The Lawrence High football team has been here before, stinging from a rough regular season but ready to make a run in district play.

That begins at 7:30 p.m. today at Haskell Stadium, where the Lions will play host to Olathe Northwest in the district opener.

Like many teams around the state, LHS enters Part I of its postseason with a clean slate – the next three games are the ones that really matter.

“I’m one of 300 coaches in the state of Kansas sitting here saying everything starts over, and we’re 0-0,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said. “That’s real original, isn’t it?”

Despite entering district play at 2-4 and on a four-game losing streak, the Lions realize the opportunity that’s ahead. Instead of forgetting about the six games that already have been played, the LHS players plan to use the lessons they learned from each of those – good and bad – to kickstart a run into the playoffs.

“Of course we want to start fresh, and we want to start going strong,” senior running back Jake Green said. “But we’re not going to just ignore the games we’ve already played. We want to focus on what we did wrong and stop doing it.”

In many ways, the list of LHS shortcomings was, well, short. The Lions rank fourth in the Sunflower League in total defense and have shown the ability to move the ball on the ground and through the air on offense. But giving up points on big plays and not converting when it’s their turn for a showstopper has killed LHS all season.

“If we can stop giving up big plays on defense and on special teams, we can be a good football team,” Wedd said. “It’s not too late. People have made a late run before and gone on to do well in the playoffs. But we’re in the mode now where we need to prove to people that we’re a good football team.”

Tonight, that will start on the defensive side of the ball. Although the Ravens enter the contest at 0-6, they feature two of the most dangerous players in the league in wide receiver/kick return Devon Boyce and running back Shawn Smith.

Both Green and Wedd said the team was well aware that the stakes are higher tonight. For Green, who one was of several underclassmen who played substantial minutes in the Lions’ loss to Topeka High in the district finale in 2007, tonight’s game offers an opportunity finally to put last year’s disappointment out of his mind.

“That left a sour taste in our mouths because a lot of us were playing in it,” Green said of the loss that left the Lions out of the playoffs for the first time since 2001. “We want to get hot now, win two of the next three, if not all three, and make a run in the playoffs.”