Lawrence's Dearion Cooper (26) is swarmed by a pack of SM East defenders on a kickoff return on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, at SM North.

Overland Park ? It might not have changed the outcome, but it sure would have made things more interesting.

Trailing by two touchdowns, with two minutes remaining in the first half of a 35-7 Class 6A football state playoff loss to Shawnee Mission East on Friday night at Shawnee Mission North stadium, Lawrence High faced a fourth-and-goal from the half-yard line. Like he had done all night, LHS coach Dirk Wedd called for a handoff to junior tailback J.D. Woods. But unlike most of the other times, when Woods plowed ahead for positive yardage, the Lions’ top offensive threat ran into a wall of Lancers, and the Lions were turned away.

Top-ranked Shawnee Mission East scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half to push its lead to 28-7 and outgained the Lions 226-16 in the third quarter to slam the door on any hopes of an LHS comeback.

“The whole thing came down to that play from the half-yard line,” Wedd said. “And we couldn’t get it in. You have a lot of ways to get the ball to No. 11 (Woods). He’s our horse. But we didn’t knock anyone off the ball.”

LHS (5-5) had no problem with that on the game’s initial drive. After taking the opening kickoff at the 20 yard line, LHS drove nine plays in just under five minutes to take a 7-0 lead on a 36-yard Woods touchdown run.

As he crossed the goal line with the game’s first points, the energy and emotion of Woods’ celebration carried him out of the back of the end zone and made one thing clear.

“We wanted to make a statement right away and prove that we came to play and compete,” said the LHS junior, who finished with 167 yards on 27 carries.

For a half, the Lions did just that. The two teams were separated by just seven total yards at halftime — 169 for SME and 162 for LHS — and combined to run the ball on all but one play in the first two quarters.

But East’s versatile misdirection offense caused the LHS defense fits all night and slowly and methodically wore the Lions down. SME scored touchdowns on its first three possessions and five of its first six.

“They’ve just got so many options,” said senior defensive back Cy Burghart, one of 20 seniors on the LHS roster. “You never know who has the ball.”

That’s not to say the Lions didn’t scout the Lancers’ offense or attempt to prepare for it. They did. It’s just not that easy to simulate.

“That offense,” Wedd said. “Your scout team can’t run it the way you’re gonna see it in two or three days of practice.”

The Lancers (10-0) finished with 403 rushing yards — four SME players topped 40 yards rushing, including 150 yards on 28 carries for Wyatt Edmisten and 124 yards on nine carries for Sam Huffman — and threw just one pass all night. LHS junior Price Morgan made East quarterback Gunnar Englund pay for that decision, though, crushing him as he let go of the ball that fell incomplete.

One other defensive highlight for the Lions came midway through the second half when sophomore linebacker Jacob Unruh stripped and recovered a fumble from Edmisten in what seemed to be a simultaneous motion. Unfortunately for the Lions, those defensive highlights were few and far between, and the offense that stayed yard-for-yard with the Lancers in the first half gained just 97 yards in the second half.

Sophomore Trey Moore added support to Woods in the backfield and finished with 40 yards of total offense, while junior quarterback Alan Clothier finished with 38 yards rushing, 24 yards passing and at least double that in the toughness department.

Despite the loss, Wedd said he was proud of his team, which featured two very different groups. One was a collection of seniors who finished with a 1-8 record as freshmen but stuck with it to end their careers with a trip to state. And the other included 17 underclassmen starters who will be back next season.

“This was a big step for us and a big learning experience,” Wedd said. “Those kids learned a lot this year.”

One thing many of them learned Friday night was how sour a playoff loss tastes and that none of them is interested in sampling that fare again next season.

“It was good for us to get here, just to see what a playoff atmosphere was like,” Woods said. “And we’re going to work harder than ever over the offseason so we can make a title run next year.”

Burghart had no problem with that claim.

“Next year’s their year,” he said. “But it felt great for us to go out by getting to this point this year. I knew after 1-8 that we could only improve.”