OVERLAND PARK – The biggest question Free State head coach Kevin Stewart wanted answered in week one was how his team was going to respond to adversity.

But adversity was in short supply for the seven-year head coach’s Firebirds, who led from start to finish on Friday, defeating Shawnee Mission West 37-13 at Shawnee Mission South District Stadium.

“I thought the energy and enthusiasm was high,” Stewart said. ” We’re going to have to get way better, though, to be successful in this league.”

The Firebirds’ two-headed rushing attack of senior quarterback Finn Moore and senior running back Maddon Brittingham were responsible for all five touchdowns, helping to spark the offense.

“It sure helped having Finn and and Maddon there at the beginning to kind of settle us down,” Stewart said. “They know how to play football, they know what we do and that was a big advantage for us.”

Free State received the game’s opening kickoff and quickly picked up a first down after two plays as senior wide receiver Alijah Beckum caught a 14-yard pass from Moore. A bad snap forced a third-and-14 before Moore once again found Beckum for a 15-yard reception.

The run game took over the rest of the drive and on the 10th play, Moore scrambled into the end zone from seven yards out for the first touchdown of the season.

“We want to score first all year because we feel like our offense has a lot of returning guys, so that’s kind of the goal, right?” Stewart said.

Added Brittingham: “(Setting the tone early) is the most important thing because our O-line is definitely very young, and they did really, really good tonight and we’re really proud of them. And, just being able to hold scores and score as much as we can takes so much pressure off them.”

The Free State defense allowed two short runs to bring up a third down on Shawnee Mission West’s first drive before a 45-yard pass put the Vikings on the Firebirds’ side of the field. After a pair of incompletions, an offside penalty moved the ball up five yards before a third-straight incompletion got Free State off the field on fourth down.

“We came out hot,” Brittingham said. “We definitely have to work on the secondary, but stopping the run – there was no problem.”

The Firebird passing game re-established itself on the first play of the following drive as Moore connected with sophomore Packson McDaniel for a 14-yard gain, and Brittingham brought the offense close two the red zone two plays later after a 21-yard run.

Moore used his legs on the next play on a 19-yard run before scoring two plays later from one-yard out to take a 14-0 lead.

The Vikings’ offense started out their next drive in promising fashion with a first down and an extra 15 yards on a person foul, but a mistimed handoff resulted in a fumble that was recovered by the Firebirds’ Garrison Oatis

“He’s playing hard,” Stewart said of the senior defensive end. “He’s got a lot of energy. (I’m) very happy with all of his efforts, and super excited for some of the big plays on defense.”

Free State failed to take advantage of the turnover and were forced to punt before a fortuitous bounce allowed Free State to recover and gain possession on the last play of the opening quarter. However, the Firebirds were able to take advantage of the second turnover, using 10 plays to drive 43 yards in which Moore punched in his third touchdown.

Shawnee Mission West once again made a costly mistake, this time on special teams, as a bad punt allowed the Firebirds to take over deep into the Vikings’ territory. Free State failed to capitalize, coming up short on fourth down, before the defense forced another punt thanks to a sack by junior linebacker Max Neis, and blocked the following punt into the side of the end zone for a safety.

Outside of Neis, Stewart also credited linebackers Brandon Lutz and Mark Ke as two defenders who had good games and will be important to the defense moving forward.

Getting the ball back, the Firebirds scored once more before halftime as a 36-yard reception by McDaniel set up Brittingham to find the end zone from one-yard away.

Both offenses moved the ball down the field to start the second half before coming up empty. Shawnee Mission West got as close as the Free State 24-yard line before a fourth down incompletion, while Free State picked up three first downs before a penalty and two sacks forced a punt.

The Viking defense managed just four yards in three plays, resulting in a punt that was tipped and allowed the Firebirds’ to recover at the opposing 20-yard line. It took just four plays for Free Sate to find pay dirt again as Brittingham scored his touchdown from 10-yards away on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Shawnee Mission West saw some success on its final two drives of the game in the fourth quarter, as both times Jordan Mack caught a 19-yard pass from Lawson Pierce.

The Firebirds will hit the road once again on Thursday, visiting Blue Valley West. Kickoff for that contest is set for 7 p.m.

“I’m sure they’re going to be a competitive team,” Stewart said of the Jaguars. “I’m sure they’re going to give us a challenge… and so, we’ll have to have a good week of practice for sure.”

Score by quarter

FS 14 16 0 7 – 37

SMW 0 0 0 13 – 13

How they scored

First quarter

8:21 – Finn Moore 7-yard run. Micah Jones PAT good. FS 7 SMW 0

2:25: Moore 1-yard run. Jones PAT good. FS 14, SMW 0

Second quarter

7:22 – Moore 2-yard run. Jones PAT good. FS 21, SMW 0

1:55 – Safety. FS 23, SMW 0

1:24 – Maddon Brittingham 1-yard run. Jones PAT good. FS 30, SMW 0

Fourth quarter

11:57 – Brittingham 10-yard run. Jones PAT good. FS 37, SMW 0

10:22 – Jordan Mack 19-yard pass from Lawson Pierce. Will Berki PAT good. FS 37, SMW 7

2:21 – Mack 19-yard pass from Pierce. Berki PAT no good. FS 37, SMW 13