Overland Park ? Tony Williams was supposed to be marching in a fife and drum line. Instead, the Lawrence High senior pranced up and down the football field.

Williams shrugged off a bum ankle to rush for 140 yards and a touchdown as the Lions lunch-bucketed Shawnee Mission East, 16-3, Friday night at SM South District Stadium.

“I didn’t know if I’d be playing or not,” said the 6-foot, 200-pound Williams.

Neither did coach Dirk Wedd. Williams sat out practice Tuesday and Wednesday because of the sprained ankle, then gave it a go the next day.

“He was so-so on Thursday,” Wedd said. “I told him we’d look at him before the game and see how it went.”

It went well enough that Williams was given the go-ahead to see game duty.

“He’s a competitive kid. He wants to play,” Wedd said. “I think any average person would have walked in and said, ‘Coach, I can’t do it.”

Williams didn’t do it all, but he came close. In addition to carrying the ball 30 times, Williams played every down on defense and even blocked a punt. What’s more, he had an apparent 58-yard touchdown punt return called back because of an illegal block.

Lawrence High's Nathan Padia races downfield with the opening kickoff against Shawnee Mission East. The Lions relied on a strong defensive effort to earn a 16-3 victory Friday night at Shawnee Mission South District Stadium.

“I had it wrapped up real good,” Williams said of the ankle he injured in last week’s game against Leavenworth, “and I played through the pain.”

Most of Williams’ gains were for short yardage. His longest run from scrimmage was 20 yards.

“A healthy Tony would have scored maybe two more touchdowns,” Wedd said. “You could tell he was dragging that leg.”

The Lions played without at least three regulars, including linemen Patrick Johnson and Philip Wahwahsuck, who didn’t suit because of injuries.

“We were a little nicked up,” senior Nick DeBiasse said, “and didn’t move the ball as well as we would have liked, but the defense played better than we could have hoped.”

After notching a first-quarter field goal, the Lancers never threatened again until late. The Lions held SM East to only 57 yards on the ground and 111 through the air.

Shawnee Mission East's Terrance Thomas dives after Lawrence High's Tony Williams during the first half. Lawrence High played Shawnee Mission East Friday night at Shawnee Mission South stadium.

DeBiasse had two catches – one a six-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chance Riley while playing tight end, and an interception while playing linebacker. Both occurred in the fourth quarter.

Nathan Padia also had a fourth-quarter pass theft in the end zone that blunted the Lancers’ last-ditch drive with 2:48 remaining.

“That interception was huge,” Wedd said.

Wedd credited Padia for nearly shutting out SM East wide receiver Bobby Miller, who was tied for the Sunflower League lead in receptions with 16. Miller had only one catch for seven yards Friday night.

The Lions’ third straight victory also featured the first career field goal by senior Abby Vestal, who booted a 20-yard three-pointer late in the first half after the Lions faced third-and-goal at the Lancers’ four and fell two yards short on a Tyler Hunt run.

“I heard coach Wedd say he was going to try a field goal,” Vestal said, “but I thought we’d make a first down. I just went in a played it like an extra point.”

Strangely, the only extra point Vestal attempted – a second try in the fourth quarter was negated by an errant snap – was longer than her field goal.

Following the Lions’ first score, Vestal drilled the conversion kick, but the officials ruled Lawrence High didn’t have six players on the line. The illegal procedure call pushed the ball back to the eight-yard line and forced Vestal to re-kick from 25 yards.

Thus Vestal’s extra point was five yards longer than her field goal.

“That field goal was huge,” Wedd said. “We were ahead 7-3 at the time, so to get three was good. No points in that situation would have killed us.”

Lawrence High (3-2) will have one less day to prepare for its next game. The Lions will meet unbeaten SM West (5-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday at SM North District Stadium.