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

Lawrence High junior Wyatt Hendricks celebrates a touchdown with junior Kyree McGee against Shawnee Mission West, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Lawrence.

The Lawrence High School football team (3-2) is looking to push its win streak to two in a Thursday game against Olathe East (4-1) at the College Boulevard Activity Center.

The Lions are coming off a 55-0 shutout win over Shawnee Mission West at home, and the Hawks are fresh off their first loss of the season, a 31-21 loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest.

Shawnee Mission Northwest runs a flexbone offense that differs from the Lions’ style. So, while the Lions won’t be able to directly copy its winning game plan from last week, there are still takeaways that the Lions can use from the game.

“The big thing is we have to figure out what coverage they’re in and make plays in the pass game,” LHS coach Clint Bowen said. “When they’re light in the box, we need Tahj Edwards and our offensive line to make plays.”

Bowen said this will be a big game for the Lions’ rushing attack. So far, the team has mostly succeeded when running the ball, but hasn’t heavily relied on it too often. Instead, the passing attack with quarterback Banks Bowen and receivers Jaxon Becker and Gabe Wingerd, among others, has powered the team to points.

But Thursday might be a different story, one that will heavily rely on Edwards. The junior running back has been an effective three-down back and can make plays as a pass blocker, receiver and a runner, and the Lions will need a strong performance as an inside runner.

“For a small guy he runs the ball downfield,” Bowen said. “He’s not just an outside, perimeter, make-you-miss guy, he will stick his foot in the ground and go downfield. Tahj is a really good football player that can do a lot for us and bring a lot of versatility to our backfield.”

Edwards’s acceleration out of a hole immediately jumps out from watching him play. That serves him well when the offensive line creates lanes for Edwards to explode through, which has been showcased numerous times during the season. The offensive line and Edwards will both need to perform for the offense to continue its success.

The Lions defense has faced an offense similar to Olathe East’s before. The Hawks run an old-school wing-T system that heavily revolves around the run game. Earlier this year, the Lions faced a similar style of offense against Gardner-Edgerton. While the Lions lost 35-21, Bowen was pleased with how his team handled the offense and expects the experience of that game to help the Lions in this one.

“It’s a great carryover,” he said. “After the Gardner-Edgerton game, I was very happy with how our front played, our defensive line particularly. They held their own … and I think they proved they can play that style of game.”

One way to combat that offense is to move outside linebacker Josh Galbreath to inside linebacker. The Lions move Galbreath around defensively to best combat what an opposing offense does well. Against spread, pass-heavy offenses, the team keeps in at outside linebacker where his pass rush can make an impact. Against the old-school schemes, the team can move him to inside linebacker, where he can use his athleticism to keep the run game in check.

“When he is in the middle to cover sideline to sideline and run plays down, it makes him hard to block because he’s elusive,” Bowen said. “It’s hard for guys to get a hand on him, and he’s a very talented young man that we’re lucky to have.”

This is the sixth of eight regular season games before the postseason begins. Bowen stresses the importance to his team of getting better, and that the teams that play into the postseason are the teams that continue to get better through October.

With three games left on the schedule, Bowen is pleased with how the Lions have improved and responded over the course of the year. The team has handled adversity and loss well and players have grown in roles that the team hadn’t anticipated at the start of the year. The Lions have a good grasp of the process, and have been committed to improving week over week.

Thursday’s game will kickoff at 7 p.m. at the College Boulevard Activity Center in Olathe.