photo by: Richard Gwin

Lawrence High's J.D. Woods (11) shakes off Shawnee Mission North's Sam Schwartz on Friday night at LHS.

For the first time since 2012, Lawrence High and Free State football teams advanced to the Class 6A state quarterfinals.


The Lions didn’t play their best defensively, but the offense picked up the slack in a 56-32 victory against Shawnee Mission North.


Behind 292 yards of offense created by senior QB Alan Clothier and another dominant game by senior RB JD Woods (186 yards, 4 TD), the Lions showed how dangerous their offense can be at its best.


The only concerning thing was the defense giving up a season-high 579 yards to SM North. At this stage of the season, opposing offenses will only get better.


“We’ve got some young kids in the secondary and it’s crash course,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said. “It’s tough. Three steps — just catch and throw — it doesn’t allow our big guys to get a pass rush. (SM North QB Will Schneider) is good. We have to go Monday and get a lot better really quick because Blue Valley is going to walk in here and be able to throw it all over the yard, too.”


For the second straight week, Free State’s defense recorded a shutout in a 49-0 rout over Wichita West. And it’s not like the Firebirds aren’t facing tough offenses. Topeka High was one of the top offenses in the state and the Pioneers averaged 44 points during district play.


But credit the Firebirds with getting more comfortable in coach Bob Lisher’s new defensive scheme this season, which has shut down opposing run games.


Now for a look ahead to next week:


Blue Valley at Lawrence High at 7 p.m. Friday — The first time these two teams have played each other since Blue Valley knocked the Lions out of the playoffs in 2008. The Tigers (8-2) advanced with a 37-14 victory against SM West. On a four-game winning streak, they given up just 11 points per game in those wins.


Free State at Wichita Northwest at 7 p.m. Friday — A rematch of last year’s first-round playoff game when Free State won 27-16. The Grizzlies (10-0), who advanced with a 55-19 win over Wichita North, returned a lot of players and feature one of the best offenses in the state, averaging 49.3 points per contest. They’re led by dual-threat quarterback Kevin Folsom, who has tossed for 1,892 yards and 25 touchdowns with zero interceptions, and rushed for 594 yards and nine touchdowns. Jahlyl Rounds is the top running back with 1,279 yards and 13 touchdowns, while Antonio Joyner is right behind with 985 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Lawrence High's J.D. Woods (11) shakes off Shawnee Mission North's Sam Schwartz on Friday night at LHS.

*
In case you missed it, we’re copying one of the popular features of KUsports.com, “Keegan’s Ratings,” where Sports Editor Tom Keegan ranks KU football and men’s basketball players after every game he attends. These individual rankings are just one person’s opinion, but it’s a good way to look at how each person impacted each game.

Lawrence High football

1. Alan Clothier, QB — The best way to describe Clothier’s day was efficient. He completed 10 of his 13 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns. He only ran the ball seven times and turned it into 93 yards and a touchdown. He even leveled an opponent with a huge block, springing JD Woods for a touchdown run. When he’s throwing that well, it makes the team’s rushing attack that much stronger.


2. JD Woods, RB — It’s impressive how Woods only needs a little bit of space to make defenses pay. The Indians did their best to bottle up Woods, but he broke a few tackles and reached a couple of edges. The result was 186 yards and four touchdowns. In addition to another big game on the ground, Woods caught three passes for 44 yards, including a big 3rd-and-16 conversion in the first quarter.


3. Price Morgan, TE/LB — Morgan was everywhere on Friday. He was constantly making tackles around the line of scrimmage, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. He added a sack in the first quarter on a delayed blitz. On offense, Morgan caught a 32-yard touchdown on first drive with a post route over the middle of the field. He finished with 70 yards on 3 catches, however, he didn’t return after injuring his left shoulder on a 22-yard catch in the third quarter.


4. Trey Georgie, LT/DE — SM North quarterback Will Schneider didn’t allow the Lions to get pressure on him with quick three-step drops. But Georgie still made a huge impact, batting down two passes at the line of scrimmage and partially blocking a punt in the third quarter, which led to a LHS touchdown.


5. Tanner Green, LB — After SM North running back Marcos Garcia ran wild in the first quarter, Green helped the Lions shut down the run game. He added tackles at the line of scrimmage, including a huge stop on 4th-and-1 at midfield in the second quarter for a one-yard loss.


6. J’Mony Bryant, WR — At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Bryant helped put the game out of reach with a 61-yard touchdown reception. He caught the ball on the right sideline, shook a defender, somehow stayed inbounds and sprinted the rest of the way with a key block from fellow receiver Nick Williams. Bryant also had a nice 35-yard kick return to open the game.


