photo by: John Young

Free State senior Logan McKinney grabs Shawnee Mission West senior running back Rahjee Byers around the neck an an attempt to tackle him during the first quarter of their game Friday night at FSHS. The Firebirds fell to the Vikings, 34-26.

One of the toughest things to do is predict how a team will play in its first game of the season. How will a newcomer adjust to the big stage? How will returners look in bigger roles?


Both Lawrence High football coach Dirk Wedd and Free State coach Bob Lisher said last week that they needed to see how their team stacked up against other competition.


After Friday, we know a bit more. Lawrence High opened with a 35-14 rout over Blue Valley West, showing off a tough defense and an explosive offense. For the first 30 minutes, nothing could go wrong for the Lions. They owned a 35-0 lead and dominated in all three phases of the game.


“If you have good players, they should make good plays if you put them in the right position,” Wedd said. “That’s what we’re trying to do. We got a lot of help from a lot of people who are stepping up and going from average to good, and that’s huge.”


The Lions have the talent and experience to do some special things this season. The biggest key will be consistency. They wore out a little bit at the end of their season opener.


Free State’s season opener didn’t go as smoothly in a 34-26 loss to Shawnee Mission West. The Firebirds had trouble shedding blocks on defense and made a few costly penalties.


Those are normal growing pains for the first game, especially for the Firebirds who are rebuilding their offensive and defensive lines. A good sign is the offense still produced with 360 total yards. It would be foolish to write off the Firebirds after one loss. The Vikings are expected to be one of the top teams in the Sunflower League and Free State gave them everything they could handle.


Now for a look ahead to next week:


Free State at Olathe North on Friday at 7 p.m. — Olathe North (0-1) is not the team it was a year ago after losing its coach and a talented senior class. The Eagles lost 35-33 to Rogers-Heritage (Arkansas). I haven’t seen a box score online, so not sure who led them statistically. Isaiah Simmons in their biggest recruit, ranked No. 3 in the state by Rivals.com. The 6-foot-3, 212-pound safety has offers from Kansas, K-State, Nebraska, Missouri and Arizona State, among others.


Lawrence High at Leavenworth on Friday at 7 p.m. — Leavenworth (0-1) lost its opener against Great Bend, 19-17. Running back Wade Jackson scored both touchdowns for the Pioneers, while Drew Sachen ran for 84 yards on 16 attempts, according to the Leavenworth Times. Juniors Anthony Martin and Arik Parker both led the team with 11 tackles.

photo by: John Young

Free State senior Logan McKinney grabs Shawnee Mission West senior running back Rahjee Byers around the neck an an attempt to tackle him during the first quarter of their game Friday night at FSHS. The Firebirds fell to the Vikings, 34-26.

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We did player rankings for basketball teams last year and we’ll continue it for football. 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. Last week, I covered Lawrence High and Benton Smith was at Free State.

Lawrence High football

1. JD Woods, sr. RB/CB — Woods picked up where he left off last year, scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 104 yards on 22 carries. LHS coach Dirk Wedd said his first score — a 66-yard touchdown reception on essentially a draw play — was the most important play of the game. It gave the Lions some momentum and carried them for the rest of the half. Woods added a rushing touchdown on the next possession, then blocked a punt, which Erik Shackelford picked up for a touchdown, showing how big of an impact he can make.


2. Trey Georgie, sr. DE/LT — Georgie was making plays everywhere. Woods’ two rushing touchdowns were through holes opened up on Georgie’s side of the offensive line. On defense, Georgie provided pass pressure, knocked down a few passes at the line of scrimmage and had a few tackles for a loss.


3. Price Morgan, sr. LB/TE — Morgan was second in the Sunflower League in tackles last year, and it looks like he’s determined to earn the top spot this season. I don’t keep track of tackles because I’m keeping offensive stats, but I constantly heard his name over the speakers. He added two catches for 32 yards and jumped high for a touchdown before halftime.


4. Alan Clothier, sr. QB — As Tom Keegan wrote in his column from Friday’s game, Clothier looked improved in the pocket. With the Jaguars keying in on Woods, the senior quarterback made smart decisions on read-options, rushing for 30 yards. He tossed for 120 yards and a touchdown.


