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

Free State head coach Kevin Stewart yells out instructions during the game against Shawnee Mission Northwest at Shawnee Mission District Stadium, North Location, on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025 in Overland Park.

Following a 37-13 season-opening victory at Shawnee Mission West, Free State football will hit the road once again in Week 2 to take on Blue Valley West.

With one game complete, Firebird head coach Kevin Stewart says his group is starting to find a team identity, which has made it a fun team for Stewart to coach in the early parts of the season.

“They’re starting to pick up some energy and enthusiasm, and they’re starting to have a little bit of fun this week,” Stewart said. “I felt like (this) was a much more enthusiastic week of practice, and I think we’re growing as a team.”

The team’s drive to have success has already shown itself early in the season.

“I thought the effort was really good by a lot of our players, but specifically some of our upperclassmen,” Stewart said. “They were enthusiastic and they wanted to win a football game.”

Blue Valley West is 0-1 on the season after losing its opener to Bishop Miege, 41-14. Despite the loss, Blue Valley West is an experienced team that Stewart says matches up very evenly with Free State.

“It’s kind of a swing game,” Stewart said. “We need to make sure we win the game. We can’t worry about how we win it, we just have to win it.”

The Jaguars run a true spread offense with the ability to have success in the passing game and with the quarterback run game. The lead catalyst to the attack is senior quarterback Michael Baum, who threw for 233 yards last week as well as rushing for another 75 yards and a touchdown.

“He seems to be a good athlete,” Stewart said. “He just seems to be a very good high school football player (and) he looks like he can do a lot of things.”

Blue Valley West also has a dangerous receiver on the outside in the form of Trent Schneider, who caught seven passes for 172 yards in the season opener.

“He does a nice job, he runs multiple routes, he’s pretty smooth in his routes, and he’s going to (present) a challenge,” Stewart said.

Along with Schneider, the Jaguars have a plethora of options they are able to get the ball to, including Jett Nagy, the brother of University of Kansas wide receiver Tate Nagy, as well as Braiden Cross and tight ends Grant Shreve and Peyton West.

In order to slow the passing attack down, the Firebirds’ cornerbacks will have to put themselves in successful situations against the Jaguars’ outside threats.

“We’ve been focused a lot individually on the corners,” Stewart said. “We’re definitely trying to get those guys ready and work on their technique.”

Defensively, Blue Valley West’s strength is along its line, which is an older group with size upfront that will test the Firebirds’ young offensive line.

What concerned Stewart most against Shawnee Mission West was that the team allowed five sacks, something that will need to be cleaned up moving forward.

“The offensive line now is starting to work and they’re getting better,” Stewart said. “They’ve gotten better every day, and I don’t think we’ve peaked (there) yet.”

Free State will be tested throughout the matchup, which Stewart says will be a “four-quarter football game,” but he knows his leaders are willing and ready to take on the task at hand.

“I think that we have some really good football players on our team,” Stewart said, “and those good football players that we have, they need to accept the challenge, and they need to win their battles.”

Kickoff on Thursday at the Blue Valley District Athletic Complex (ANT-DAC) is set for 7 p.m.