Lawrence banged up for SM Northwest

LHS probable starters

OFFENSE

WR-Aaron Rea, 6-0, 179, Sr. LT-Stephen Mason, 6-4, 268, Sr. LG-Penny Khaithianthong, 5-7, 187, Sr. C-Ryan Giblin, 5-9, 196, Sr. RG-Ben Muiller, 6-2, 206, Jr. RT-Chris Nieto, 6-3, 225, Sr. TE-Jay Baker, 6-0, 230, Jr.

QB-Clint Pinnick, 5-8, 160, Sr. RB-Clifton Sims, 5-5, 175, Sr. RB-Henry Vaeno, 5-10, 196, Soph. WR-Sam Willoughby, 6-1, 168, Sr.

PK-Spencer Scott, 6-0, 160, Sr.

DEFENSE

LE-Taylor Coleman, 6-1, 187, Jr. LT-Nieto. NG-Khaithianthong. RT-Dom Reiske, 5-5, 163, Sr. RE-Giblin. LB-Muiller. LB-Darren Sorem, 5-9, 158, Soph.

SS-Murphy Ray, 6-0, 162, Sr. CB-Pinnick. CB-Chris Gaston, 6-0, 163, Soph. FS-Rea.

P-Gaston.

His left ankle strapped into a walking boot, Chebon Dawes wasn’t smiling.

“I’m pretty upset,” said Dawes, a senior lineman on Lawrence High’s football team. “It looks like I’m going to be out a week and a half.”

Worse, Dawes isn’t the only Lion who has been declared out for today’s Sunflower League clash with Shawnee Mission Northwest. Two-way back Jake Green is ailing, too.

Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. at SM North District Stadium.

The losses of Dawes and Green have forced Lions’ coach Dirk Wedd to do a lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul. For instance, Wedd has had to come up with three players to replace the 6-foot-2, 283-pound Dawes because Dawes plays tight end, defensive tackle and is also the punter.

Wedd has opted to move guard Jay Baker to tight end, with Penny Khaithianthong now ticketed for double duty at both nose guard and offensive guard. At defensive tackle, Wedd will use junior Dom Reiske, who stands only 5-5 and is listed at 163 pounds.

“We’ll lose over 100 pounds at that position,” Wedd said, “but Reiske is a tough kid.”

Finally, at punter, Wedd will use Chris Gaston, a starting defensive back. Gaston, a sophomore, has never punted in a varsity game.

More shuffling has been necessary since Green, a starting running back and safety, is out because of a knee injury. Both he and Dawes were hurt in last week’s 35-7 loss to SM West.

Wedd is moving Aaron Rea from defensive end to safety and making center Ryan Giblin a two-way player by inserting him at defensive end. In the backfield, Green will be replaced by sophomore Henry Vaeno.

“We have too many kids going both ways,” Wedd said.

And it’s not just because Dawes and Green went down. Earlier, Wedd lost two other players in the rotation – wide receiver Tyler Bailey and defensive back Chase McElhaney. Bailey (shoulder) is out for the remainder of the season. McElhaney (hand) is out at least a month.

All the injuries are making Wedd wonder when the trend will end because the Lions were heavily nicked last year, too.

“It concerns us,” said Wedd, now in his 10th season as the Lions’ coach. “Last year was about as bad as it’s been in a while. Hopefully, it’s something that will stop cropping up.”

After tonight, the Lions will face a short week. They’re scheduled to meet Olathe North at 7 p.m Thursday at Haskell Stadium. Kickoff time has been moved up half an hour from the Lions’ usually starts because it’s a school night.