5. Tanner Green, sr. LB/FB — If it wasn’t Morgan, it was usually Green helping out on a tackle. The 6-foot, 200-pound senior raced sideline to sideline to punish BV West receivers and ball carriers.


6. Amani Bledsoe, sr. DE/RT — The Jaguars did their best to limit Bledsoe’s impact with double teams and putting the tight end or running back on his side to help out. Bledsoe still made a few tackles and he had a few key blocks on offense. All of the attention on him helped free up the linebackers and Georgie.


7. Konner Kelley, sr. LB/FB — Kelley was flying around the field to make tackles and he helped end a BV West drive with a sack.


8. Ivan Hollins, sr. CB/WR — When I talked to Hollins before Friday’s game, he said he was expecting the Jaguars to run the ball a lot, but he was hoping to see some action at cornerback. When the Jaguars started throwing on the majority of their plays, Hollins was ready with a few pass breakups.


9. Dante Jackson, soph. CB/RB — He struggled to find his rhythm on offense, but he didn’t let that affect his defense, where he made a some great tackles in open space, broke up a few passes and grabbed an interception late in the fourth quarter. The electric sophomore also had a 26-yard kick return.


10. Cole Brungardt, jr. K — He made all five extra point attempts and had two kickoffs go for touchbacks. But his biggest contribution to special teams was delivering a huge hit to prevent BV West kick returner Mark Collins Jr. from scoring a touchdown. Didn’t know golfers could hit like that.


• Next up: Friday at Leavenworth. Record: 1-0.

Free State football

1. Bryce Torneden, sr. QB/S — Didn’t have the time he needed or wanted on some passing plays, but never got flustered and made plays with his feet and arm all night which gave FSHS a chance to win.


2. Logan McKinney, sr. WR/CB — Firebirds missed the WR in second half, when they only scored one touchdown without him. In first half, McKinney caught 4 Torneden passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.


3. Sam Skwarlo, sr. RB/LB — The starting RB came through with some nice carries, 44 yards and a TD. But he drove SM West crazy when he was playing defense. Skwarlo hit Vikings ball carriers hard and often figured out where plays were headed before anyone else.


4. Jay Dineen, jr. LB — The junior linebacker, like Skwarlo, became a Firebird whom SM West players got sick of seeing sprinting in their direction.


5. Paul Bittinger, sr. WR/LB — The solidly built receiver looked comfortable running the ball on one carry for 15 yards, and came up with one of the biggest plays on defense for FSHS: a second-quarter fumble recovery. Also pressured the QB when asked to.


6. Drew Tochtrop, sr. WR — When McKinney wasn’t available, Tochtrop came through with a third-quarter touchdown catch that put FSHS ahead. Showed he could make plays in pass coverage, too.


7. Zack Sanders, jr. WR/CB –Torneden didn’t connect with Sanders as a WR as often as the duo would’ve liked in the season opener, but Sanders still made plays in the secondary — including an I’m-not-giving-up-on-this tackle that prevented a SMW TD in the first quarter.


8. Darian Lewis, sr. TE/DL — Defensive lineman came through with a tackle for loss in the third quarter.


9. Jack Flynn, sr. WR — Helped FSHS show how many passing targets it has for Torneden and caught two balls for 29 yards.


• Next up: Friday at Olathe North. Record: 0-1.

Lions head coach Dirk Wedd smiles after a block punt was returned for a touchdown as Lawrence went against Blue Valley West Friday.

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A quick look at a pair of Lawrence High alums who are trying to work their way up the minor league baseball ladder:


• Garrett Cleavinger, a third-round pick in this year’s Major League Baseball draft by the Baltimore Orioles, has allowed just three earned runs in 24 1/3 innings this season (1.11 ERA). He owns a 6-1 record in 18 appearances with one save at Class-A short-season Aberdeen. The left-handed reliever has struck out 30 batters and walked 17, holding opposing hitters to a .150 batting average.


• Albert Minnis, a left-handed reliever in the Houston Astros organization, was recently promoted to Class-AA Corpus Christi. It’s his second promotion after starting the year at Class-A Quad Cities, then going to Class-A advanced Lancaster. At his three stops, Minnis has combined for a 3-4 record and two saves with a 4.07 earned-run average. He’s struck out 46 batters in 55 1/3 innings with 22 walks.
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