Free State’s advancement to state title game means a lot to city of Lawrence

Saturday November 29, 2008 3:30 PM
Team (Record)	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Junction City	0	7	6	6	19
Lawrence Free State (9 - 4)	0	0	7	7	14

LAWRENCE | Lawrence Free State coach Bob Lisher knows what it means to some people around town that his football team is playing for the Kansas 6A state championship Saturday.

He knows because he received more than 300 e-mails and about 170 phone calls earlier this week — many of those congratulations coming from local supporters — after Free State defeated Blue Valley in the state semifinals last Friday.

Lisher knows because he was born and raised in Lawrence, graduated from Lawrence High School and spent nine seasons there as the Lions’ defensive coordinator during one of the great championship runs the state has ever seen.

And because since 1995, including the 12 seasons since the city added a second high school, neither the Lawrence nor Free State football programs had been to the state finals — until now.

“We’ve been building to it. And now, finally, one of us broke through,” Lisher said in his office this week. “It’s been a challenge for both programs, but I’m proud of our guys for getting there. If it was Lawrence High, I would be proud of that, too.

“… It’s just been a long haul. To finally get back there is pretty special.”

Lisher was a part of seven state championships during his nine years as a Lawrence assistant coach. When he left to become head coach at Blue Valley North for three years, he continued living in Lawrence and commuted each day to work.

“When I went to Blue Valley North, I told them at the time, the only job I would leave for (was) this one or Lawrence High,” Lisher said.

He has been the head football coach at Free State for all 12 years of the school’s existence. He remembers the first season after the split from Lawrence High. The fledgling Free State program had four seniors — three of whom had never played football before, he recalls.

The Firebirds won only one game that first season, but the program quickly got off the ground. Free State nearly made the playoffs in its second season and broke through in its third, he said. Up and down years followed before the program’s first state semifinals appearance in 2006.

And on a bitterly cold Friday night last week, with a 14-7 semifinals win over a Blue Valley team that hadn’t lost since the first week of September, the Firebirds reached a new height.

“I think it’s exciting for the town,” Lisher said. “I think Lawrence High people, Free State people, everybody’s excited about it.”

Time was, it seemed like Lawrence had a football team in the state finals to be excited for just about every year.

During 1984 through 1995, Lawrence High won nine of a possible 12 6A state football championships, including five straight during 1989-93. But that 1995 championship marked the last time a Lawrence school had made the 6A football finals until this week.

“Lawrence used to be like the football town before the split,” said Free State senior linebacker/tight end Taylor Stuart, who has lived in Lawrence his whole life and whose parents attended Lawrence High.

“Every time you turned around, Lawrence High had a new state championship. But hopefully things are going to turn around, and Free State’s going to be doing the same thing.”

The Firebirds, 9-3, will start with trying to win their first when they play 12-0 Junction City on Saturday at Washburn University’s Yager Stadium.

And there’s a sense that Free State will be well-supported there.

“I went to church on Sunday, and everyone was congratulating me and telling me they’re going to be there,” Stuart said. “So I think we’re going to have the whole town of Lawrence, hopefully, supporting us.”

Stuart and Free State senior defensive end Grahm Saunders both said they have received congratulations and support from Lawrence High players for reaching the championship game.

“I think it’s a big deal because we’ve got old Lawrence High fans saying they’re coming to cheer for us. We’ve got Lawrence High players patting us on the back,” Saunders said. “Everyone’s real excited about it.”

Now, there’s only one remaining detail to tend to in their superlative season. As Lisher said this week, the only thing harder than reaching a state championship game is winning one.

“It’s been a reward just to get there, but we’re not done,” Lisher said. “We’re going to go out and give it our best effort on Saturday and see if we can get that final game.”

KANSAS 6A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP •WHO: Lawrence Free State, 9-3, vs. Junction City, 12-0

•WHEN/WHERE: 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Washburn University in Topeka

submitted by RYAN YOUNG - 2008-11-27 23:19:01

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