Free State's junior Zion Bowlin takes a Topeka pass for a interception.

Free State High football players heard all week long about Topeka High’s explosive and vaunted offense. They were more than happy to wait for their time to shine.

With the Class 6A District 5 championship on the line, the Firebirds saved their best for last.

The Firebirds showed off their defense in a 21-0 victory at FSHS on Friday night, their sixth straight win. It was the first shutout for the Firebirds since 2012, spanning 37 games.

“It’s awesome,” FSHS senior Sam Skwarlo said. “There’s no other way to describe it. It just feels awesome.”

The Firebirds (6-3, 3-0 in district) led, 14-0, at the beginning of the fourth quarter when the Trojans picked up strong field position following a punt that bounced around and hit a Free State player for the Firebirds’ third turnover.

After the fumble, the Trojans (8-1, 2-1) picked up a key third down with a 15-yard run by senior running back Mike McCoy. In the red zone, the Firebirds snapped back with tackles at the line of scrimmage by juniors Jay Dineen and Noah Kema.

On fourth down from the 16-yard line, Free State junior safety Zion Bowlin intercepted a pass in the end zone, ending the threat.

The Trojans had three drives inside the 25-yard line in the first half, but the Firebirds forced two turnovers on downs and senior linebacker Drew Tochtrop recovered a fumble.

“We knew there were going to be ups and downs, especially with this weather,” said FSHS senior Bryce Torneden, who grabbed an interception in the second quarter. “It was just which team was going to handle adversity better. Coaches put in a great game plan and we followed through with it, and it worked great.”

The Firebirds followed Bowlin’s interception with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that milked more than seven minutes. Torneden completed the drive with a three-yard touchdown run for a 21-0 lead with 1:03 left, starting the celebration on the Free State sideline.

“Offense played great except for a few penalties here and there,” FSHS coach Bob Lisher said, holding the district champions plaque. “But that last drive burned up seven or eight minutes and kept them off the field. That was a great job for our defense, as well. Our offense took care of that for us.”

The Firebirds held Topeka to just 35 yards in the second half, blowing up runs in the backfield with their speedy linebackers and athletic linemen. The Trojans entered Friday averaging 47.5 points and 486 yards per game.

Free State finished with 377 rushing yards, including a 44-yard touchdown run by Skwarlo at the end of the first quarter. Skwarlo had a game-high 166 yards, and pushed himself to more than 1,000 yards on the season.

“We started out a little slow on offense,” Skwarlo said. “But we did everything right. We just made stupid mistakes in the first half. When the second half came, we just pounded the rock and put it on them.”

It was the fourth straight district championship for the Firebirds. They will host Wichita West (5-4) in their first-round playoff game Friday.

“It means a lot,” Lisher said of the district title. “Every one of them is sweet. They’re not easy. You have to go out and earn it. … To get the district championship and be able to play here next week is pretty special.”

THS FS

First downs 7 13

Rushes-yards 47-164 47-377

Passing yards 5 31

Total offense 169 408

Return yards 26 15

Fumbles-lost 2-1 6-3

Penalties-yards 2-15 5-51

Score by quarters

Topeka 0 0 0 0 — 0

Free State 7 0 7 7 — 21

Individual statistics

Rushing

THS: Saylor Caraway 9-33, Mike McCoy 22-86, Corey Thomas 15-44, Dante Brooks 1-1.

FS: Sam Skwarlo 21-166 TD, Paul Bittinger 1-17, Zion Bowlin 6-39, Bryce Torneden 19-147 2 TD, Team 1-8.

Passing

THS: Thomas 1-8-5, 2 interceptions.

FS: Torneden 2-4-31.

Receiving

THS: Kobe Richardson 1-5.

FS: Zack Sanders 2-31.

HOW THEY SCORED

First quarter

1:40 — Sam Skwarlo 44 run. Kameron Lake kick. (FS 7, THS 0.)

Third quarter

8:47 — Bryce Torneden 35 run. Lake kick. (FS 14, THS 0.)

Fourth quarter

1:03 — Torneden 3 run. Lake kick. (FS 21, THS 0.)