photo by: Carter Gaskins/Special to the Journal-World

Lawrence High's Jaxon Becker (16) looks downfield Friday night, Oct. 13, 2023, for the City Showdown at Free State.

The Lawrence High football team, riding high after last week’s 31-24 overtime victory at rival Free State, will look to capitalize on its late-season success with a win in its regular-season finale at Shawnee Mission West on Friday.

With the Class 6A postseason picture nearly complete, the Lions (5-2) still need to take care of business by beating SM West (0-7) and its first-year coach Jeff Tolbert on the road if LHS is going to secure a home-field advantage in the first round.

Last week, the Vikings suffered their 18th consecutive loss – a 34-14 defeat at Olathe Northwest – since 2021. Led by senior quarterback John Rehder, SM West is eager to conclude its largely disappointing season with a win on senior night.

This week’s matchup is an opportunity to hone in on what makes the Lions’ offense tick, LHS coach Clint Bowen said. Bowen and company are, understandably, fine-tuning the factors that allowed LHS to knock off a previously unbeaten FSHS squad a week ago.

“We’ve cut the playbook down this week to get really specific on what we know we’re good at through eight weeks,” Bowen said. “It’s the run plays, pass plays on offense that we know our players understand and are capable of executing … We’ve zeroed in on those.”

The LHS offense shone brightest in that late, fourth-quarter comeback, propelling LHS past FSHS in overtime.

Defensively, LHS should be well-positioned against an SM West offense averaging 6.7 points per game. Still, the Lions, who gave up 256 yards to FSHS on the ground last week, will undoubtedly be tested by senior running back Noah Gunion on Friday.

With one more stop on the regular-season schedule, Bowen couldn’t be happier with what he’s seeing from his team down the stretch.

“I think our team has matured throughout this season,” Bowen said. “They’ve started to establish really good practice habits the last few weeks … I feel we’re in a very good mental place where our kids are focused on things that matter most and the things it takes to win football games.”

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at SM South District Stadium.