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

Lawrence High junior Truth Pope celebrates a goal-line stop on fourth down at Gardner Edgerton on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026 in Gardner.

Lawrence football got the job done last week against Junction City with a 31-7 road victory over the Blue Jays, improving the Lions to 1-1 on the season.

Now, the Lions are at home for the first time in the 2026 season and are looking to build on last week’s win and start a win streak.

“The secret to the whole thing is believing in yourself,” Thoren said. “This was a crazy week of practice with the heat and the storms, but they came out just as hungry, and that’s a good sign. Our message wasn’t any different than any other week, and that’s to improve on what we do and the results will take care of themselves.”

Shawnee Mission East is up next for the Lions, a team that Lawrence lost 28-20 to in 2025. This year, the Lancers are 1-1, but while Lawrence’s win came out of conference, the Lancers’ defeated Sunflower League opponent Olathe North 42-21 in Week 1.

The Lawrence defense held the Blue Jays to just a touchdown with a stout defensive front that limited the run-heavy attack of Junction City. That Lawrence defense will have to do the same thing again on Friday against the Lancers, who have size and physicality at the offensive line.

“That’s where they’re going to hang their hat,” Thoren said. “They want to run the football, and they want to wear you out with those big guys. I told our guys, I think they outweigh us 50, 60 pounds a man, probably more than that. But we’re scrappy and we’re going to fight. We’re going to play hard, and I like our D-line for that reason.”

Lawrence’s D-line has overcome the weight discrepancy with physical play and being assignment sound. Overcoming that size means everyone has to be in the right spot to fill holes, and players on the front seven need to finish plays by making the tackle.

“We’ve got to be gap sound, and we’ve got to play hard,” Thoren said. “We’ve got we got to get to the football.”

The Lions have a secondary that Thoren believes is a strength of the team, and a big reason for that is the unit’s run defense. Safeties Caleb Wingerd and Ethan Curry were integral parts of the run defense against Junction City, and they’ll be called on to provide more run defense against Shawnee Mission East.

The Lancers have an athletic quarterback and a big receiver who can make plays in the pass game. It’s a similar setup to Junction City’s offense, who had a towering receiver that the Lions were able to mitigate. Cornerback Truth Pope has shown to be a dynamic offensive player, but Thoren said the junior has also shown up on tape with his pass defense. Preventing Shawnee Mission East’s offense from getting a rhythm passing will help keep them one-dimensional and easier to defend, and it’ll be up to Pope and cornerback Adrick Webb to stop the pass game.

Lawrence had a lot of success with explosive plays on offense against Junction City. The Lions had three plays of 20 or more yards on the ground and four such plays through the air. Thoren said it’s because of the effort the offensive playmakers play with that allows them to be so explosive.

“There’s a lot of weapons out there on the field,” Thoren said. “Guys that can run and are tough and physical. It’s fun to watch them play.”

Shawnee Mission East’s defense is also physical, giving the Lawrence offense a good challenge in the trenches to compete against a good D-line. Thoren has a lot of faith in his offensive line, starting with center Hudsen Myers, who anchors the group. The Lions will need to keep their physicality against the stout D-line.

“(Shawnee Mission East) sees physical every single day in practice going against that O-line every single day,” Thoren said. “They’re going to be a physical group. They’re going to be sound. Coach (Mark) Simoneau does a great job, and they’re going to be where they’re where they’re supposed to be.”

Lawrence’s offensive line has done its job so far in keeping quarterback Joey Dooley upright and in opening up holes in the run game for Lawrence’s three running backs. The trio of Acein Goodman, Kayden Pitts and Curry all bring something different to the table, and all have been able to grind out yards when needed and make explosive plays.

“The thing about it is that those guys do the little things,” Thoren said. They work at pass protection and things where they’re not not necessarily involved in the play. And they work hard, and they’re all super kids.”

The Lancers will be a tough physical match on both sides of the ball, but Lawrence will have the home crowd on its side for the first time this season, and having that energy behind them will be a benefit for a Lawrence team that is trying to build momentum into a multi-game win streak for the first time since weeks 5 and 6 of the 2024 regular season.