photo by: Kevin Anderson/Special to the Journal-World

Former Lawrence High running back JD Woods gets away for a touchdown run in the first half Thursday at the Greater Kansas City Football Coach’s Association football game at Blue Springs High School.

Blue Springs, Mo. ? Wearing a Lawrence High helmet for the final time, running back JD Woods did his best to make the most of it on Thursday.

Woods scored a touchdown in the second quarter of the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association’s All-Star Game at Blue Springs (Mo.) High, catching a swing pass out of the backfield and sprinting 10 yards into the end zone.

That score wasn’t enough to help Woods and Team Kansas — which included former Free State players Paul Bittinger, Jalen Galloway and Logan McKinney and LHS grad Peter Afful — in a 28-24 loss to Missouri, the sixth straight year Missouri has won, but it was one of the many highlights.

Woods, who was named one of the team’s captains, caught five passes for 61 yards and rushed for 48 yards on 10 carries with a lost fumble. He missed a few plays during the third quarter due to a hip injury, which he said was the hardest hit he has felt since his sophomore year.

“LHS, we didn’t really even throw the ball, so me coming out here and catching the ball, it was pretty exciting,” said Woods, who will play at Missouri Western. “That’s what I’m going to do next year in college is play a little slot. I mean, I came out and tried to help us win, but we didn’t get the job done. I’m happy I got to play with these guys.”

The game was played with an intensity unlike most all-star games, including a shoving and shouting match between teams at midfield right before halftime.

That intensity spread to the field in the second half, including a monster hit along the sideline from Galloway in the third quarter, which pumped up his sideline and drew a big roar from the crowd. LHS assistant coach Jamie Resseguie was one of the assistants for the Kansas squad.

Galloway, who will play at Highland CC and started on the defensive line, made three tackles at the line of scrimmage, including one stop for a three-yard loss.

At linebacker, Bittinger made one tackle at the line of scrimmage on third down, forcing a punt in the second quarter.

“It was amazing playing one last game with a couple of my boys,” Galloway said. “Made some new friends around here. I loved it.”

Afful, who mostly played fullback at LHS, caught two passes for 17 yards as a receiver. He was a late addition to the team last week when another player dropped out.

“I was in Ohio on vacation,” Afful said, “and my coaches said, ‘Hey, I have a great opportunity for you to play in the Metro Bowl.’ I was like, ‘Hey, no questions asked. I’m going.'”

Despite the loss, the five city players were happy they had a chance to play together before they take their different paths into college.

“It’s actually a nice opportunity to get into the swing of things before I hit the ground running for college in the fall,” McKinney said. “It’s good to make a lot of friendships and meet a lot of nice guys. It was a blast. I really enjoyed it and I’m glad I did it.”