Individual accolades are nice to Ryan Murphy, but it’s evident the Free State High senior quarterback doesn’t acknowledge them.

Quick background: Murphy needs only 86 passing yards and 180 rushing yards to reach 1,500 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing on the season.

“Really?” Murphy asked. “I didn’t know that. I’d like to get it, and it’s definitely a nice individual thing, but our main focus is coming out and getting the win and getting this monkey off our backs.”

Murphy might have a bigger task than challenging the stat sheet tonight. The Firebirds never have won a playoff game in their 10 years of existence. Free State (9-0) will try to change that when it faces Shawnee Mission East (5-4) at 7 tonight at Haskell Stadium in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs.

Senior running back Brian Murphy said Free State’s past playoff defeats served as motivation.

“We’ve been the firsts for a lot of things this year, so I see no reason why we shouldn’t be the firsts for this, too,” Brian Murphy said about the first regular-season undefeated Free State team.

It’s no secret Free State – ranked first in the Sunflower League in total offense and scoring – puts points on the scoreboard in the blink of an eye. In preparing for the Firebirds, SM East coach John Stonner occasionally ran into road blocks.

“The tough part is we have no one in practice that can simulate that type of speed,” Stonner said. “We’re going to try to contain them; we’re not going to try and stop them. They have too many weapons.”

On the opposite side of the ball, Free State likely wouldn’t be undefeated if not for its vastly improved defense, which is ranked second in the league.

SM East looks to wide receiver Bobby Miller – 33 catches, 519 yards, seven touchdowns – as its primary target. Brian Murphy, also a cornerback, said he noticed Miller’s athleticism during film study.

“We’ll probably do some different things to try to shut him down and force the quarterback to throw to other people,” Brian Murphy said. “We’re mostly emphasizing for our D-line to get lots of pressure because they mostly roll out the quarterback, so if they can get pressure, we should be fine in the secondary.”

Stonner said pass protection had allowed the Lancers to have success throwing the ball. Interestingly enough, one of those pass protectors, tackle Jimmy Dykes, is the grandson of former KU Chancellor Archie Dykes.

Junior linebacker Mike Santee said he noticed how effective the Lancers’ passing game could be as well.

“On defense, we have to look for the pass and get onto the out routes,” Santee said. “That’s my No. 1 job this week.”

Playing conditions shouldn’t favor either team. The forecast is clear tonight, and it should be close to 46 degrees at kickoff.

Haskell’s field has been muddy in previous weeks due to extensive use from Free State High, Lawrence High and Haskell Indian Nations University.

“That’s what our practice fields are like,” Free State coach Bob Lisher said of the muddy conditions. “Our kids are prepared for it because we practice on the same thing.”