photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

Free State senior offensive lineman Kaden Lonard is jubilant after a Free State touchdown against Lawrence High on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

The Free State football team survived a late scare from Lawrence High, escaping 28-26 in Friday night’s City Showdown at Lawrence High School.

With less than two minutes left on the clock in the fourth quarter, a 28-yard pass from LHS junior quarterback Tyson Grammer found senior receiver Sam Sedo and brought the Lions within two points of tying the game. But on the two-point conversion attempt, LHS senior Kenton Simmons couldn’t reel in a pass from Grammer, and the Lions fell just short of forcing overtime.

photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

Lawrence High senior Sam Sedo catches the pass against Free State on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

Free State (4-3) tallied a game-high 356 yards against the Lions, and after opening the game with a stop, the Firebirds wasted no time in racking them up.

“I’m excited for the guys I really am,” FSHS coach Kevin Stewart said. “What I’m proud of is the guys played as hard as they could and that’s what it took to win the game. I think with the losses, our guys have learned how to battle a little bit and not just give up and you’re seeing that a little bit now.”

photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

Free State junior quarterback Wesley Edison runs the ball against Lawrence High on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

LHS felt the physicality, with the Firebirds strength up front making a difference late in the game.

“You got to give (Free State) credit,” LHS coach Clint Bowen said. “They had the energy; they played more physical; they made plays when they had to make them, and it was a nice job by Free State.”

Free State pounded the run game on its first drive of the night behind junior quarterback Wesley Edison and senior running back Tay Ware. The Firebirds had the first score of the night, an 8-yard touchdown rush from Edison, to take a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

Free State senior line backer Gavin Blanchard is jubilant during the game against Lawrence High on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

LHS junior safety Zander Thomas picked off Edison on the next drive to end the first quarter with the Firebirds up 7-0.

The Lions answered Free State after a pair of punts placed LHS near the Firebirds’ 35-yard line and set up a 12-yard touchdown run from senior running back Tyrell Reed, tying the score at 7-7 with 7:43 left to go in the first half. LHS got a stop and then another short-yardage score from Reed moments later, sending the Lions up 14-7 with 4:31 left before the break.

Free State took advantage of a late second-quarter interception thrown by Grammer and tied the score at 14-14 on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Edison to senior receiver Cortez Overstreet with 49 seconds left in the half. The Lions tried to squeak out another score before the break, but they couldn’t beat the clock.

photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

Lawrence High junior quarterback Tyson Grammer throws a pass against Free State on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

“Our guys are fighting a bit harder and they’re starting to learn how to play hard and win,” Stewart said. “We’ve gotten a lot better executing. It was a back and forth game. They had some great plays and we had some good plays.”

In the second half, the Firebirds started out strong, taking just over three minutes off the clock and capping off the drive with a 14-yard run by Edison. Free State regained the lead once again at 21-14, and started to reclaim the momentum it had earlier on.

LHS fumbled on the next drive, and Gordon Vaeono picked up the loose ball with 2:53 left in the third quarter. But the Lions got the ball right back on the very next play when Thomas picked off Edison deep in LHS territory for his second interception of the night.

Following several fumbles that forced the Lions to punt it away at the end of the third quarter, the Firebirds took back possession to begin the fourth. On the first play of the quarter, Ware found a hole and scored from 40 yards out. The long touchdown run put the Firebirds on top 28-14.

The Lions answered quickly. They converted a fourth and long with a 23-yard pass from sophomore backup quarterback Banks Bowen to Dominic Ostronic. Bowen then ran it in from seven yards out to cut the Firebirds’ lead to 28-20 with about 7:30 to go.

Free State tried to take more time off the clock on its next drive, but a sack by Tucker Corbin forced the Firebirds into a long fourth down and a punt, handing the Lawrence High offense a chance to tie the game up.

But although LHS managed to score, it couldn’t get the necessary two-point conversion to finish the job, and the Firebirds managed to escape with the victory.

“Well, it’s a two point play that we practice,” Bowen said. “We had things set up the way we wanted it. I mean we got a guy wide open in the endzone and turned it into a tough play.”

With the Firebirds now on a three-game winning streak, Free State knows how much a win of this magnitude will help them moving forward.

“I’m not going to be too high or too low, but I think for the overall season, when we step back and we look at the whole season, we’re gonna be really happy that we won this game,” Stewart said.

Free State 28, Lawrence High 26

Free State 7 7 7 7 – 28

Lawrence High 0 14 0 12 – 26

FS | LHS

First downs 12 | 14

Rushes-yards 243 | 138

Passing yards 113 | 130

Total offense 356 | 268

Fumbles-lost 0 | 1

Interceptions 2 | 1

Penalties-yards 31 | 10

HOW THEY SCORED

1Q:

2:57 – FS touchdown: Edison 8 run. Coup kick is good. (FS 7 LHS 0)

2Q:

7:43 – LHS touchdown: Reed 12 run. Kirk kick is good. (FS 7, LHS 7)

4:41 – LHS touchdown: Reed 1 run. Kirk kick is good. (FS 7 LHS 14)

49.5 – FS touchdown: Overstreet 39 pass from Edison. Coup kick is good. (FS 14 LHS 14)

3Q:

8:42 – FS touchdown: Edison 14 run. Coup kick is good. (FS 21 LHS 14)

4Q:

11:49 – FS touchdown: Ware 40 run. Coup kick is good. (FS 28, LHS 14)

7:29 – LHS touchdown. Bowen 7 run. Kirk kick is no good. (FS 28 LHS 20)

1:50 – LHS touchdown: Sedo 28 pass from Grammer. 2-point try is no good. (FS 28 LHS 26)

INDIVIDUAL STATS:

Rushing:

FS: Wesley Edison 19-112; Tay Ware 20-116; Devon Hamilton 3-3; Dylan Farrel 2-12.

LHS: Tyrell Reed 21-101, Dominic Ostronic 2-4, Brayden Heck 1-7.

Passing

FS: Wesley Edison 8-13-113

LHS: Tyson Grammer 8-16, 107, Banks Bowen 1-2, 23.

Receiving

FS: Devon Hamilton 2-42; Bralin Preston 3-19; Cortez Overstreet 2-45; Grant Lincoln 1-7;

LHS: Sam Sedo 3-66, Cole Watson 3-27, Dominic Ostronic 2-32, Tyrell Reed 1-5.

photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

The Lawrence High student section holds up flashlights during the game against Free State on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

The Lawrence High defense celebrates a turnover on downs against Free State on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

Free State senior offensive lineman Kaden Lonard is jubilant after a Free State touchdown against Lawrence High on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.