Too often Friday night, Free State High football coach Bob Lisher saw Shawnee Mission West senior running back Rahjee Byers taking off up the middle for chunks of yardage. The steady 5-foot-7 back never went for more than 12 yards on a single play, but by the end of the night Byers’ 4.8 yards per carry added up to 124 yards and two touchdowns, as the Vikings knocked off the Firebirds, 34-26.

Senior linebacker and receiver Paul Bittinger said FSHS certainly didn’t expect to lose its home opener. However, Byers’ easy production, and veteran reads from SMW senior quarterback Adam Rellihan made the difference as the Firebirds admitted to creating some problems for themselves.

“We didn’t come out with our heads right,” said Bittinger, who came up with Free State’s only takeaway, a fumble recovery in the second quarter. “That’s kind of what cost us.”

In particular, the Vikings’ offensive linemen won the battle of the trenches, allowing Rellihan to complete six of his eight passes for 133 yards and also rush for a pair of touchdowns.

“Up the middle, they were getting on our ‘backers, which was a huge weakness for us,” Bittinger said. “That gave them a big advantage. That’s something we need to work on.”

Lisher certainly would agree with that assessment, but he also said the FSHS defensive linemen weren’t the ones to blame.

“We’ve gotta do a better job coaching wise,” Lisher said, “and get our guys in better position to make plays on defense.”

Whether the Firebirds didn’t shed blocks, got out of position on defense or committed untimely penalties, the offense didn’t suffer much when it took the field. FSHS led at some point in each of the first three quarters and still had a shot to come back and tie the game late in the fourth quarter because quarterback Bryce Torneden burned the Vikings on the ground and through the air. The senior QB rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown and completed 11 of 19 passes for 164 yards and a pair of scores.

Although Torneden also threw two fourth-quarter interceptions with his team trailing, his coach wasn’t complaining. Lisher pointed out a 29-yard passing TD from Torneden to senior receiver Drew Tochtrop got negated with just more than 11 minutes left.

“He made a lot of plays all night long, and one touchdown we made a beautiful throw. We just lined up wrong, illegally,” Lisher said. “We had a lot of things like that happen to us tonight.”

Torneden’s first interception (Jason Potter picked him) came on fourth-and-21 on a pass into the end zone. Later, with less than two minutes to go, the Firebirds opened a drive down eight points with 70 yards between them and the end zone. On the first play, Torneden rolled out while getting chased from behind and forced a throw down the home sideline, where Ben Karlin snagged it and sealed the SMW win.

“I was just trying to make a play,” Torneden said. “Time was running out. I shouldn’t have thrown it, but I’ll learn from it.”

Free State didn’t have injured junior running back Zion Bowlin available in the loss, and senior receiver Logan McKinney left early in the third quarter with cramps after giving SMW fits in the first half. McKinney didn’t play a down of offense in the final two quarters and finished with 101 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Firebirds wearing “MCL” label: Free State will wear a sticker with the initials MCL on its helmets this season to honor Lisher’s father, Mel, who died this past offseason. The coach’s mother, Becky, served as an honorary captain at the game and accompanied her son and the Firebirds’ captains to midfield for the pre-game coin toss.

SM West 34, Free State 26

SMW FSHS

First downs 18 16

Rushes-yards 43-226 40-196

Passing yards 133 164

Total offense 358 360

Return yards 59 76

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-30 5-55

Score by quarters

SM West 7 14 6 7 — 34

Free State 6 14 6 0 — 26

Individual statistics

Rushing

SM West: Rahjee Byers 26-124 2 TDs, Jason Meeker 1-55, Nigil Houston 7-30 TD, Isreal Watson 1-9, Adam Rellihan 5-7 2 TDs, Alec Green 1-5, Team 2-minus-4.

Free State: Bryce Torneden 23-133 TD, Sam Skwarlo 14-44 TD, Paul Bittinger 1-15, Zack Sanders 1-4.

Passing

SM West: Rellihan 6-8-133 interception.

Free State: Torneden 11-19-164 2 TDs and 2 interceptions.

Receiving

SM West: Watson 5-120, Korey Belcher 1-13.

Free State: Logan McKinney 4-101 TD, Jack Flynn 2-29, Drew Tochtrop 1-20 TD, Zack Sanders 3-12, Jay Dineen 1-2.

HOW THEY SCORED

First quarter

4:06 — Sam Skwarlo 2 run. Skwarlo run failed. (FSHS 6, SMW 0.)

3:03 — Adam Rellihan 7 run. Josh Compton kick. (SMW 7, FSHS 6.)

Second quarter

10:02 — Rellihan 1 run. Compton kick. (SMW 14, FSHS 6.)

7:52 — Logan McKinney 49 pass from Bryce Torneden. Skwarlo run. (FSHS 14, SMW 14.)

4:13 — Torneden run. Torneden run failed. (FSHS 20, SMW 14.)

1:49 — Rahjee Byers 1 run. Compton kick. (SMW 21, FSHS 20.)

Third quarter

3:47 — Drew Tochtrop 20 pass from Torneden. Skwarlo run failed. (FSHS 26, SMW 21.)

1:32 — Nigil Houston 13 run. Christian Perez run failed. (SMW 27, FSHS 26.)

Fourth quarter

4:32 — Byers 6 run. Compton kick. (SMW 34, FSHS 26.)