Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Free State ends East's season 38-7

LAWRENCE | On an oddly warm November night, Free State's season came full circle with a 38-7 victory against Olathe East in the first round of the Kansas 6A playoffs.

In an earlier meeting between the two schools — in the first week of the season — the Firebirds committed five turnovers and lost 29-20.

But Free State flipped the script, forcing five turnovers while creating another extra possession with a recovered kickoff.

Even better, the Firebirds, 8-2, converted four of the Hawks' miscues into points.

“Our guys wanted to come out and redeem themselves from that opening football game,” Free State coach Bob Lisher said, “and they've worked all year to get to this point.”

With a defense that limited East's run game and with an offense that rushed the ball consistently, Free State dominated throughout.

After forcing the Hawks to punt on their first drive, the Firebirds capitalized with a quick-strike scoring drive.

Free State wide receiver Keene Niemack turned a handoff into a 16-yard touchdown run, putting the Firebirds up 7-0 — and Free State was only getting started.

The Firebirds tacked on two more touchdowns — both passes from quarterback Camren Torneden — and a field goal to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.

“The good thing about it is when our guys get up on leads, they don't let up,” Lisher said.

The story, of course, is the frequency in which Free State scored in the first quarter to take a commanding 21-0 lead. And that certainly is worth highlighting.

But perhaps more impressive is the performance turned in by Free State's defense.

The Firebirds held the Hawks, who were without two-way starter Brandon Willingham, to three first downs in the first half and forced two turnovers.

East's only score came on a 73-yard TD pass from senior Carter McEntee to senior receiver Chris Fields.

Free State controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball from start to finish.

“When we needed to make a play,” Lisher said, “we pretty much made the play on both sides of the ball.”

Kansas 6A regional playoffs

FREE STATE 38, OLATHE EAST 7

OE (6-4) 0 7 0 0 — 7

FS (8-2) 21 3 14 0 — 38

Scoring summary

FS: Keene Niemack 16 run (Gabe Ballard-Hanson kick)

FS: Kirk Resseguie 11 run (Ballard-Hanson kick)

FS: Connor Stremel 16 pass from Camren Torneden (Ballard-Hanson kick)

Second quarter

OE: Chris Fields 73 pass from Carter McEntee (Dylan Ramsey kick)

FS: Ballard-Hanson 20 field goal

Third quarter

FS: Preston Schenck 3 run (Ballard-Hanson kick)

FS: Matt Cole 4 run (Ballard-Hanson kick)

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