses and recounted the poignant moments of their fulfilling season.

“It was just a bunch of guys, getting together, reminiscing,” Loudabarger said.

This weekend should provide a similar opportunity. Several of the players from the ’95 team will tailgate at Haskell Stadium at 5:30 p.m. before Friday’s game.

William “Lee” Myers, a former offensive lineman will be there.

Loudabarger hopes to attend, but his duties as Kansas University’s director of event management may preclude him from doing so; KU has its first home football game against Northwestern (La.) State on Saturday.

If the former quarterback can make it Friday, he plans to ask Purdy about his family and thank him for his hard work.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “I hope I get to see him.”

Purdy, who jokingly suggested his former players would quibble over his play-calling, holds that team in special regard.

“I love them,” he said. “They poured it out for you.”

The coach, who won five state crowns, cast an intimidating aura, which made some players reluctant to approach him for advice on everyday matters.

Loudabarger wishes he had done so more frequently.

“He was such a strong figure,” he said. “We should’ve gone to him more.”

Romme, an assistant coach on the varsity Free State High team, still imparts the lessons he learned from Purdy. Romme instructs his players to believe in themselves and work hard. He cites Purdy as a mentor for those objectives.

“He was a great teacher,” Romme said. “You play to have fun, but there is a goal. : Nothing that’s good comes easy.”

Myers, a physics and chemistry teacher and wrestling coach at Olathe Northwest, said he learned about accountability and dedication from Purdy.

“I’m a better man for having played for him,” Myers said. “He had a big impact on my life.”

With such powerful memories of that ’95 team, coming back to watch the 2006 LHS version must seem surreal.

“Not at all,” said Myers, who has watched Lawrence play several times since he graduated. “You hope for the best : as long as they’re not playing Northwest.”