Overland Park ? Lawrence High’s football players wanted to start the season on the right note, but they dropped the ball.

The Lions turned the ball over four times — three fumbles and an interception — and Blue Valley West turned those mistakes into points as the Lions were routed in their season-opener, 37-13, on Thursday night at Blue Valley District Athletic Complex.

“You can’t turn the ball over four times and expect to beat a good team like that,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said.

Two of the LHS turnovers were at midfield or farther in Blue Valley West territory, and the Jaguars turned the turnovers directly into 16 points.

Down 14-0 at halftime, LHS seniors Nyle Anderson and Michael Sinks and sophomore Jacob Unruh all told running back JD Woods that he needed to make a play. Woods took the opening handoff and bolted up the middle of the field for a 78-yard touchdown.

“I saw (right tackle) Amani (Bledsoe) block down, and the hole opened wide up,” said Woods, who finished with 134 yards on 21 carries. “I kept looking down at the ground to see if anyone was behind me, and once I knew I was in the open field, I turned on the burners.”

Yet as soon as the Lions were celebrating their score, the Jaguars were there to answer.

Blue Valley West senior running back Jon Reams had runs of six and 12 yards, and wide receiver Luke Curtis had a 16-yard reception to set up a five-play scoring drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown throw from senior quarterback Zev Mallin to senior tight end Blaise Gammon for a 22-7 lead.

Both teams traded fumbles on the immediate possessions afterward, before senior H-back Stevin Hays lost the ball at the Lions’ 10-yard line, and the Jaguars’ Sam Daily was there to snatch the ball and sprint into the end zone.

After a 10-play LHS drive stalled in Blue Valley West territory, Jaguars running back Tyler Cox refused to be taken down by solo tacklers, and ran up the middle for a 45-yard touchdown, blowing open the score to 37-7.

“We’ve got to learn from our mistakes,” Wedd said. “Between our turnovers and some of our mistakes as far as gaps and who to block — that’s on me — we’ve got to do a better job there.”

The only time the Lions could add much offense afterward was a 45-yard touchdown run by Trey Moore midway through the fourth quarter. He sprinted up the right hash before cutting back to his left to find the end zone.

In the first half, the Lions’ defense held Blue Valley West to only four first downs on their first three drives with key sacks from Trey Georgie, Price Morgan and an interception in the end zone on deep pass by Ivan Hollins.

However, LHS struggled to create offense of its own.

“New line, new experience,” Woods said. “We only had two starters return from last year, so it’s kind of hard to get everybody in game mode because varsity is way faster than JV and freshman football.”

Hollins nearly helped the Lions score before halftime, when senior safety Dearion Cooper knocked the ball loose after Blue Valley West’s Gammon made a catch over the middle, and Hollins scooped the ball up and ran down the LHS sideline before being pushed out of bounds at midfield.

“I saw Coop coming in, (he) got the ball down, scoop and score,” Hollins said. “I couldn’t quite score, but I got the offense in scoring position, so that was good.”

Despite Hollins’ fumble recovery helping the Lions to midfield, Clothier tried to create magic in the final 40 seconds of the first half and had a deep pass intercepted.

“Bottom line is,” Wedd said, “you just can’t turn the ball over, and that’s what we did.”

The Lions will host Leavenworth at 7 p.m. a week from today.