photo by: Parker I. Johnson/Special to the Journal-World

Lawrence players on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026 at Shawnee Mission South High School in Overland Park.

Lawrence football is back at home on a four-game winning streak to host Olathe Northwest, with Friday’s game doubling as the homecoming game.

The win streak and homecoming are two things that could provide distractions for the Lions going into the game, but Lawrence coach Jason Thoren said the team has done well at showing up each day at practice with attention to detail.

“It’s kind of been a year of distractions,” Thoren said. “It’s almost been the theme with the weather. That’s been a gigantic hurdle to push through so far this year with the heat, and then the torrential rain. (The team) likes playing football, so I haven’t really noticed (distractions) with them.”

The Ravens have scored a lot this season and are averaging 34 points per game and are coming off a 41-14 win over Olathe North. Olathe Northwest can move offensively with both its ground and air attack, but the explosiveness of its top running back Noah Harrell is the main attraction of the offense.

“They’ve got speed,” Thoren said. “They’ve got a really talented quarterback, talented tailback, a couple talented receivers. They’ve got a tough offensive line. They play hard and are well coached. They’ve got some talented people touching the ball.”

Harrell has a lot of speed and is hard to tackle. Lawrence has done well this year of swarming to the ball carrier for gang tackles, but the Lions will need to be at their best in that regard on Friday.

“You’ve got to get guys to the ball,” Thoren said. “I think that’s first and foremost. Numerically, you can’t let them out-leverage you. (They’re) trying to at least get a half-man advantage, and they do a good job to get that to happen so we’ve got to be on our toes defensively.”

While the Ravens will likely try to get Harrell going early and often, the Ravens have a spread passing game it can turn to as well. Lawrence hasn’t had to face an offense that passes the ball much yet — partly thanks to a torrential downpour in Lawrence’s 44-7 win over Shawnee Mission South that prevented either team from throwing the ball — but the Ravens are a team that can push the ball downfield in the passing game.

On the other side of the ball, Olathe Northwest has had some up and down defensive performances. In three of the Ravens’ five games, the defense has allowed 36 points per game, though in their two games against Olathe South and Olathe North, the Ravens have allowed an average of seven points per game.

The Lions have had a very successful offense this season and have found success with different game plans. They’re averaging almost 37 points per game and haven’t scored less than 30 points since the season-opener against Gardner Edgerton.

The Ravens play close to the line of scrimmage and load up the box on teams. The defensive front presents challenges to offensive lines, but the Lions have an offensive line that has continued to get better.

“Those kids have worked hard at learning football and getting better all the way around,” Thoren said. We’ve got some tough kids up front, so I think it’s a good matchup.”

The key to Lawrence’s offensive success has been to take what the defense is giving them, tailoring the offense to whatever the opposing defense can or can’t do. The Lions will need its offensive line to block as well as it has in the last few weeks to set the offense up to take advantage of what the Ravens are giving them.

Olathe Northwest will be one of Lawrence’s most challenging games this season. The Ravens are only one of two teams on Lawrence’s schedule through the first six weeks that has a winning record heading into Week 6. At 3-2, the Ravens are currently slotted as the No. 6 seed in the 6A East, while Lawrence at 4-1 sits at No. 2. With playoffs getting closer, winning and winning by as much as possible is crucial for the playoff push.

Kickoff for the homecoming game will be at 7 p.m. at Lawrence High School.