Lawrence holds back Olathe North with two-point goal-line stand in Sunflower showdown

Olathe North looked like it might tie the game.

Fourth down, 32 seconds left, trailing by seven at Lawrence, the Eagles had no choice but to shoot for the end zone. Bingo: Quarterback Noah Palmer completed a 22-yard touchdown pass that brought them within one.

But instead of going for the tie, Olathe North opted to go for the win. Denied: As he’d done all night, Lawrence’s Cole Mondi came up with the stop on that two-point conversion attempt, sealing the Lions’ 21-20 victory over Olathe North.

“The coach on the other side dictated that because he’s smart and we’re not going to sit around and give him three or four shots to try to beat us, so we thought we’d just end it right there,” Olathe North coach Chris McCartney said. “We gambled and we lost, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

While the Lions had Mondi dictating play on one side of the ball, running back Devin Neal controlled the other.

The No. 1 running back in the state ran for two touchdowns, including a 98-yarder in the fourth quarter to give Lawrence a comfortable 21-7 lead. He finished with 136 yards on just 10 carries.

“That’s what he does; that’s who he is,” Lawrence coach Steve Rampy said. “You give him a crack and no one’s going to catch him, and that’s what he did.

This game set up as a Sunflower League showdown between contrasting and undefeated high school football teams.

The run-first Eagles (5-1) were forced to make some unfamiliar throws on third-and-long, while the run-pass option of the Lions (6-0) was constantly forced to play out of the pocket and into tight spaces.

“Our defense played really good for the first quarter and a half. then they got a little tired,” Rampy said. “They’ve got athletes, and they made plays. They’re good up front on offense. We just made the plays that we needed to down there.”

A nervy road start for Olathe North resulted in an opening drive that included a 10-yard holding penalty that pinned the Eagles deep in their own half. On fourth-and-19, the ball was snapped too low for the Olathe North punter, and Lawrence started its first drive on the Olathe North 12.

Neal scored on the Lions’ first play, a 12-yard TD scamper, but it was a slog after that. Lawrence managed just 45 yards of offense in the first half.

Olathe North quarterback Noah Palmer, who also lines up at free safety on defense, halted one Lions drive with an interception of Lawrence quarterback Jackson Dooley.

On offense, Palmer finished with a touchdown pass and 147 total yards. But the show-stopper came halfway through the final quarter.

Pinned almost to its own end zone and up by just a score, Lawrence looked to be in trouble. A stop and a punt would’ve given the Eagles great field position.

Instead, Neal raced 98 yards for what would stand up as the game-winning touchdown.

McCartney had few words to describe what happened on the play, saying, “That’s the way it works sometimes.”

Acknowledging the effort of his team in its first loss of the season, he described the game as a classic.

“We played great. I don’t think anything went wrong. ... I’m really proud of our kids,” McCartney said. “That was a classic, wasn’t it?”

This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 11:30 PM.