Scoring a touchdown two different ways wasn’t good enough for Ryan Murphy, so he found a way to put a hat trick on the board Friday night at Haskell Stadium.

After the senior quarterback passed for a score and ran for two, he also caught a touchdown in the 62-27 Free State (7-0) football victory against Topeka High (1-6).

“I saw that coach Beck was here,” Murphy said of Kansas University wide-receiver coach Tim Beck. “I kind of wanted to show him a little bit of what I can do out there. It was kind of new, a little bit different, but it was fun.”

Murphy, who has committed to KU, will play receiver in college.

“We’ve got that in our offense, but we just haven’t used it this year,” Free State coach Bob Lisher said. “I thought we practiced it so much that we might as well use it a little bit.”

Murphy finished the game 7-of-10 passing for 103 yards and a touchdown, 54 rushing yards and two touchdowns and notched one reception for 18 yards for his fourth score of the night. Talk about a gamebreaker.

The lopsided game, which was virtually decided after Free State scored 34 points, allowed Lisher to test different players at different positions.

Junior Craig Rosenstengle caught a touchdown in the first quarter from Murphy, then connected with him at quarterback for another score in the same quarter. Senior Christian Ballard, typically a tight end, received three straight handoffs out of the shotgun formation.

“We worked on that in summer camp,” Lisher said of Ballard in the backfield. “It’s something we can use to get a little more speed spread out over the field.”

A little more speed?

Ballard is listed at 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds, but he still ran past Topeka High defenders on a 20-yard run to the THS four-yard line. He also had considerable yards after contact on his runs because the Topeka defenders had a tough time bringing him down.

It was a breakout game for sophomore running back Chucky Hunter. Lisher used Hunter’s pass-receiving skills out of the backfield. Hunter didn’t carry the ball, but had five receptions for 74 yards, and a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Hunter said he saw more open field on Friday night than he usually did.

“Usually, I have a linebacker on me, but this week, I didn’t have anybody on me,” Hunter said. “I was wide open, and I took it to my advantage. It’s great. My eyes got wide.”

Senior running back Brian Murphy did not play in Friday night’s game because of a sprained right ankle.

“He could have gone tonight,” Lisher said of Murphy’s availability. “He was still a little bit gimpy in warmups, so we decided he didn’t need to go tonight. Luckilly, it worked out.”

Free State won’t have much time to celebrate the 35-point blowout. The Firebirds will play the crosstown rival Lawrence High Lions next Friday at Haskell Stadium. Lisher said there was an implied amount of intensity that went into preparing for the game. He has a 3-6 all-time record against LHS.

“It’s a big game for the kids because they know each other,” Lisher said. “It’s a big game for the city, so I don’t think there will be any problem getting everbody ready for that game.”

From a player’s perspective, Ryan Murphy said the LHS game would be an emotional game for him.

“Growing up in Lawrence, playing Lawrence High, our crosstown rival, there would be nothing better than beating them,” Ryan Murphy said. “Right now, I’m 1-1 against them, so I want to get that win and leave my high school career 2-1 against the Lions. No one can take that away from me.”

Put simply, does Ryan Murphy think Free State will defeat Lawrence?

“Oh, definitely,” he said confidently and with a smile.