Lawrence High's Vienny Phiomavong, left, and Shawnee Mission South junior Ben Werner go up for a header. SM South beat the Lions, 5-1, Friday at Youth Sports, Inc.

Surely Shawnee Mission South’s Mike Levine didn’t line up a free kick near midfield in the 54th minute with the intent of scoring against Lawrence High on Friday.

But on a blustery day in which the ball played tricks on players all afternoon, that’s exactly what happened. LHS goalkeeper Sean Simmons misjudged the height of the kick as the ball continued sailing until reaching its destination in the back of the net. The second-half goal came with the wind at the Raiders’ backs and was the fourth of five goals during a devastating 20-minute stretch, as SM South downed Lawrence, 5-1, on Senior Day at Youth Sports, Inc.

LHS midfielder Wade Billings, who scored the lone goal for the Lions in the 77th minute, said his team had chances early but failed to capitalize.

“In the first half, we should have used (the wind) to our advantage, but it kind of played to our disadvantage,” Billings said. “We kept trying to hurry it up instead of possess the ball and play smart.”

Indeed, LHS (3-12-1 overall, 1-10 Sunflower League) had its most consistent scoring threats early on with the wind blowing from behind. Coupled with five Simmons first-half saves, the Lions were level with the Raiders until Christian Duke collected a loose ball in the penalty box and snuck it under Simmons’ arm just 90 seconds before halftime.

After that, Lawrence simply couldn’t recover. Eighteen minutes into the second half, the Lions already were down 5-0.

LHS coach Bill Kelly said the goal before halftime triggered a lack of poise during the ensuing half.

“I think we saw the writing on the wall, and we couldn’t respond to it, and we lost our composure,” Kelly said. “When you lose your composure, good teams are going to take advantage of you.”

The loss sets up a potential rematch with city rival Free State during the first round of sub-state play. As the No. 7 seed, LHS would take on the Firebirds, seeded second, at Free State’s home field on Tuesday. Lawrence lost 2-0 at home to the Firebirds earlier this season.

Kelly said that while he realizes the rivalry can magnify the game’s importance, he hopes his team stays level-headed.

“It’s good to have that rivalry,” he said. “But when you get to this level, when you’re playing in sub-state, it shouldn’t matter who you’re playing.”