photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Lawrence Free State junior Finn Moore celebrates with junior Maddon Brittingham after scoring a touchdown against Shawnee Mission South at Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 in Overland Park.

The Free State football team is younger than a season ago, but the Firebirds still have a lot of exciting pieces to help the team compete in the Sunflower League.

“We’ve got a lot of high-end guys who are really good, but we’ve also got a lot of new guys,” coach Kevin Stewart said. “We need them to develop fast.”

The Firebirds, particularly offensively, start with the senior duo of running back Maddon Brittingham and quarterback Finn Moore. The two powered the Firebird offense a season ago on the ground with one of the most prolific run games in the state. Moore finished with 222 carries for 1,417 yards and 16 touchdowns, while Brittingham ran for 1,101 yards on 152 carries with 17 touchdowns.

But this year, the Firebirds will have a bit of a different look offensively. The Firebirds still plan on utilizing the legs of Brittingham and Moore, but with improved development at quarterback from Moore and a younger offensive line, the Firebirds won’t shy away from throwing the ball around to keep defenses honest.

“It’ll help a lot,” Moore said. “It’ll take the pressure off the o-line at the start of the year until they start to figure it out. The speed of the game changes a lot (at varsity), so once they figure it out

Stewart said that Moore has become much quicker operationally. The Firebirds got a transfer sophomore quarterback from New Mexico in Rohan Patel, but the transfer has only pushed Moore further in his development as a quarterback and as a leader.

“He’s so much quicker than he was last year with throwing the ball, getting the ball out quick and understanding the plays and where we want the ball to go,” Stewart said. “He has really taken a step forward as a quarterback.”

The offensive line is talented, but the group is young. Tackle Reese Wilmes and center Xander Swoyer are two building blocks on the line, but the rest of the group will be composed of younger athletes playing under the Friday night lights for the first time. Free State receiver Alijah Beckum said he’s seen a lot of growth from the line in the last few weeks, and Stewart has faith that will be solid enough to not make-or-break the team.

“The juniors are really going to have to step up and be ready to go,” Stewart said. “The offensive line is learning to be physical, learning to do their job. So we’re trying to help them out a little bit and do different things.”

Previous Free State offenses have utilized their unique talent and offensive line depth to out-physical teams in the run game. This year’s team will keep defenses on their toes with more passes. That’s where Beckum comes in to help grow the passing game.

“I’m ready to show what I can do,” Beckum said. “I wasn’t really a starter last year, and this year I am. So I’m excited to prove myself.”

Defensively, the Firebirds have some speed to their game. Whether it be in pass coverage or in coming down to stop the run, the Firebirds have the athleticism and speed to make plays. What the Firebirds don’t enter the season with is a lot of starting experience on the defense.

As much as the Firebirds are light on the offensive line, the defense has the same questions along its side of the trenches. The Firebirds have two strengths along the front with linemen Kio Ford and James Kahungura, but the depth along the line is thin, which makes stopping the run a challenge.

“We’re not as heavy as we’ve been, so hopefully we can play fast,” Stewart said. “If we can take care of the run game, I think we can be effective. We’re not small, but we’re not big and heavy.”

Stewart said that the lack of size the team is accustomed to makes it even more important to be assignment sound. Defenders have to be stout on first and second downs, make sure they’re in the right gap and make the fundamental plays. The goal for the Firebirds is to get to third down, where teams are more likely to pass and the Firebirds can take advantage of their speed to get pressure on the quarterback and shut down opposing passing attacks.

“We have to be better in situational football,” Stewart said. “We’ve got to understand run formations, run down-and-distance, be able to move the offensive line, be able to bring linebackers and pressure and put us in situations where we know the pass is coming.”

The good news is that the defense has continued to improve in practice, and the team sees it. Moore said that in the last two weeks, he’s seen a lot of younger guys stepping up and making plays.

Stewart believes the Sunflower League is open for anyone this year and that a lot of teams could make a serious jump, but the Free State schedule is favorable based on last year’s records. The Firebirds have three games against teams with winning records in 2025: Gardner Edgerton, Mill Valley and Shawnee Mission East. The other five teams on the schedule went a combined 9-37 in 2025.

The Firebirds get an early chance at some game action on Friday with a preseason jamboree against Olathe East, Olathe Northwest and Basehor-Linwood in Basehor. Stewart said the team will use the jamboree more to get the younger Firebirds some action than to throw the top starters on the field for the majority of the reps.

“We treat it like a preseason football game in the NFL,” Stewart said. “We’re not going to show all of our plays. If there is a guy who we feel is ready to go for next week, we’re probably not going to give that guy 15, 20 carries. We’re more likely to put in guys who we think can use the work to get used to Friday nights.”

Free State has the pieces to be a contending team, but how far the Firebirds ultimately go in the postseason rests on the shoulders of a large junior class that will need to develop on the job.

“We just have to stick to our game on both sides of the ball and not let the other team dictate,” Beckum said.