In Free State High’s season-opening loss to Olathe South, tailback Chucky Hunter tallied more than 250 total yards and added two touchdowns while watching O-South quarterback Mike Keese throw for 282 yards and three touchdowns.

Both players figure to find things more difficult tonight as the Firebirds and Falcons meet in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs.

Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. at Haskell Stadium.

“We’re familiar with what they do and vice versa,” Free State coach Bob Lisher said. “They’ve made improvements, as have we. We’re a much better team now than we were the first game, and I’m sure they are, as well.”

Just because eight weeks have passed since the Falcons defeated the Firebirds, 34-27, at Haskell doesn’t mean the Free State coaching staff has scrapped what it learned in the opener. Lisher said his staff watched 100 hours of tape in the past three days, with most of that time spent cross-referencing the opener with the Falcons’ most recent games.

“We’re just trying to pick up similarities between what they did against us the first time and what they’ve done in the last three games,” Lisher said. “In that first game, we made a lot of mistakes.”

The most glaring mistakes came in the secondary, where Keese picked apart an inexperienced group of Free State defensive backs throughout the night. The Falcons’ southpaw finished the night 17-of-26 for 282 yards and three touchdowns. For the season, Keese is 121-of-184 for 2,084 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

As the Firebirds prepare for tonight’s rematch, all eyes remain on the Falcons’ 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior QB.

“This is one of those games we’ve really been wanting to play again,” FSHS senior Jason Sneegas said. “We didn’t play that well the first time, and we feel like we could’ve won the game. I think this one’s going to be won in the secondary.”

Sneegas, who starts at cornerback for the Firebirds, said his teammates were prepared to handle the Falcons’ gunslinger because they had settled into their positions and know their assignments better now than they did in August.

Lisher agreed, but said stopping Keese has as much to do with the guys up front as it does with his defensive backfield.

“We have to get better pressure on (Keese) up front, and we have to make better reads in the secondary,” Lisher said. “Our main goal is always to stop the run first, but they’re a team where you have to consider the fact that you may have to stop the pass first.”

While the Falcons opened the season relying on Keese and have remained there most of the way, the Firebirds have seen their offense blossom throughout the season. What began as a two-man show with Hunter and quarterback Craig Rosenstengle has evolved into a dangerous attack with weapons all over the field.

“We can distribute the ball better now than we could early in the season,” Lisher said. “We have some guys we can get the ball to that can make plays, and they’ve proven that. It’s not a case where (O-South) can line up and play Chucky, they’ve gotta play the field, and that makes our offense better. We’ll take what they give us.”

The subplots surrounding what seems to be the best first-round matchup in the East hardly matter, according to Lisher. Free State (7-2) might have revenge on its mind, but as the lower seed, Olathe South (6-3) enters with the ability to play the underdog card.

None of that matters once the ball is kicked off, Lisher said.

“Both coaches know each other well. We’ve played them so the players should still have an idea of how they play on both sides of the ball,” he said. “It just comes down to who executes better in this game and who’s fortunate enough to get some turnovers.

“You have to have some luck this time of the year, but the team that makes its own luck is the team that survives.”