After an entire summer of workouts and weight training, then two-a-days, scrimmages and jamborees last month, the high school football season has finally arrived for Lawrence High and Free State.

After each game for the two schools, I plan on having this blog post: Football Game Tape, where I give some thoughts and analysis of the previous game and a quick look forward to next week.

I’ll start with Free State, who beat Shawnee Mission West, 20-14, and created 386 yards of offense including 258 yards on the ground. Since I wasn’t at the game, here are some of the observations I heard from LJWorld writer Benton Smith:

•The guys that are now the senior leaders have done a nice job of stepping up in absence of the talented class of 2014. For a team that has a lot of new guys stepping up into bigger roles, the seniors are carrying the torch in terms of leading the way for the younger starters.

•It seems like Free State has three running backs it could use without much drop off in production. Besides junior quarterback Bryce Torneden sprinting for 152 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, the Firebirds have Carson Bowen (11 carries-41 yards), Sam Skwarlo (7-28) and Joe Lane (5-15) to push the ball forward. Receiver Joel Spain also ran for 21 yards on four carries.

•Torneden was calm and effective in his first varsity start. He read and reacted well to the Vikings’ defense. His performance (152 yards rushing and 128 yards passing, completing 9-of-12 passes) will certainly draw comparisons to his older brother, Camren, who led FSHS to a state title game. He showed tremendous poise evading pass rushes and improvising on the fly.

•The Firebirds have plenty of capable receivers with Spain, Tye Carter, Drew Tochtrop, Andrew Keating and Logan McKinney. All of them caught the ball in traffic or with a defender near them. They were reliable targets and helped make it easier for Torneden in the passing game.

I was at Lawrence High’s 37-13 loss to Blue Valley West, and here are some of my thoughts:

•The Lions do have some big-play weapons on offense. JD Woods took the opening-handoff of the second half to the house on a 78-yard scamper up the middle. Tight end Price Morgan had a 31-yard catch on a go-route down the middle of the field. J’Mony Bryant also had a few long runs.

•There are some kinks to work out on the offensive line, which was expected. With only two returning starters from last year, they had trouble blocking against Blue Valley West linebackers on Thursday, which limited the Lions’ big play abilities for their running backs. The Lions only had 11 runs longer than four yards in 51 attempts, which isn’t a good ratio in a run-heavy offense.

•The defense is quick but maybe not as fast as previously thought. Coach Dirk Wedd said they got exposed a little bit in terms of speed and weren’t as fast as they needed to be. Some of that is not being in the right gaps in defensive formations.

•The secondary needs to work on short passes but has the ability to give opposing quarterbacks headaches. Ivan Hollins, JD Woods, J’Mony Bryant and Dearion Cooper did a good job of defending fades down the sideline and other deep balls as Hollins and Cooper had interceptions. However, the Jaguars stuck with 5-yard flat routes by the sideline and LHS struggled to stop the dink-and-dunk passing attack.

Now for a look ahead to next week:

Olathe North at Free State on Friday at 7 p.m. — Olathe North (1-0) is ranked No. 1 in Class 6A by most publications and is considered the big favorite in the Sunflower League. The Eagles went 8-4 last year and return 17 starters, including a couple of Div. I players (tight end Josh Moore and linebacker Marcel Spears), and the Sunflower League’s leading rusher last year Venus Triplett (1,530 yards, 25 TD). Triplett scored a touchdown in the final two minutes to beat Rogers Heritage (Arkansas), 18-13, on Friday.

Leavenworth at Lawrence High on Friday at 7 p.m. — Leavenworth (1-0) went 3-7 last year but returned all-Sunflower League receiver Isaiah Ross and quarterback Landry Hodges on offense with a couple of defensive starters, especially at linebacker. The Pioneers beat Great Bend 19-0 at home on Friday.

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Lawrence High’s boys soccer team won its season-opener, 7-0, over Topeka High at LHS on Tuesday.

The Lions scored just about any way imaginable whether it was via a header, corner, crosses, or even a free kick near midfield.

“It’s always good to start the season with a victory, that’s always nice,” LHS coach Mike Murphy said. “It’s always nice to get a victory too where you’ve got some space to work with where you can get some guys in and get a lot of playing time for some bench players.”

I think the 15 minutes of playing time had a big impact for the Lions when they faced Manhattan before lightning ended the game (and it forced it to be postponed). Some players agreed, while others did not, but it didn’t seem like many guys were nervous when they entered the game. Despite the big victory, the Lions know there are a few improvements they still need to make.

“I thought we played well as a team, but individually, I thought, a lot of the guys could work harder,” senior Jared Roush said. “Just getting the nerves out really helped. I thought we did really well in the second half.”

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A tough start for LHS and FSHS volleyball teams this week.

The Lions have a 0-3 record with a victory in just one set, as Caroline Dykes leads the squad with 14 kills.

Free State dropped its first two matches in its season-opening triangular in Lansing. Senior libero Paige Corcoran did well defensively with 26 digs, and Naomi Hicks (12 kills) and Payton Gannaway (11 kills) carried the offense.
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As always, feel free to comment, email me, or find me on Twitter @nightengalejr.