Blake Lawrence was as close to flawless as a quarterback could be for Shawnee Mission West in the regular season.

The senior threw 11 touchdowns, compared to only one interception. So it came as a big surprise when Lawrence threw a pair of picks against Lawrence High last week in the Class 6A state playoffs. The SM West quarterback insisted the most important statistic from last weekend was the “W” in the win/loss column.

Shawnee Mission West and Free State will play for the rights to advance to the state championship on Friday from the Shawnee Mission South District Stadium in Overland Park.

“We’re not treating this week any differently from the rest,” Lawrence said. “We don’t need to change anything at the last second to be a better team.”

Lawrence is so pivotal to the success of the Vikings that he anchors the defensive unit, as well, at safety.

Friday night’s battle of Northeastern Kansas supremacy will showcase the Sunflower League’s No. 1 offense, Free State, against the SM West’s No. 1 defense. The SM West defense held every opponent it faced in the regular season to 20 points or fewer, and pitched three shutouts. The Vikings give up a borderline-absurd 6.78 points per game.

“I’m a linebacker at the safety position in high school,” said Lawrence, who will play linbebacker at Nebraska University next year. “I kind of get stuck trying to make the big hits, while at the same time dropping back into coverage.”

The Firebirds had a score-at-will mentality on offense this season, averaging close to 40 points per game.

“They’re virtually unstoppable, so we have to try to limit the number of plays they have and hope it catches up to them,” SM West coach Tim Callaghan said.

With that in mind, look for the SM West defense to key on Free State senior quarterback Ryan Murphy first. If the game turns into a high-scoring contest with Murphy running wild, it would mean trouble for the Vikings.

“I hope it doesn’t turn into a shootout,” Callaghan said. “If it does, I think we’ll be on the short end of the stick.”

What’s even more interesting about the matchup is that Lawrence and Murphy saw it coming two years ago. Murphy said the two visited a Kansas University spring football camp and joked about meeting in the semifinals for their senior campaigns.

“He actually messaged me today about that,” Lawrence said on Monday about Murphy. “He said, ‘Do you remember when we talked about this?’ I said, ‘Heck yeah, that’s why we’re here.’ I already wished him good luck this week in practice. It’s not often that you talk about dreams and they come true.”

Lawrence said he also maintained a friendship with Free State tight end/defensive end Christian Ballard. Lawrence and the 6-foot-4, 275-pound Ballard worked out at some of the same summer camps.

“I covered him in those camps,” Lawrence said. “We went one-on-one. He’s a bigger guy than the usual people I have to tackle, so it’ll take something extra.”

Free State hasn’t had the best of records against SM West in the recent past. In the last two years, the Vikings have defeated the Firebirds in the regular season and in the playoffs four separate times.

“I just get fired up, and it sends chills up my spine because I always get fired up to play them,” Murphy said of facing SM West.

There’s also nothing better than the semifinals of the state championship game to give this Lawrence vs. Murphy duel an added boost.

“He’s kind of had my number for a couple years now, so I’m trying to get him back,” Murphy said.

SM West has won two state championships in its history – 1972 and 1985 – according to the KSHSAA Web site.