Lawrence High running back Tony Williams must like the slop.

“He’s a mudder,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said. “He’s just a tough kid, and he runs so hard.”

On a bemired Haskell Stadium field with eroded hash marks, Williams rushed for 167 yards and three touchdowns to guide the Lions to a 52-28 victory against Topeka High on Friday.

The victory secured the Lions (5-4) a spot in the Class 6A postseason. Tentatively, LHS is slated to play Blue Valley North on Friday.

“We get to go to the playoffs,” quarterback Chance Riley said, “and try to make some noise.”

Willams made noise all night long, and his performance pushed him past 1,000 yards on the season. He racked up those yards even though Topeka (2-7) stacked the line of scrimmage to stuff the run.

“Our line blocked tremendous and made big holes,” Williams said, “and let me do my stuff.”

But it was the pass, not the run, that first put LHS on the scoreboard. With 2:28 left in the first quarter, the Trojan defense bit on a fake to Willams, and Riley hit tight end Nick DeBiasse for 19 yards.

“It was a boot play, and they weren’t expecting it,” Riley said. “He was wide-open, and I just lofted it up there to make sure I wouldn’t overthrow him.”

Despite the Lions’ dominance on the ground, Riley also connected with wide receiver Nathan Padia, who had 52 receiving yards, for two touchdowns. An 18-yard pass at the end of the second quarter put LHS up, 26-7, and Padia’s 34-yard grab in the third quarter gave the Lions a 33-7 lead.

“(Padia)’s such a fast guy, and he’s a good route runner,” said Riley, who finished 4-of-8 for 83 yards. “It’s just easy passes for me.”

The Lions showed some scoring punch and remained stout on defense, but the play resembled the sloppiness of the field at times. LHS had four penalties while Topeka racked up six. The Lions also fumbled three times.

Although the Trojans never came close to whittling the Lions’ lead, they recorded several big plays. Dorian Branch, who entered the game as the No. 2 rusher in the Centennial League, returned a kickoff 75 yards for Topeka’s first score late in the second quarter. Quarterback D.J. Wakes, under relentless pressure all night, hit Dillon Hazlett for an 80-yard touchdown in the third quarter to make it a 40-14 game.

Shortly after Williams’ third touchdown gave the Lions a 46-14 third-quarter lead, Wedd rested almost all of his starters and gave his bench players a chance to shine in what could serve as the seniors’ last game at Haskell.

“The great thing is we got a lot of kids in the game,” Wedd said. “That’s so important. Those kids work so hard in practice.”

An up-and-down game became more hectic late in the fourth quarter. A bank of stadium lights went out, and officials paused the game, fearing the rest of the lights would short out. With just three banks of lights shining down on the muddy field, play resumed.

“They were scared they were all going to go out if one went out,” Wedd said. “We throw the ball so much it really affected the passing game with the one bank of lights out.”

On the heels of their potent rushing attack, however, the Lions will continue their drive toward state next week.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Williams said.