Photo Credit: Justin Flor/PrepsKCThe annual City Showdown between Kansas Class 6A foes Lawrence Chesty Lions and Free State Firebirds lived up to more than the rivalry and hype Friday night.
Free State put its perfect record on the line but was unable to keep it intact, falling to 6-1 after a 31-24 overtime loss to Lawrence (5-2). Both teams struggled through most of the first half, but the story doesn’t really begin until the second half.
The first half was marred by penalties on both sides. And Lawrence had a tough go of it getting their ground game in gear early on. Their first drive stalled at the Free State 37. The Firebirds drove 40 yards to cap their first drive with a Yusef Iskandrani 33-yard field goal.
It stayed 3-0 until late in the second quarter when the Lions had a golden opportunity literally handed to them when Connor Nowak recovered a fumble off of a misplayed pitch from Firebirds quarterback Wesley Edison. The drive went 52 yards, capped by a Tony Jacobsen 19-yard score.
About three minutes later, Free State answered on an Edison 5-yard run, giving the Firebirds a 10-7 lead at the half.
Then the fun began.
Free State got the ball to start the second half and marched 64 yards down field to extend its lead 17-7 on another Edison score. The drive drained nearly six minutes off the clock.
The Lions were not about to roll over. They came back to score on a 2-yard run from quarterback Banks Bowen. Three Free State penalties on three consecutive plays were key to keeping that series alive. Now Lawrence trailed 17-14 after three quarters.
Lawrence got the ball at their own 19-yard line to start the fourth quarter when a Free State drive stalled at its own 33-yard line. Methodically, the Lions drove down the field, using nearly 10 minutes of the clock and tied the game 17-17 on a 27-yard field goal from Andrei Lefort.
It appeared this game was headed for overtime. Not just yet.
Back came the Firebirds. In just 39 seconds, Edison hit Bralin Preston in stride for a 38-yard strike. Free State was back on top 24-17.
With just 1:17 left to play in the game, all looked lost for the Lions. In the third quarter, Lawrence used all three of its timeouts on one drive to avoid delay of game penalties. This would assuredly doom their chances. But this is the City Showdown, and anything can happen. Sure enough, Bowen led his team down field from their own 20-yard line. He connected with a wide-open Malcom Paul to bring come back yet again and tie the game up at 24-24.
Overtime.
Lawrence got the ball first and starting at the 10-yard line needed three plays to go up 31-24 when Bowen hit Mason Mosiman in the back of the end zone. The pressure was on the Firebirds to score.
Edison first ran for two-yard gain, then another two-yard gain on second down. On third down, he was tackled for a one-yard loss, setting up fourth and goal from the seven. Edison dropped back to pass and connected with Grant Lincoln at the two, but was stopped short of the goal line by Lawrence’s Zander Thomas to secure the win.
