Football Preview: Lawrence Lions vs. Shawnee Mission East Lancers
The Lawrence Lions will head out to challenge the Shawnee Mission East Lancers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Friday, Lawrence came up short against Lawrence Free State and fell 24-14. The contest marked the Lions' lowest-scoring match so far this season.
Despite the defeat, Lawrence got top-tier performance from Banks Bowen, who rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 198 yards and a touchdown while completing 71.4% of his passes. Lawrence also got a significant boost from Tahj Edwards, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 98 yards.
Meanwhile, Shawnee Mission East also suffered a loss in their last game, but this one to Olathe South by a score of 27-20. That's two games in a row now that the Lancers have lost by exactly seven points.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Jack Reeves, who rushed for 132 yards, and also threw for 102 yards and a touchdown. Another player making a difference was Aiden Armstrong, who rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries.
Even though they lost, Shawnee Mission East was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 224 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 222 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
This is the second loss in a row for Lawrence and nudges their season record down to 4-4. As for Shawnee Mission East, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-4 record this season.
Lawrence came out on top in a nail-biter against Shawnee Mission East when the teams last played back in September of 2023, sneaking past 31-28. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Reeves, who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown, and also caught a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Lawrence still be able to contain Reeves? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
