Motivated Firebirds surge into state semifinals

Free State High coach Bob Lisher, right, congratulates the Firebird team after their 37-17 regional 6A playoff win against the Junction City Blue Jays, Friday, Nov. 14, 2014 at Al Simpler Stadium in Junction City.

Free State High football players heard all offseason long about how they would struggle after losing last year’s graduating class. They kept that in the back of their minds throughout the season and were ready to prove a point against Junction City on Friday.

After a few early mistakes, the Firebirds dominated on both sides of the ball and routed the Blue Jays for a 37-17 victory in the state quarterfinals at Al Simpler Stadium.

“It’s great. I like how we are going past last year,” senior linebacker and running back Carson Bowen said. “Everybody thought last year was the team. But I like that we stepped up and proved everybody wrong this year. Nobody thought we were going to be here.”

The Firebirds believed all season they were a better team than they were getting credit for and are showing how dangerous they can be when playing at their best.

“(Last year’s team) was supposed to be the team of destiny and come and win a state championship,” senior lineman Shane Hofer said. “But, you know, to come back and advance farther than they did is great.”

After the Firebirds (8-3) lost a fumble on the first play Friday, the defense held the Blue Jays (8-3) to a field goal on a short field. On the next possession, Free State’s offense drove the field on a nine-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard rushing touchdown by junior quarterback Bryce Torneden.

But that was the last time Free State’s offense would find the end zone in the first half. The Firebirds struggled to finish drives in the red zone, taking their next four drives inside the 10-yard line and leaving with three field goals from senior kicker Daniel Clarke, and one lost fumble by Torneden.

“We have a tendency sometimes to make things harder on ourselves, and this was one of those nights,” FSHS coach Bob Lisher said.

But even as the Firebirds struggled to finish drives, they led 23-10 at halftime, scoring a defensive touchdown, a 32-yard interception return by Torneden. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound free safety spotted an underthrown pass to make the easy catch and then cut to the right sideline to run past tacklers.

Torneden has heard all season about his lack of interceptions, and this one was extra-special.

“I’ve been getting harped (at) because Shane (Hofer) had a little more than me,” Torneden said with a smile, noting the 6-foot-2, 255-pound lineman’s interception for a touchdown earlier in the season.

In the third quarter, Free State shut the door on any chance of a potential comeback. The Firebirds finished drives in the red zone with touchdown runs by Torneden and Bowen, while the defense held the Blue Jays to just eight yards of total offense and without a first down.

The Firebirds’ offense moved down the field with long pass plays to senior receiver Joel Spain, who finished with six catches and 131 yards, and long runs by Bowen and sophomore running back Zion Bowlin.

“I think we just all came together more,” said Bowen, the 5-foot-11 back who ran for 99 yards and a touchdown. “Blocking stepped up. Our line stepped up a lot more. Then our lead blockers really did the trick.”

The Firebirds only allowed eight rushing yards on the night and just one first down in the second and third quarter over seven drives.

“We worked on hitting our gaps,” Hofer said. “Last week we let up, God knows, 300 yards rushing or whatever. So we just worked on hitting our gaps all week, and it showed up tonight.”

Once the fourth quarter began, the Firebirds had their backups on the field. Senior Shane Moore sacked Junction City’s quarterback on the last play to put the final stamp on the game.

The Firebirds will play host to Hutchinson (7-4) in the state semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at FSHS.

“This will be our fourth semifinal game in the last nine years,” Lisher said. “We’ve made a lot of appearances here, but we’ve only made the big game once. Hutch’s had a lot of experience of getting there of late, so it’s going to be a battle.”