For the Free State football team, the 1-2 start to the season isn’t necessarily one to hang its head about. After all, the Firebirds have played one of the toughest schedules in the state, playing two-possession games in all three matchups with Shawnee Mission East (2-1), Manhattan (3-0), and most recently, Mill Valley (2-1).

The start has shown how good Free State can be, but head coach Kevin Stewart knows that there is still work to be done in order to come away with wins over quality opponents.

“I think we have a good football team, I think we’re competing with some of the better teams in the state, but we’re obviously not where we need to be in order to beat the best teams,” Stewart said. “But we’re learning that now. That’s what’s nice. We’re learning our weaknesses, what we need to work on and we understand that we have a good team but in order to be a great team we’re going to have to improve.”

The message for the past two weeks for Stewart’s squad has been “prepare,” but this week, a different message has been apparent: The Firebirds need to focus on what they are doing, not what anyone else is.

“I think that the message was pretty clear this week in meetings, specifically on Saturday, we covered quite a bit (of) detail on what we need to do to improve and how to win football games,” Stewart said. “Really, the focus has been on us, like ‘Hey, this is what we need to do to get better,’ not so much what the opponent does, but what are we doing?”

Olathe Northwest comes in with a 2-1 record after squeaking out a 17-16 win against district rival Olathe South. The Ravens enter this week 1-1 in Sunflower League standings, with their lone loss coming at the hands of Olathe East in week one. Stewart knows how important this week’s matchup is not only for Sunflower League implications, but state playoff factors as well.

“(Olathe Northwest) is ahead of us in the standings, so we need to win this game in order to pass them in the standings, that’s necessary,” Stewart said. “They have a good offensive line and a good defense. I think they are going to try and line up and execute and run the ball at us as much as they can. I think they’re really just going to keep it simple and try to gain yards and if they can get first downs they’re just going to burn time.”

The Ravens feature a unique offensive look, with a run-first attack using its power to its advantage, but if need be, the Ravens will utilize the passing game with two quarterbacks who both have the ability to move the ball through the air or on the ground.

Senior quarterback Merak Greinert is a traditional pocket passer, coming into this week’s matchup throwing 17-for-31 for 162 yards and two touchdowns. Greinart has also showed the ability to run, with 17 carries for 64 yards.

“Greinert is a bigger kid, and he’s more of their passing quarterback. When (he) gets in the game, he likes to pass a bit more,” Stewart said.

Sophomore quarterback Brody Comfort is a dual-threat quarterback who likes to use his ability to extend plays with his legs and find targets downfield, or be successful in the triple option. On the season, Comfort is 12-for-23 with 171 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for eight yards on five carries.

“(Comfort) is a little bit quicker and runs the option quite a bit, so when he’s in the game they’ll run the football, run the triple option, do some things there,” Stewart said.

Through three weeks, Free State has found sustained rhythm, despite the results, thanks to its senior leaders. Key senior contributors include quarterback Boston Baker, running back Noah Simpson, receivers Bralin Preston and Landon Leipold, defensive lineman Hyrum Vaeono, linebacker Crow Bengoa and defensive back Parker Moore, just to name a handful from the senior class that includes 32 members.

With the Firebirds celebrating homecoming this week, excitement is in the air for this senior class, which has made tremendous contributions into molding the current shape of the program, and this class would like nothing more than to get back into the win column following two road games that they felt were winnable.

“I think that without this senior group we would not be nearly as competitive as we are right now,” Stewart said. “They’re a good group of kids, they have a large group of players, but they like football… Without our seniors, we would not be having as high of expectations for ourselves as far as wins and losses go.”