photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence junior Zoey Barber celebrates a big catch in the first official flag football City Showdown at Free State on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, in Lawrence.

Despite being a legendary place for basketball, Lawrence is just as much a football town.

It’s palpable at Lawrence High and Free State football games. The history goes as far back as Al Woolard in the ’50s and ’60s, where undefeated seasons became the norm. Coaches Bill Freeman and continued that success until the late ’90s, where the town became a two-school city, and the football success in Lawrence was split between Dirk Wedd and Bob Lisher.

Wednesday night, the town showed its football identity once again. An impressive crowd filled Free State High School’s football stadium for the first flag football City Showdown between the two local schools, and the environment from both sidelines showed just how excited the community is for flag football.

“I looked up (at the stands), and it looked like most of our stands were full,” Free State coach Adam Barmann said. “Then at halftime, it looked like a varsity football game at the concession stand.”

Lawrence and Free State are both trying to get the new flag football programs off the ground, and community support is vital to help the teams get going.

“It was totally packed, and I think that is really just a tribute to our community rallying around our kids and rallying around the City Showdown,” Barmann said. “(Lawrence is) an incredible place to play football, and to raise kids. Both sides want to win, but what’s really cool is the community comes out and supports both high schools, and that’s what’s special about being in Lawrence.

“They probably get tired of me knocking on their door asking for their support, but they’ve never said no,” Barmann said. “They’ve never turned us down. They’ve just been incredible. It’s huge to have the community behind you, and there’s a reason why Lawrence is special.”

Lawrence coach Silas Dulan is a longtime football coach who took over Lawrence Youth Football’s flag football middle school team last year and went undefeated. He came to Lawrence just a couple of weeks before the start of the season and has already led Lawrence to a 5-1 start. Getting a local coach with his resume just weeks before the start of the season shows how much infrastructure there is locally for both teams to thrive.

Barmann is in his second year leading the Free State flag football team, but he’s spent a lot of time around high school sports in town. After playing quarterback for Kansas from 2003-06, Barmann became an assistant football coach at Free State in 2008. He and his coaching staff have, of course, played a major role in Free State’s prominence through the last two years, but his high school experience gives him understanding as to just how important community support is to creating a successful football program.

“It’s hard to put into words just how much we count on our community,” Barmann said. “Their time, their treasure and their talent, and all those things we really count on them for showed up tonight. You saw a great football game, and hopefully people came away entertained.”

An entertaining game it was. Free State took the early lead, but Lawrence’s goal line stand before halftime helped spark some momentum as the Lions scored 13 straight points. The game came down to a turnover on Lawrence’s final drive that gave Free State the 22-13 win.

As much as community support and sponsorship is important to get a program off the ground, success on the field is just as impactful. Free State and Lawrence are a combined 12-2 with more blowouts than close wins.

Part of the success comes from the players on both teams understanding that they’re paving the way for their school. The Lions and Firebirds both take the responsibility seriously and want to start the school’s history with wins.

“Knowing that (we’re) able to make history is something super cool,” Lawrence junior Lucy Juelsgaard told the Journal-World on Sept. 7.

Wednesday’s game showed just how much potential there is for flag football in Lawrence. The football tradition locally is as good as it gets in Kansas, and the early community support for both teams has been on display. Add in the fact that both teams are among the best in the state and the potential for the flag football City Showdown is high.

There are going to be a lot more flag football games between Free State and Lawrence, with a lot more stakes and implications as both teams build on their success during the rest of this season and beyond.

“I know Lawrence is on this side of the (playoff) bracket, so who knows? Maybe we’ll get this one again,” Barmann said. “Holy smokes, that would be exciting.”