After eight weeks, for a lot of football teams, all of those offseason workouts, practices, close games — everything — comes down to one game to make the state playoffs.

Free State already clinched its spot with a road victory against Manhattan, but Lawrence High will likely need to a victory to continue on.

It seems like the season just started, but here we are with playoff spots on the line.

Here’s how each district looks heading into the final week of the regular season:

District 4: Olathe North – CLINCHED (2-0, +42 point differential), Olathe Northwest (1-1, +18), Lawrence (1-1, -18), Olathe East – ELIMINATED (0-2, -42).

District 5: Free State – CLINCHED (2-0, +42 point differential), Topeka – CLINCHED (2-0, +32), Manhattan – ELIMINATED (0-2, -32), Washburn Rural – ELIMINATED (0-2, -42).

But before we look too much at playoff scenarios, let’s go back to last week, starting with my thoughts from Free State’s 35-14 win over Manhattan:

•Free State’s offense rolls when junior quarterback Bryce Torneden is doing damage with his arms and legs. Manhattan had a tough time trying to stop Torneden’s read options, and when they started to stack the box with defenders, he went through the air for three touchdowns. When he’s running well and throwing well, it resulted in the Firebirds scoring on four of their first five drives.

•Free State’s secondary stepped up when challenged. Sophomore Zack Sanders grabbed two interceptions (and a third that was negated by a pass interference call), and senior Joel Spain added one of his own. They were as far as hitting wide receivers at the exact moment he need to. As long as Torneden is healthy (and they don’t suffer any more devastating injuries), they have an offense and a line that should keep them competitive with just about any team. Torneden’s dual threat ability is difficult to defend and that makes things easier for junior Khaury El-Amin and other FSHS running backs.

•Manhattan entered with a strong run game, but the Firebirds’ defense stuffed everything. The Indians finished with just 101 rushing yards on 27 attempts (3.74 per carry). With some of their starters back on the field and healthier, you can tell they regained some of their swagger. In reality, the biggest things that helped the Indians score their two touchdowns was a roughing the passer penalty on a third-and-16 incompletion at the end of the first half, and a pass interference penalty on a fake punt to open the second half.

“There were some formations we haven’t seen, there were some plays that we weren’t familiar with and when they do that, you just have to line up and play,” FSHS coach Bob Lisher said. “We missed some opportunities there, but overall, I was extremely pleased with our defense and how they played. They played hard. They just made a few mistakes at crucial times, but when you give up two touchdowns (to a team that scored 40+ last week), you have to be pleased with that.”

•Tye Carter helped the defense out with a few strong punts. Twice in the second half when Free State drives stalled, Carter pinned Manhattan inside of its own six-yard line. The first led to a three-and-out and the second led to an interception by Sanders, which set up a touchdown on the next drive.

“This is my first year punting, and I’m competing with my friend at (Lawrence High) Luke Zenger for the best average,” Carter said. “It feels good beating him, for sure.”

Olathe North beat Lawrence High, 27-0, and here are Benton Smith’s thoughts:

•-There were a handful of breakdowns that kept Lawrence from really challenging one of the state’s best teams, Olathe North:

• Venus Triplett returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown.

• LHS allowed O-North to pick up a 1st down on 3rd-and-25, which set up the Eagles’ second TD.

• The Lions surrendered a 34-yard O-North TD pass on 4th-and-3.

• In the final three minutes, an LHS punt from deep in its own territory sailed straight out of bounds, giving O-North a 24-yard field.

There is such a difference in experience between these two teams that LHS needed a perfect effort to pull off an upset.

•As devastating as those plays were, Lawrence really handled the challenges of defending against O-North the rest of the game. The biggest issue in the shutout loss, of course, was moving the ball and sustaining drives. The Eagles (8-0) have held six of eight opponents this season to 14 points or less.

•Lawrence left the field feeling confident about the things it did well, which is a great sign for the final week of the regular season. And most of those positive vibes were created by the defense.

• Price Morgan forced a fumble in the first quarter.

• Amani Bledsoe and Cy Burghart teamed up to bring down Triplett for a seven-yard loss in the second quarter.

• Bledsoe absolutely destroyed the O-North O-line and sacked Eagles QB Cole Murphy for an 11-yard loss in the fourth quarter.

• Linebacker Konner Kelley blew up a few Eagles runs.

• The Lions’ offense was a couple of big plays away from really making O-North uncomfortable, and that’s not easy to do.

•After playing four quarters against the best, expect the Lions to look far better in their regular-season finale, vs. Olathe East.

Now for a look ahead to the final week of the regular season and last week of districts:

Free State at Topeka on Friday at 7 p.m. — The Trojans (7-1, ranked No. 4 in 6A by Kpreps.com) have a strong dual-threat quarterback with Alex Beatty, and a dominant running back Saylor Carraway, who ran for 223 yards last week. Though both teams have already clinched a spot in the state playoffs, this will determine who has a home game in the first week (top seed), and who is headed on the road (second seed).

Olathe East at Lawrence High on Friday at 7 p.m. — After all of that work throughout the year, everything comes down to one game. Assuming unbeaten Olathe North beats Olathe Northwest, if the Lions win, they are headed into the state playoffs. A loss, and they’re headed into the offseason. The Hawks (3-5) have lost four games in a row, but they have a streaky offense led by quarterback Chase Miller and receiver Zach Cahill. They also have a good running back, Jalen Branson.
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Both of Free State’s cross country teams captured a regional championship on Saturday, and have plenty of momentum going into the state meet on Friday at Rim Rock Farm.

The girls’ team is the favorite to repeat as state champions, as they lead the cross country coaches poll over Olathe East. It helps when Emily Venters has been racing in a different stratosphere this year, winning every race she’s entered. Venters won her regional race by about 18 seconds. Sophomore Kiran Cordes has been running well lately (3rd at regionals) and junior Claire Sanner has always been consistent (5th at regionals).

The Firebirds are also getting a lift from junior Liv Lyche and senior Marlee Yost-Wolff, who both finished in the top-16 at regionals and both were in the top-30 at the Sunflower League meet.

The boys’ team is ranked No. 3 in 6A, but has ran really well in recent weeks. Senior Ryan Liston won his regional race by 15 seconds and has been on a streak of wins for the past few races. The Firebirds are also helped by junior Ethan Donley, senior Thomas Becker and junior Tanner Hockenbury finishing in the top-10 at regionals and league.

Lawrence High didn’t qualify either team for the state meet, but will be sending junior Nathan Pederson, who qualified individually. Pederson took 15th at regionals.
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A quick update on a few Lawrence natives in college athletics:

•Former Free State volleyball star Katy Davis received her second MIAA Specialist of the Week Award of the season Monday. Davis, a sophomore setter for Central Oklahoma, led her school to a 2-0 record over conference opponents with 94 assists and 18 digs.

•Free State’s own Jessica Ferguson, a freshman soccer player at Gardner-Webb, scored two goals and added two assists against Brevard College in a 6-1 win last week.
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As always, feel free to comment, email me, or find me on Twitter @nightengalejr.