Final updates

Both city football teams lost their season openers on Friday night.

Lawrence High fell, 17-14, in its home opener against Shawnee Mission North, while Free State dropped a 29-20 contest at Olathe East.

Lawrence High 14, SM North 7, Halftime

Behind two Tyrae Jenkins touchdown runs, the Lawrence High football team has taken a 14-7 lead into halftime.

Jenkins got the Lions on the board first with a 29-yard touchdown run on the Lions’ second possession of the night. The TD was set up by a Darrin Sorem fumble recovery on LHS’s first defensive play of the night.

North tied things later in the half after recovering an Jenkins fumble, which set up a one-yard TD run by Joe Haas.

In all, the Lions fumbled twice in the first half. The defense also rallied to turn back SMN on two fourth-down attempts.

Jenkins’ gave the Lions the lead back with a 79-yard TD run late in the first half. On a second-and-long play from the 21-yard line, Jenkins got into the SMN secondary and was hit by two tacklers. Refusing to give up, however, Jenkins kept his legs churning and pulled away for the long TD run.

Olathe East 13, Free State 12, Halftime

Meanwhile, in Olathe, the Firebirds trail Olathe East 13-12 at the half.

6:30 p.m. Update

The Lions are on the field and are going through their first round of pregame warm-ups at the new stadium.

There’s quite a bit of electricity in the air already and, because of the fact that the east stands are closed for tonight’s game, the west bleachers are more than half full with 30 minutes still remaining until kickoff.

The Lions are wearing their all red uniforms with black helmets tonight, while North is wearing all white with maroon socks and white helmets.

Check back with www.ljworld.com throughout the evening for scoring updates from LHS and Olathe, where Free State is playing Olathe East.

Original Post

Tonight marks the beginning of another season of high school football for Lawrence High and Free State.

While the Lions are at home to face off against Shawnee Mission North, the Firebirds hit the road to take on Olathe East at College Boulevard Athletic Complex.

With kickoff less than an hour away for both teams, it’s time to look at what’s on tap this evening.

First, for Lawrence High, which opens its season at its new, on-campus stadium for the first time in school history. The Lions take on a SM North team loaded with experience and a dangerous passing attack.

LHS coach Dirk Wedd said the Indians’ passing game worries him some, but he’s hoping the excitement of a new era — not to mention a new season — should inspire his troops to rise to the challenge. LHS returns just a handful of starters from last season’s 4-6 team, which lost to Blue Valley in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs.

The Firebirds enter ’09 fresh off of their run to the Class 6A state title game a season ago. Because of that, Bob Lisher’s club takes the field with a ton of confidence and momentum. It doesn’t hurt, of cousre, to have quarterback Camren Torneden back for his senior season. Torneden was the surprise player of the Sunflower League last season as he emerged as a dangerous dual-threat option for the Firebirds, running for more than 1,300 yards and throwing for 1,000 more.

His improvement and comfort-level at the position is a great place for the Firebirds to build. Also returning for Bob Lisher’s Free State High squad are a pair of offensive and defensive linemen, several wideouts who saw action last season and a host of other players with notable experience.