It’s a lot earlier than usual, but City Showdown week is here.

Usually there are playoff implications on the line, but this year will be all about momentum as Free State tries to bounce back from a loss and Lawrence High hopes to stay unbeaten against Sunflower League foes.

But before we take a look forward, it’s a look back at last week in our weekly blog post: Football Game Tape.

I’ll start with Lawrence High who beat Leavenworth 21-14 for its first win of the season. The Lions used a strong run game and even stronger defense in their win. Since I wasn’t at the game, here are some of the observations I heard from LJWorld writer Benton Smith:

•Running back Trey Moore came up with the first big offensive play of the night, giving the offense some confidence. Moore sprinted for a 62-yard gain in the first quarter, which eventually led to a 5-yard JD Woods touchdown run, giving LHS its first lead of the night and of the season. In the Lions’ season-opener against Blue Valley West, it took until the first play of the second half for the offense to create a big play.

•The offensive line did a great job of creating holes for running backs Woods, Moore, and company. The Lions ran for 293 yards on 48 attempts (6.1 yards per rush), which was much better than their opening game against BV West. With a young line that is still gaining game experience, it was a very good sign they could play so well.

•Quarterback Alan Clothier had one of the toughest runs of the night on the two-point conversion that put the Lions up seven points in the third quarter. After struggling to run the ball in the season-opener, it was a big day for Clothier, who ran for 87 yards on 13 attempts. He showed he’s not afraid to back down from tough yards with his 3-yard fight for the two-point conversion.

•In the first half, it seemed like Amani Bledsoe and Price Morgan were everywhere. The two used their size and strength to disrupt plenty of plays in the backfield. It set the tone as the Pioneers only ran for 96 yards on 32 rushes, and the Lions defense had similar success in the passing game, holding Leavenworth quarterback Landry Hodges to 86 yards through the air.

•Ellis Springe showed nice touch on a couple of kickoffs including the onside kick he recovered to open the game. Leavenworth couldn’t use their speedy receivers and defensive backs to make an impact through special teams.

•JD Woods fumbled late in the game and no one was more upset about it than him. Woods expects more out of himself and doesn’t like to let his teammates down. He’ll learn from it and it will make him better.

I was at Free State’s 14-7 loss to Olathe North and here are some of my thoughts:

•The Firebirds have several linebackers who can make big plays. When I watched Sam Skwarlo during the preseason, I thought he was the most active member of the Firebirds’ defense, and so I thought it would be a huge blow to lose him for the season. Instead, it was a big day for Joe Dineen, Carson Bowen, Paul Bittinger and Drew Tochtrop as I heard their names over the PA speakers a lot, making tackles. They’ll certainly miss Skwarlo this year, but the Firebirds certainly have a strong linebacking core.

•The defensive line kept O-North’s offensive linemen busy and freed up their linebackers Shane Hofer, Michael Georgie, Blake Murray, Josiah LeBrun and Scott Frantz all did a great job of following through with their assignments on the defensive line. Not only did they have numerous stops in the backfield, but they didn’t allow O-North’s linemen to go to the second level to hit Free State’s linebackers, limiting O-North to just seven runs longer than five yards in 52 attempts.

•Bryce Torneden struggled on offense but it didn’t affect his play at safety. Though, Torneden wasn’t having his best day behind center, he had some huge plays on defense. I don’t have his total number of tackles, but I remember he came up with two stops (one in the 1st quarter and one in the 2nd half) as the last man standing between O-North running back Venus Triplett and a probable trip to end zone. Both of those times, he came up with huge solo tackles in space.

•The offense struggled to run in the second half, which hurt any momentum. O-North’s defense came out as a different unit after halftime. Here was Free State’s second half drive chart: 3 plays, 3 yards, punt; 3 plays, 2 yards, punt; 4 plays, -11 yards (1st down via penalty), punt; 4 plays, 18 yards (42-yard run called back by holding penalty), punt; 3 plays, 0 yards, punt; 2 plays, -7 yards, end game.

Now for a look ahead to next week:

Free State at Lawrence High on Friday at 7 p.m. — The City Showdown is much earlier this year because the two schools are in different districts. Free State (1-1) has won three of the last four City Showdowns. The Lions (1-1) are 3-1 in their last four home games. Before the season, the number one question I was asked was, “Who has the better team?” Two weeks later, and I’m still not sure. One thing I do know is both defenses are really solid, but have been troubled by big plays.

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Free State’s cross country teams looked strong against top competition on Friday at the Millard South Invitational.

The girls’ team finished first above the top-three schools in Nebraska, and the No. 2 school in South Dakota, led by top-five times from sophomore Emily Venters (18:13.9, 1st overall) and junior Claire Sanner (18:52.5, 4th). Sophomore Kiran Cordes (20:25.6, 16th), senior Marlee Yost-Wolff (20:32.5, 18th) and junior Liv Lyche (20:39.0, 22nd) also contributed to the team victory.

The boys’ team took fourth place, finishing behind two of Nebraska’s top-three schools and top school in South Dakota (which dominated the competition with five top-15 finishers). Senior Ryan Liston finished sixth (16:31.2), while junior Tanner Hockenbury (17:13.4, 19th), senior Thomas Becker (17:15.6, 21st) and junior Ethan Donley (17:19.4, 25th) weren’t too far behind.

Meanwhile, Lawrence High’s cross country teams both finished seventh at the Emporia Invitational. The boys’ squad was led by junior Nathan Pederson (17:44.1) who took 28th, senior Sam Stephens (17:57.9) who was 37th and sophomore Garrett Prescott (18:06.1) who finished 39th.

The Lions’ girls cross country team junior Shaye White (18:00.2, 30th) and senior Riley Shook (18:26.6, 37th) among the top-40 runners.
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