photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Noah Simpson hypes up the crowd during the game against Olathe Northwest on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Lawrence.

Free State football (2-2) will open up the second half of the regular season with the first of two straight road trips. On Friday night, the Firebirds will visit Olathe West at the College Boulevard Activity Center in Olathe.

The Owls (2-2) are coming off of a tight 24-23 victory over district foe Olathe South last Friday. The Owls run a similar style of offense as the Firebirds; much like Free State, they see what the defense gives them and take advantage of what they can.

“Offensively, they are very similar to us in their scheme and the things they do,” Free State head coach Kevin Stewart said. “I think that they have potential to be a really good football team, potential to beat us.”

Of the many similarities between the two foes, one similarity stands out the most: the run-pass option. The RPO is hard to master, but can be very successful if run properly. It makes it hard for the defense to adjust and be in the correct coverage.

A key to the RPO is deploying a versatile player on the outside who can be used as both a rusher and a receiver. The Owls have that key player in senior wide receiver Tevyn Gasaway. Gasaway has hauled in 13 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver, and 104 yards on 11 carries as a rusher, which averages out to 9.4 yards per carry.

“It’s hard to defend everybody, especially if you have a really good player, which they do. (Gasaway) is a really good football player, so, you know it’s hard to take him away but also take everything else away,” Stewart said. “We’re working with the guys on how can we limit (Gasaway), but also take away some of the other threats they present with their formations and their plays.”

An added positive to the RPO-style offense that Olathe West presents is the ability of its quarterback. Sophomore Cameron Kruse, the leader of the offense, is in just his second year with the program, but earned the starting spot as a freshman and has seen vast improvements through four games as a sophomore.

Kruse is 41-for-69 through the air with 533 yards and five touchdowns as a passer, with 144 yards on 34 carries and two touchdowns as a rusher, proving to be another capable dual-threat quarterback that the Firebirds’ defense will have to account for.

“He’s a dual-threat for sure, but he’s more of a passer I would say as far as his strength,” Stewart said. “He’s pretty good at the quick stuff, the RPOs. You can tell he’s a trained quarterback, he knows where to go with the ball, so he’s understanding how to read defenses, so that will probably be the biggest challenge.”

Free State possesses its own strength at the quarterback position, with the rise of senior Boston Baker. Baker has shown flashes in the past few weeks, including a pair of touchdown passes in last week’s 42-14 win over Olathe Northwest. Stewart says that the first four weeks for Baker have been a “self-evaluation period,” but now with four weeks left in the regular season, his abilities as a leader will start to develop as well as the playoffs approach.

The Firebirds also got a positive showing out of the rushing attack last week, specifically senior running back Noah Simpson, who rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns, and is starting to recover from what Stewart describes as a “hip strain” he suffered in week two against Manhattan.

“He does a really good job running the football, he has a good feel for the game and with that, good vision, he’s able to see some holes and make some cuts, and he’s a strong kid,” Stewart said. “Week three was kind of tough for him, week four I felt he was getting back, and (Tuesday) he looked pretty good at practice so hopefully he’s full-go this week and feels 100 percent.”

With the first four weeks of the season over, a new phase begins for Free State and a win against Olathe West would be a nice boost to kick-start the second half of the season.

“It’s time to move on to the next four (games), which is really, you know, the prep for the playoffs, and we need to have a good four games here,” Stewart said.