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

Lawrence High senior Banks Bowen passes the ball to a teammate against Lawrence Free State Friday, October 25, 2024, in Lawrence.

Lawrence High School entered the second half of its football game against Free State with a 14-10 lead. When the Firebirds moved downfield and scored twice in the second half, though, the Lions offense had trouble avoiding negative plays, particularly from penalties.

Free State went on to win 24-14, dropping Lawrence to a 4-4 regular season record and the East’s ninth seed in the 6A playoffs. The Lions will play at Shawnee Mission East in the first round. The final two games for Lawrence were marred by penalties late in the game that proved consequential. In the postseason, avoiding negative offensive plays will be critical.

“(Against Free State) we got down to the red zone, then we got a holding call,” coach Clint Bowen said. “I think every drive (in the second half) ended with a penalty, and that just ended up killing us. I think we had six holding calls on the night, which were all drive killers.”

Bowen also noted that getting behind the Firebirds was the story of the game. Facing a 10-point deficit, the Lions had to turn heavily to their pass game, which the Firebirds could counter by rushing on three players and having eight defenders in coverage. That made finding open windows for the passing game challenging, and the penalties only added to the difficulty.

The good news for the Lions is that Bowen believes it is all fixable on the practice field. The other good news is that the Lions have played clean, physical football games in their wins. But to be consistent on game day, Bowen said it starts with consistency in practice.

“These were penalties that fall in the ‘very controllable’ type,” he said. “I think these are practice-habit penalties. When you don’t practice with great habits, when you don’t practice with focus, you develop those bad habits.”

Bowen said that the team has a lot of high-character guys who will lead the charge in practices. On top of that, the Lions have a lot of talent. The passing offense is still one of the best in the state, with players with a lot of experience together in playoff games. The defense played well on Friday and has had several games of setting the tone. This also won’t be a young, inexperienced Lions team that hasn’t seen much playoff football. There are 22 seniors on the team, many of whom have been key contributors through the years.

“It’s a bunch of the little things the game comes down to,” quarterback Banks Bowen said. “It’s mental mistakes. They get the best of us. We have to stay calm and be who we are and who we train to be. Those penalties kill us, but we have to be more mentally strong.”

Friday’s loss was tough to swallow. A rivalry-game loss with a team with many seniors is not easy to brush off. Still, the Lions have a lot in front of them. They won’t get a guaranteed home game in the playoffs, but they have won on the road in challenging, physical games. The team has a tall task ahead of them, but they have the talent and leadership to get it right. It all starts with Monday’s practice.

“I think we will be good — our leaders get us going,” Banks Bowen said. “We have to get on the right track early this week and get it going.”

The Lions will start with a road game against Shawnee Mission East on Friday, Nov. 1. A win there would put the Lions in a road game against top-seeded Gardner-Edgerton in the regional round.