photo by: Sarah Buchanan/Special to the Journal-World

Hudson Fletcher, Timetrius Sessions, Jace Schofield, and Lars Pilkinton walk to the center of the field arm in arm for the coin toss to begin the game against Olathe East on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, in Lawrence.

Midway through the regular season, Lawrence holds a 3-1 record and a three-game winning streak, which the Lions hadn’t done since 2023.

Lawrence is on the road on Thursday against Shawnee Mission South, looking to get its fourth win in a row, which would be the longest streak since 2022.

The Raiders enter the game with the inverse record of the Lions, 1-3, with the one win the Raiders have against Lincoln College Prep from Kansas City, Mo. in a 9-7 game.

Other than that, the Raiders have struggled on both sides of the ball. They haven’t crossed the 14-point threshold offensively this season. Aside from the out-of-state game against the Blue Tigers, the Raiders have given up over seven touchdowns a game.

Shawnee Mission South runs a much more spread offense than what the Lions faced in the first four weeks of the season, but that doesn’t mean the Raiders won’t try to establish a run game.

“The past month or so, everything we’ve been seeing is condensed and double wings and that type of stuff,” coach Jason Thoren said. “It’s back to really our base defense and what we do. That’s really been kind of the focus this week is just getting back to our base stuff.”

Lawrence has been able to load the box on defense against opposing teams in the first four weeks as they play more tight, condensed formations and stick heavily to the run game. Against the Raiders, the Lions won’t be able to load the box with receivers spread across the field, drawing defenders away from the middle of the field.

It’ll make open-field tackles even more important on Thursday. The Lions need to have their communication at a high level and be able to bring runners down when the opportunity is there.

“Against some of the stuff that we’ve been seeing you might be able to make a mistake and there are enough people in and around the ball to cover for it,” Thoren said. “Against spread, guys have to be more disciplined in their assignments and how they’re fitting things. Our guys have done a good job of that this week.”

Running the ball will likely be overemphasized on Thursday due to the rain. How heavy or light the rain is determines how much it affects games, but the more rain the more difficult it is to pass the ball. For both teams, that puts the emphasis on the trenches and on running backs.

Lawrence has had a good week of practice in the rain, Thoren said. There weren’t many ball security issues, which is a common cause for concern in rain games. While this will be the first rain game the Lions have played this season, it helps that the first few weeks were so hot, leading to a lot of practices and games with sweat causing slippery footballs.

The Raiders on defense often show different looks and pressures, making it more difficult for offenses to know what is coming. It puts the onus on the offensive line to communicate and diagnose pressures effectively, which is something Thoren believes the Lions can do well.

“We’ll have to get that stuff sorted out, but I think our offensive line is just continuing to learn and they’re continuing to work,” Thoren said. “That’s been really good to see some of that stuff and their communication.”

Lawrence has capitalized on big play opportunities offensively this year, turning modest gains into momentum-changing touchdowns. More big plays are going to be available for Lawrence on Thursday against a Shawnee Mission South defense that allowed a number of explosive touchdowns against Shawnee Mission East. With the rain, explosive plays in the pass game might be harder to complete, but the Lions have the run-game explosiveness to make plays.

“We’ve been working heavily on our ball protection, and that’s where it shows up,” Thoren said. “It gets to the point where it’s hard to operate a passing game and you’ve got to lean on your running game, and I like our ability to run the ball.”

Kickoff at Shawnee Mission School District South Stadium will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday.