On such a miserable night to be anywhere but indoors, Free State High junior defensive lineman Noah Kema stood in the cold, cold rain and shared how he felt.

“This feels great,” Kema said. “I haven’t been this pumped in a while.”

He and the rest of the Firebirds earned that feeling in a 21-0 victory vs. a far bigger Topeka High squad that came into the game averaging 47.5 points and never had been held under 30 points.

Kema freed himself from blocks and made plays all night long, showing that a roster only reveals superficial numbers, such as weight, which in his case is 190 pounds. He found a way to keep the man blocking him, 322-pound Oklahoma State commitment Teven Jenkins, from turning him into a spectator.

“He’s a really big guy,” Kema said. “I’ve been watching film of him for two weeks now on my phone and on my iPod. I faced him in summer camp, and I knew he was going to be the toughest challenge I’ve had all year. I just did a lot of scouting on him and tried to perfect my game. I’m not the biggest dude.”

Perfection is what Kema’s defensive coordinator demands. Same for the head coach. They are the same guy. After Free State’s DC, Brett Oberzan, left Free State to take the head-coaching position at Shawnee Mission South in January, Bob Lisher had to find a replacement. He found a really, really good one in the mirror.

“I’ve never had a coach so persistent,” said Kema, in his first year at Free State after his family moved from College Station, Texas, to Lawrence in the summer. “He’ll say, ‘You need to be right here, right now! You need to do your job right.’ And when you do a good job, he tells you, ‘Good job!’ We were just more precise. The will to win and our hard work beat their talent in the end. That’s what it comes down to, really.”

From start to back, Free State’s defenders played with a lively bounce in scoring the school’s first shutout since Oct. 5, 2012.

Darian Lewis and Jalen Galloway, also far smaller than the men blocking them, did a terrific job up front with Kema. Outside linebacker Drew Tochtrop repeatedly used his speed to get to Topeka quarterback Corey Thomas, most notably rocking him into hurrying on a pass that Zion Bowlin intercepted in the end zone. Linebacker Jay Dineen put a lot of punch in his tackles for a defense that played physical, inspired football.

The playoffs don’t even start until next week, so it’s way too early to discuss what schools might meet for the 6A state final. And it’s a good thing it’s too early, or I would be fantasizing about a Lawrence vs. Free State title game. But since it is way too early, I won’t even discuss the possibility. Too tacky to mention at this stage.

— Tom Keegan appears on The Drive, Sunday nights on WIBW-TV.