7. Amani Bledsoe, DE/RT — Even with three-step drops, it was impressive to watch how fast Bledsoe could fight his way through blockers into the backfield. He didn’t end up with any sacks, but he tipped a few passes at the line of scrimmage. In the third quarter, he combined with a Jake Unruh for a big tackle in the backfield.


8. Peter Afful, RB — Known for his big hits, Afful delivered a big blow when he ran for a 51-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, sprinting straight up the middle.


9. Jake Unruh, DT/LG — Unruh, along with Nate Koehn, was a big reason the Indians didn’t run the ball well in the second half. He clogged up running lanes and make a couple of tackles in the backfield.


10. Dante’ Jackson, WR/CB — It wasn’t a great day for the LHS secondary, allowing 323 passing yards, but Jackson knocked away two straight passes in the end zone at the beginning of the fourth quarter, keeping the Indians from scoring.


• Next up: Friday vs. Blue Valley. Record: 10-0.

Free State football

1. Sam Skwarlo, RB/LB — Free State’s star senior running back worked the option to perfection with longtime teammate and senior quarterback Bryce Torneden, on his way to 168 rushing yards and three touchdowns. But Skwarlo also helped bail out Torneden with a 39-yard receiving TD when Wichita West and the speedy QB ran backward to keep a play alive.


2. Bryce Torneden, QB/FS — Although Wichita West game-planned well to contain the athletic, scrambling QB when Torneden took off to run, (42 rushing yards on 10 carries) the Pioneers often had no chance to deny Torneden through the air. The senior completed 11 of his 16 throws for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Torneden had perfect loft and placement on his third-quarter TD pass to Logan McKinney.


3. Jay Dineen, LG/LB — The fiery junior linebacker introduced himself to West’s skill players early, and kept on meeting them at the line of scrimmage or behind it all night, as FSHS stymied the Pioneers’ offense for four quarters.


4. Noah Kema, DT — Wichita West QB Chaz Capps had to be sick of seeing the junior defensive lineman running his way. On the rare occasions West called up passing plays, Kema often found a way to pressure the QB. And on the Pioneers’ numerous runs, Kema stuffed plays before they got started or made key tackles to prevent anything major from happening.


5. Zion Bowlin, RB/SS — Not only did the junior running back deliver 89 rushing yards on just six carries and a touchdown. On defense, the defensive back provided run support and even got in on a combined sack with Dineen late in the third quarter.


6. Zack Sanders, WR/CB — The junior receiver’s chemistry with Torneden within Free State’s passing attack often leads to easy quick-hitters, as was the case Friday, when Sanders caught three passes for 22 yards. As a defensive back, Sanders also made one of the plays of the night, picking off a pass and setting up a FSHS TD drive.


7. Logan McKinney, WR/CB — The senior receiver led Free State with 46 receiving yards and grabbed a TD in the third quarter that pushed the Firebirds’ lead to 42-0. McKinney also came up with a few tackles on defense.


8. Drew Tochtrop, LB — A senior linebacker and punter, Tochtrop made a play on a kickoff, too. Just after Free State’s second TD, a high kickoff led to a West muff and Tochtrop snagged the loose ball to set up a Firebirds TD.


9. Paul Bittinger, LB — The senior linebacker made a few plays on defense and got some carries as a RB late.


10. Kameron Lake, K — FSHS didn’t need to use the freshman kicker for any field goals in the blowout, but Lake gives the Firebirds automatic points every time the team reaches the end zone. Lake was a perfect 7-for-7.


• Next up: Friday at Wichita Northwest. Record: 7-3.

photo by: John Young

Wichita West senior running back D'Anthony Andrews, center, has no where to run as he is stopped by a gang of Free State tacklers behind the line during their first round playoff game Friday night at FSHS. The Firebirds routed the Pioneers, 49-0, and with the win advance to the second round of the state playoffs.

*
The Class 6A playoff bracket is below. Note: If a team didn’t receive a home game last week, it will get one in the next week, regardless of seeding. If both teams were at home, or both teams were away, the highest seed will play at home.


East bracket


No. 4 Blue Valley (8-2) at No. 1 Lawrence High (10-0)


No. 2 Shawnee Mission East (9-1) at No. 6 Olathe North (9-1)


West bracket


No. 4 Free State (7-3) at No. 1 Wichita Northwest (10-0)


No. 3 Derby (9-1) at No. 2 Junction City (10-0)


*
As always, feel free to comment, email me, or find me on Twitter @nightengalejr.