photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Nello Allegrucci crosses the end zone for a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

Overland Park — Free State football (2-1) showed a prolific offensive attack on Friday night to take down Shawnee Mission West (1-2), 49-27, at Shawnee Mission District Stadium.

“Good game by our guys to get the win tonight,” head coach Kevin Stewart said. “Give Shawnee Mission West some credit, they’re getting a lot better with their offense. I think the story for us was our offense was just really, really good tonight.”

The Firebirds’ offense exploded for 484 total yards, with 322 of those yards coming in the run game, including 167 yards and four touchdowns alone from running back Maddon Brittingham.

“Maddon is a really good runner,” Stewart said. “He’ll get better and better (with) the more reps he gets.”

The offense also had a plethora of big plays to help the cause, including a 92-yard run late in the game by Brittingham and a 91-yard pass from quarterback Finn Moore to receiver Nello Allegrucci.

“Nello, yeah, nice play by him getting his first touchdown, the first big one, and then Maddon, just showing everybody how strong he is,” Stewart said.

Defensively, the Firebirds made timely stops including two on fourth down, but Shawnee Mission West continued to pick up first downs, ultimately leading to four touchdowns on the night.

“We had some tackles for loss, so that was better on the interior (defensive) line, but just my gut reaction is we played awful on the edges,” Stewart said. “We finally just had to do a quick fix in the third, fourth quarter, and just put Finn (Moore) in where we had to put him, but that was honestly like a Band-Aid fix.”

Shawnee Mission West received the opening kickoff and wasted no time moving the ball downfield, as running back Vincent Allen broke away for two runs of 20 yards each on the opening drive. After a trio of short runs to keep the drive alive, Allen gave the Vikings the lead with a 6-yard touchdown run.

Senior return man Alijah Beckum gave the Firebirds good field position, returning the ensuing kickoff to the Vikings’ 17-yard line. Following a 6-yard run by Moore and a 5-yard run by Brittingham, Brittingham broke into the end zone with a 6-yard run of his own to tie the game.

The Firebirds’ defense allowed a first down on a 16-yard reception on the next drive, but held strong, forcing a negative play and an incompletion to give the ball back to the offense.

Following a muffed punt that gave Free State the ball at its 9-yard line, Moore just needed one play to find Allegrucci for a 91-yard touchdown pass to put the Firebirds ahead, 14-7.

Each team was forced to punt on its next drive before Shawnee Mission West began the second quarter with a long drive. Quarterback Mason Vonfeldt found running back Brandon Nash for a 13-yard catch and a first down, before the Free State defense held strong against the Vikings’ rushing attack and made a fourth-down stop.

After an illegal shift penalty and a short run by Brittingham, Moore connected with Beckum for a 48-yard completion, and Brittingham broke off for a 13-yard gain to move the ball inside the 10-yard line. The Firebirds were facing a fourth-and-goal situation at the 4-yard line when Moore rolled out to his right and found tight end Ethan Prescott at the goal line for a drive-saving touchdown.

Allen proved to be explosive once again for the Vikings, returning the ensuing kickoff for an 85-yard touchdown.

A personal foul on the Firebirds’ return gave them position in plus-territory, leading to a six-play, 48-yard drive in which Moore found running back Nez Lattimore-Douglas on an option play, resulting in a 13-yard score.

Shawnee Mission West drove down the field with no timeouts before the end of the half, but missed a 46-yard field goal attempt as time expired to send Free State into the locker room with a 28-13 lead.

Moore and the offense drove seamlessly down the field to open the second half, picking up four first downs on the drive, which the Firebirds capped off by an 8-yard run by Brittingham.

The Vikings’ run game continued to cause fits for the Firebird defense, picking up three first downs on the next drive from running plays and an additional 23-yard completion from Vonfeldt to Allen, and capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Vonfeldt.

Moore found Prescott for a 15-yard completion, followed by a 10-yard run by Moore, an 11-yard run by Brittingham, and a 26-yard run by Moore. Brittingham found the end zone on the next play with a 2-yard score.

Shawnee Mission West continued to run the ball and got inside the Free State 10-yard line before the Firebirds’ defense came away with a fourth-down stand.

The Firebirds put the game on ice one play into the next drive, as Brittingham broke away for a 92-yard touchdown run.

“They were catching up to me, so I kind of had to slow down and fight off their hands, but that was fun just to run through that,” Brittingham said.

The Vikings drove down the field one last time and scored the final points of the night with 2:00 remaining on a 2-yard run by Brandon Nash, before the Firebirds kneeled out the remainder of the clock.

Free State will return home on Friday to take on Olathe East. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“Next week is going to be even tougher,” Stewart said. “Same offense, but bigger, stronger linemen and probably bigger, stronger backs, so we’ll have our hands full.”

Box score

FS 14 14 14 7 — 49

SMW 7 6 7 7 — 27

How they scored

First quarter

7:44 – Vincent Allen 4-yard run. Will Berki PAT good. SMW 7, FS 0.

6:51 – Maddon Brittingham 6-yard run. Ricky Romero PAT good. SMW 7, FS 7.

4:02 – Nello Allegrucci 91-yard pass from Finn Moore. Romero PAT good. FS 14, SMW 7.

Second quarter

5:55 – Ethan Prescott 4-yard pass from Moore. Romero PAT good. FS 21, SMW 7.

5:42 – Allen 85-yard kick return. PAT blocked. FS 21, SMW 13.

2:45 – Nez Lattimore-Douglas 13-yard run. Romero PAT good. FS 28, SMW 13.

Third quarter

10:28 – Brittingham 8-yard run. Romero PAT good. FS 35, SMW 13.

6:12 – Mason Vonfeldt 1-yard touchdown run. Berki PAT good. FS 35, SMW 20.

1:51 – Brittingham 2-yard run. Romero PAT good. FS 42, SMW 20.

Fourth quarter:

8:22 – Brittingham 92-yard run. Romero PAT good. FS 49, SMW 20.

2:00 – Brandon Nash 2-yard touchdown rush. Berki PAT good. FS 49, SMW 27.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Finn Moore dishes the ball off to a teammate for a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Finn Moore looks downfield for a pass against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Alijah Beckum gets extra yardage after making a catch against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State head coach Kevin Stewart talks with a ref during the game against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Finn Moore releases the ball against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State head coach Kevin Stewart talks to his team during a timeout against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Nello Allegrucci celebrates a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Nello Allegrucci pulls in a catch for a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Finn Moore hurls the ball for a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Maddon Brittingham celebrates a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Finn Moore receives a snap against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Nez Lattimore-Douglas crosses the end zone for a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Maddon Brittingham celebrates a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Free State junior Maddon Brittingham looks up for the signal for a touchdown against Shawnee Mission West at the Shawnee Mission District Stadium, South Location, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Overland Park.